Close your business
Closing a business means final filings, final pay, refunds and a lot of accounts that keep renewing. See what to do, what to keep and the safe order to shut things down.
Official sources last reviewed · How we review
Check what cancelling would affect
A few questions, revealed as they become relevant. Your answers stay in this browser.
Start with the basics
We never ask for phone numbers, card numbers, passwords or codes. Names of providers or nicknames are enough.
Your plan so far
13things this change touches
- critical0
- high8
- moderate5
- low0
Updates as you answer. Every item will explain why it’s there.
What could break
In a typical business closure plan, these are the most serious things to get right.
Move logins off the business email address
Critical · Sign-in & recovery
When the mailbox closes, password resets and official messages go nowhere, and you can be locked out of accounts you still need.
Final pay, payroll filings and year-end forms
Critical · Work & school
Late final pay or missing payroll filings can lead to penalties, and unremitted deductions can become the owners' or directors' problem in some places.
Talk to your accountant (and lawyer) before you set a closing date
High · Legal & records
Doing things in the wrong order can mean extra tax, penalties or obligations that follow you personally.
Follow your government's official closing steps
High · Government & tax
A missed filing can leave a tax account or company open, which can lead to notices, penalties or the business being treated as still active.
Leases, loans, finance agreements and personal guarantees
High · Business operations
Missing a notice deadline can mean paying for months you don't use, and a guaranteed debt can become yours to pay.
Export and keep the records you're required to keep
High · Legal & records
Once accounting, payroll or payment accounts close, their records may be deleted and hard or impossible to recover.
Tell employees early and in writing
High · People to tell
Too little notice can mean extra pay owed, complaints to an employment standards office, or claims.
Tell customers when you'll stop trading
High · People to tell
Customers keep ordering or paying after you've stopped, then complain or dispute the charges.
Refund or honour deposits, prepaid services and credits
High · Banking & payments
Unresolved balances lead to complaints, disputes and possibly legal claims.
Gift cards and vouchers
High · Banking & payments
Customers holding unused cards may complain or seek refunds, and you could fall foul of local consumer rules.
Before and after you cancel
Before you cancel
- Talk to your accountant (and lawyer) before you set a closing date
- Follow your government's official closing steps
- Leases, loans, finance agreements and personal guarantees
- Export and keep the records you're required to keep
- Suppliers, direct debits and automatic payments
- Tell employees early and in writing
- Tell customers when you'll stop trading
- Refund or honour deposits, prepaid services and credits
- Gift cards and vouchers
- Move logins off the business email address
After you cancel
- Final pay, payroll filings and year-end forms
- Payment processor: stop taking payments, but keep the account for disputes
- File final tax returns
- Close the sales tax, GST/HST or VAT registration
- Mark your Google Business Profile as permanently closed
- Premises: utilities, mail and alarm monitoring
- Check everything is settled before the final steps
- Cancel software subscriptions in the right order
- Securely dispose of customer data, devices and paper records
- Insurance: cancel, keep or extend cover
- Business phone line
- Close the business bank account last
Your own plan adds or removes items based on your answers, and explains why each one is there.
The safe order
Doing things in the right sequence is what keeps you from getting locked out halfway through.
Before the change
Step 1: Get advice and set a closing date
Your accountant and the official closing steps decide the order of everything else.
- Talk to your accountant (and lawyer) before you set a closing date (high risk)
- Follow your government's official closing steps (high risk)
- Leases, loans, finance agreements and personal guarantees (high risk)
Step 2: Export your records and list everything that renews
While every account still works, take copies and find every automatic payment.
- Export and keep the records you're required to keep (high risk)
- Suppliers, direct debits and automatic payments (moderate risk)
Step 3: Tell employees and customers
Give notice in writing and announce your last trading day.
- Tell employees early and in writing (high risk)
- Tell customers when you'll stop trading (high risk)
Step 4: Settle what customers have paid for
Deposits, gift cards, subscriptions, open orders and warranties.
- Refund or honour deposits, prepaid services and credits (high risk)
- Gift cards and vouchers (high risk)
Step 5: Move logins off business email
Accounts you'll still need must not depend on a mailbox you're about to close.
- Move logins off the business email address (critical risk)
During the change
Step 6: Stop trading
Final pay, final payroll filings, and switch off new payments.
- Final pay, payroll filings and year-end forms (critical risk)
- Payment processor: stop taking payments, but keep the account for disputes (high risk)
Immediately after
Step 7: File final returns and close tax accounts
Do these with your accountant, following the official steps for your area.
