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HuttenlocherTechnologies

Security · 4 min read · Updated October 25, 2026

When an employee leaves: the account and access checklist

Short answer: In small businesses, access spreads quietly: the manager knows the Instagram password, the bookkeeper logs into the bank, the old office manager registered the domain. The day someone leaves is the day to take it back, nicely and completely.

The same day

  • Disable their email account, and forward or delegate it to a manager rather than deleting it.
  • Remove them from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and sign out their sessions.
  • Remove their access to the website admin, hosting, and domain registrar.
  • Remove them from your Google Business Profile, Meta business tools, and other social accounts.
  • Remove them from the password manager, booking, payments, CRM and accounting.

Then change shared passwords

Any login they knew but that you can’t give each person their own access to: the Wi-Fi, a supplier portal, a shared social account. A password manager makes this a few minutes’ work. See password managers for small teams.

Check what’s tied to them

  • Accounts registered with their personal email or phone, especially the domain and the Google profile.
  • Two-step sign-in codes going to their phone.
  • Ads billed to their card, or subscriptions in their name.
  • Devices they used for work.

Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Questions

This feels like distrust. Is it necessary?

It protects them as much as you. If something happens to an account after they leave, nobody can suspect them if their access was removed on day one.

Can you audit who has access to our website and domain?

Yes. It’s part of our security assessment and the care plan’s regular checks.

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