Changing Accounting Firms in Brazil: A Guide for Foreign-Owned Companies

Many foreign groups are not looking for their first accountant in Brazil but for a better one. The monthly close arrives late, the numbers do not match the group package, tax notices surface without warning, or nobody answers headquarters in English. Changing accounting firms in Brazil is common and manageable, but it has formal steps: the outgoing accountant has duties to the client and to the successor, and obligations for the last months must not fall through the cracks. This guide explains how to plan the change.

Signs it may be time to change

• The monthly close regularly misses the group’s deadline.
• The Brazilian trial balance does not reconcile with the reporting package.
• Tax notices, pending items or blocked tax clearance certificates appear without explanation.
• Taxes are paid without review, or payment slips arrive at the last minute.
• Questions from headquarters go unanswered or need translation every time.
• The team changes often and nobody knows the company’s history.

What the rules say about the change

CFC Resolution 1,590/2020, which governs contracts for accounting services, sets out how the relationship ends:

• The contract is ended by a written termination agreement (distrato), which closes the parties’ responsibilities; without one, the accountant notifies the client.
• The termination agreement must state that it is the client’s responsibility to collect the documents held by the accountant, and the client may appoint a representative to do so.
• The form and deadline for returning books, documents and tax files, including electronic files, are set in the termination clause.
• Unless agreed otherwise, the outgoing accountant prepares the financial statements for the period of its responsibility and files the reporting obligations for the periods covered by the contract, even if they fall due after it ends.
• The outgoing accountant must inform the new technical manager of facts the successor needs to know.

The notice period is the one agreed in the contract; there is no fixed legal period. Read the termination clause of the current contract before announcing the change.

A step-by-step plan

1. Choose the new provider first and agree its scope, fees and start date (see how to choose an accounting firm in Brazil).
2. Pick a clean cut-off date, ideally the end of a month or a quarter, and avoid the weeks before the ECD (June) and ECF (July) deadlines.
3. Give notice under the contract and sign a termination agreement that lists what will be delivered, in which format and by when, and who files which obligations.
4. Collect the handover package: ledgers and trial balances, financial statements and ECD and ECF files, tax calculations and returns, payroll records and eSocial history, fixed asset and inventory registers, open tax notices, installment plans and litigation, and copies of corporate and Central Bank filings.
5. Update access: revoke the outgoing provider’s electronic power of attorney with the Federal Revenue and grant the new one, and review state and municipal system access, digital certificates and bank profiles.
6. Run a diagnostic in the first month: reconcile balances, check the federal tax situation report and certificates, and list anything to correct.
7. Agree the first close with headquarters, with clear explanations of any adjustments found in the diagnostic.

What to watch for

• Last-month filings: make sure each monthly and annual obligation of the transition period has a named owner.
• Prior-year issues: a new provider may find errors from earlier years. Decide with headquarters how to correct them; replacing filed digital books has formal rules (see SPED, ECD and ECF explained).
• Payroll continuity: payroll and eSocial events must continue without interruption, especially vacation, terminations and the 13th salary.
• Data ownership: ensure the company keeps access to its own books and files.

How Solidy can help

Solidy already serves subsidiaries of multinational companies in Brazil. We can agree the cut-off with headquarters, coordinate the handover with the previous provider, review balances, taxes and certificates in the first month and report what we find before the first close. See our accounting service or talk to our consultants.