- File final tax returns (high risk)
- Close the sales tax, GST/HST or VAT registration (high risk)
Step 8: Update listings and the premises
Tell the public you've closed and stop services at the premises.
- Mark your Google Business Profile as permanently closed (moderate risk)
- Premises: utilities, mail and alarm monitoring (moderate risk)
Verify
Step 9: Check everything is settled
Look for charges, unpaid balances and stray payments before you close the last accounts.
- Check everything is settled before the final steps (moderate risk)
Clean up
Step 10: Cancel services, licences and registrations
Export first, then cancel, and decide on insurance with your broker.
- Cancel software subscriptions in the right order (high risk)
- Securely dispose of customer data, devices and paper records (high risk)
- Insurance: cancel, keep or extend cover (high risk)
- Business phone line (moderate risk)
Step 11: Close the bank account and dissolve the company last
Only once refunds, final tax and disputes have cleared. Your accountant can confirm the order.
- Close the business bank account last (high risk)
- Formally dissolve the company (high risk)
Later
Step 12: Keep the domain and email for a while
So nobody can impersonate the business and late messages still reach you.
- Keep the domain registered (high risk)
- Keep business email receiving for a while (high risk)
Why this change needs a plan
A business doesn't stop existing when the doors close. Tax accounts, registrations, subscriptions and licences carry on until you close them, customers can still dispute card payments, and records may be needed for years.
The order matters most at the end. Close the bank account too early and a final refund or tax payment bounces. Cancel the accounting software before exporting and records you're required to keep may be gone. Let the domain lapse and someone else can use it to impersonate you.
The safe approach is to get advice, tell people, settle what customers have paid for, export your records, file final returns, cancel services in order, and close the bank account and the company last. Some things, like the domain and an email inbox, are worth keeping for a while after that.
Why it matters
Closing well protects you personally. Unfiled returns, unpaid employees, open customer balances and forgotten guarantees can follow owners and directors after the business has stopped trading.
What makes it risky
Risk is highest when the business can't pay all its debts, when you have employees, and when customers have prepaid. Closing the bank account, email or domain too early is a common way to create problems that are hard to undo.
Common mistakes
- Closing the bank account before final tax payments, refunds and card disputes have cleared.
- Cancelling accounting and other software before exporting the records you're required to keep.
- Letting the domain lapse, so someone else can register it and impersonate the business.
- Forgetting that customers' gift cards, deposits and subscriptions are money they've already paid.
- Assuming a company is closed once trading stops, without formally dissolving it or closing its tax accounts.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do first when closing a business?
Talk to your accountant, and a lawyer if you have employees, debts or a lease, and set a closing date. Then work out what you owe employees, customers and suppliers, and export your records before you cancel anything.
How long do I need to keep business records after closing?
It depends on where you are and the type of record, and official periods differ between countries. Check your tax agency's guidance or ask your accountant; the regional notes on this page link to some official sources.
When should I close the business bank account?
Last, or close to it: after final tax payments and refunds have gone through, direct debits are cancelled, and you've allowed time for card disputes. Download every statement before you close it.
What happens to customer gift cards when a business closes?
Gift cards are money customers have already paid. Rules on honouring or refunding them vary by place, so check official consumer-protection guidance or ask a lawyer, stop selling them early, and give customers a clear last date to use them.
Should I delete my business website and social media?
Not straight away. Mark your Google Business Profile as permanently closed, post a closing notice, and keep the domain registered for a while so nobody else can use it to impersonate the business.
Regional notes
General information, not legal advice. Check the official source where you live.
- Canada
- The CRA's records guidance says businesses generally keep records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, and a dissolved corporation keeps certain records for two years after dissolution. The CRA also says a corporation that doesn't send proof of dissolution when required may still be treated as existing and expected to file. Confirm what applies to you with the CRA or your accountant.
- United States
- The IRS says to keep most records for at least 3 years and employment tax records for at least 4 years, with longer periods in some cases. Closing also involves state filings that vary by state; check the IRS “Closing a business” page and your state's business registry.
- United Kingdom
- GOV.UK lists striking off and liquidation as the usual ways to close a limited company that can pay its bills, with different options if it can't. Sole traders tell HMRC they've stopped being self-employed and file a final Self Assessment return.
- Australia
- business.gov.au says to cancel GST registration within 21 days of stopping business activities and to cancel your ABN within 28 days of stopping, and generally to keep business records for 5 years and employee records for 7 years. Check business.gov.au and the ATO for your situation.