By Legacy Vault Pro Members The phone call every accountant will eventually take 26 Oct 2026 This content is brought to you by Legacy Vault Pro. Why digital legacy planning belongs in your business continuity conversations. It’s a Tuesday morning when Sarah rings. Her husband Mark ran a groundworks business. Twelve staff, three live contracts, turnover of around £3 million. He was 54. On Sunday he had a heart attack while walking the dog, and he didn’t survive. You’ve done Mark’s accounts for nine years. You know his business better than almost anyone, so Sarah is calling you. She doesn’t know who else to call. Payroll is due on Friday. The wages go out through online banking, and the security codes are sent to Mark’s mobile. The phone is locked. The company email, the website and the domain name all sit on Mark’s personal Google account. Customers are sending invoices and queries into an inbox nobody can open. The Xero login was Mark’s. So was the Government Gateway. The Companies House authentication code is somewhere, probably. Two suppliers have heard the news and want to know whether they’ll be paid. The site foreman wants to know whether to turn up on Monday. Sarah has Mark’s Will. There was a Lasting Power of Attorney too, but that ended when he died. What she doesn’t have is a list of what exists, where it is, or how anyone gets into it. And she’s asking you what to do. Mark is fictional. The situation isn’t. Every detail in that story is one accountants will recognise. Most owner managed businesses have at least one person whose absence would leave others locked out of systems the business depends on. Usually it’s the founder, and usually nobody has written anything down. We’ve become remarkably good at running our businesses and lives online. Our planning for what happens when we can’t has not kept pace. The filing cabinet has gone, and so have the clues Not long ago, an executor or family member could piece together someone’s affairs from filing cabinets, bank statements and post. Today, much of that information exists only online. For business owners the picture is even harder. Banking, accounting software, payment platforms, payroll, cloud storage, domain names, customer databases and dozens of subscriptions, often set up informally years ago and never revisited. Many small businesses still run on the founder’s personal accounts. The problem isn’t simply missing passwords. It’s not knowing what exists, why it matters, who is responsible for it and what should happen next. Without that, families and colleagues face delays, costs and disruption at the worst possible moment. Wills and LPAs are essential, but they don’t solve this A Will sets out how an estate should be administered and distributed. An LPA gives appointed people authority to make certain decisions during someone’s lifetime, and it ends on death. Neither provides an inventory of digital accounts, practical instructions for dealing with them, or access to online services. Even where legal authority exists, each provider has its own process for verifying death, incapacity or a representative’s authority. That leaves a gap between having the authority to act and having the information to act on. Digital legacy planning closes that gap. It doesn’t replace established estate planning; it completes it. Business continuity isn’t just for large organisations When people hear “business continuity”, they think of disaster recovery, cyber security and corporate contingency plans. But the businesses most exposed are the small ones: the sole director, the freelance consultant, the family firm where one person holds everything in their head. If that person is suddenly unable to work, can staff still reach the systems they need? Will customers and suppliers still be paid? Could an authorised person keep things running while longer term decisions are made? And the same person has a personal digital footprint as well: banking, pensions, investments, photographs and social media that their family will eventually need to deal with. Planning for both should be as normal as having insurance or a Will. Why this conversation belongs with you Accountants and bookkeepers hold a uniquely trusted position. You understand how your clients’ businesses actually work. You already talk to them about succession, structure, risk and protecting what they’ve built. And, as Sarah’s call shows, you are often the first person the family turns to when something goes wrong. Helping clients prepare now is far better than trying to help them pick up the pieces later. You don’t need to become a solicitor, a technology specialist or a digital executor. You just need to ask the question: “If something happened to you tomorrow, would anyone know how to keep your business running?” For most clients, the honest answer is no. How Legacy Vault Pro helps Legacy Vault Pro is a secure digital legacy and business continuity platform built for business owners. Instead of scattered spreadsheets and notes that go out of date, owners build a structured record of their important accounts and services, appoint trusted Digital Executors and record what should happen to each account. Regular tasks prompt them to keep it current as their business changes. For businesses, arrangements can cover directors and key employees, so the business doesn’t depend on what one person knows. Access for Digital Executors is subject to verification and the platform’s procedures, so sensitive information reaches the right people at the right time. Three things you can do this week Ask the question. Pick three clients who are sole directors or run owner managed businesses and ask them the question above. Their answers will tell you how big this is across your client base. Try it on your own practice. If you run a small practice, you have exactly the same exposure as your clients. Set up a free account at [link] and see what it takes to protect your own business. Talk to us about partnering. Legacy Vault Pro works with accountants and bookkeepers in several ways: introducing clients, offering it within your own service packages, or bundling licences into your fees. Each comes with recurring income and none requires you to run a platform. Book a 20 minute call with our Founder [email protected] Sarah’s call will come to someone. The question is whether your clients will have left her anything to work with. This content is brought to you by Legacy Vault Pro. Legacy Vault Pro is a digital legacy and business continuity planning platform for business owners and professional advisers find out more at www.legacyvault.pro.