WooCommerce Store Handover Checklist
A WooCommerce handover should leave the business able to run, update and recover its store. Check account ownership, custom code, licences, operations and unfinished work before the old team leaves.
Read the guide
Search Field Notes
A useful next read.
36 field notes
No matching guide yet. Try “checkout”, “shipping” or “catalog”.
All Field NotesConfirm business ownership of the essential accounts
Start with the domain registrar, hosting, WordPress, business email, payment provider and the systems connected to orders. For each account, record the business owner, the people with access and the recovery route. A WordPress login does not give you control of the domain or permission to manage a payment account.
Check renewals and billing contacts while the outgoing team is available. An agency may supply some extension licences; ask whether they can transfer or need replacement, and what that means for future updates. Put access details in a secure password manager. The handover document should describe ownership and access procedures, without containing passwords, private keys or customer exports.
Find the code and rules behind the visible store
Ask for the active theme, child theme, custom plugins, template overrides and source repository where applicable. Record what each custom component does and who maintains it. Small snippets can own important behaviour such as minimum quantities, role pricing or an order export, even when the storefront looks standard.
Walk through those rules with a few test products. Document the input and expected outcome so a future supplier can preserve the behaviour. Also distinguish active customisations from retired experiments. A folder of code is much easier to use when the receiving team knows which pieces are deployed, how they reach the server and which store flow each piece affects.
Walk an order through the business
Check what happens after a customer pays: order status, stock change, emails, fulfilment handoff and refund handling. Identify any manual step your staff rely on. A handover can miss these operations when it focuses only on design files and plugin settings.
Use a test or redacted example to confirm the path with the receiving team. Record important scheduled jobs, external integrations and provider contacts. If an integration fails, someone should know where to look, how to avoid duplicate processing and which side owns the next action. Keep operational notes practical enough that staff can use them during a real exception.
Verify the backup, staging and release route
Locate the backup system, check file/database coverage and confirm that the business or receiving team can access it. Ask when a restore was last tested and what it did not cover. Include external data dependencies, since a WordPress backup may not recover a separate ERP or email account.
Then review staging and deployment: how a test copy is made, how its providers are isolated, how changes are approved and how recent live orders are protected. The next team should be able to perform a small update without guessing at the release process. If it cannot, that is a handover action to resolve before the outgoing team’s access is removed.
Who owns what after handover?
Name the person responsible for each part of running the store.
| Check | What to check | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts + licences | Confirm domain, hosting, provider accounts, renewals and business recovery access. | Verify replacement access first. |
| Backup + release | Demonstrate backup access and explain how a tested change reaches the live store. | Rehearse the recovery route. |
| Custom rules + issues | Identify deployed custom code, operational steps and known unfinished work. | Give each gap a next owner. |
Sign off the verified work and assign the gaps
Finish with a shared checklist for accounts, licences, code, operations, recovery and the main store flows. Ask the receiving team to demonstrate access and explain the update or incident routine. This catches gaps that are easy to miss when everyone assumes a document has been read.
Carry over open faults and unverified features with their impact, owner and next step. A handover can be accepted with known limitations, but those limitations need agreement. Remove old access after replacement access and recovery are verified, retaining only the accounts that have a deliberate ongoing purpose. The result should be a store the business can operate and a clear list of the work still needed.
Common questions
What should be included in a WooCommerce handover?
Account ownership and recovery, licences, source/custom code, integrations, order operations, backups, staging/release instructions and open issues. Confirm that the receiving team can use them.
Is Shop Manager a read-only role?
No. It can manage store settings, products and orders and access customer information. Assign it according to the person’s actual responsibility.
When should the previous agency lose access?
After the business and receiving team verify the access and recovery they need. Remove unnecessary accounts, and document any continuing access and its purpose.
What if the outgoing supplier owns an extension licence?
Ask whether it transfers. If it does not, agree the replacement licence, renewal date and any update or support gap before handover finishes.