Phase 4: Offboarding

Offboarding requires careful handling of data, clear communication, and proper cleanup of technical resources. This guide ensures nothing is missed and the process is professional.

Offboarding Triggers

Planned Offboarding

• Contract term ends (not renewing)
• Client closes business
• Client migrates to different platform
• Mutual agreement to end service

Unplanned Offboarding

• Non-payment (after grace period)
• Contract breach
• Service discontinued

Offboarding Timeline

Standard Timeline (Planned)

Day	Activity
-30	Notice received/given
-30	Offer data export
-14	Final invoice sent
-7	Prepare data export (if requested)
-3	Send final reminder to client
0	Access disabled
+30	Data deleted
+30	Final confirmation sent

Data Export

What Can Be Exported

Data Type	Format	Included
User profiles	CSV	Yes
Posts/content	CSV or JSON	Yes
Comments	CSV or JSON	Yes
Appointments	CSV	Yes
Media/images	ZIP archive	Upon request
App configuration	JSON	No (proprietary)
Source code	N/A	No (proprietary)

Data Retention Period

Standard retention: 30 days after access disabled

During retention period:

• Data is preserved but inaccessible
• Client can request export
• Can be restored if client returns

Disable Access

When disabling access:

1. Disable User Authentication

   • Disable all providers
   • This prevents new logins

2. Disable App Access

   • Redirect to closure page, or
   • Remove the deployment entirely

Data Deletion

After the retention period, delete:

1. All notifications
2. All comments
3. All likes
4. All posts
5. All appointments
6. All journal entries
7. All user profiles
8. All auth users
9. All storage files

Cleanup Technical Resources

Service	Action
Deployment	Delete or remove
DNS Records	Remove if using custom domain
Third-party services	Clean up integrations
Local files	Archive or remove

Final Documentation

Document the following:

• Client ID
• Offboarding date
• Reason for offboarding
• Data export provided (Yes/No)
• Data deletion date

Services Removed Checklist

• Project deleted
• Deployment removed
• DNS records removed
• Local files archived/removed

Final Communication

• Closure notice sent
• Data export delivered (if applicable)
• Final confirmation sent

Special Scenarios

Client Wants to Return

If a former client wants to restart:

1. Treat as new onboarding
2. No data recovery after deletion date
3. May require new contract
4. Full setup process applies

Disputed Offboarding

If client disputes the offboarding:

1. Pause data deletion
2. Escalate to appropriate party
3. Document all communications
4. Resume only when resolved

Offboarding Checklist

Before Disabling Access

• Notice sent to client
• Data export offered/delivered
• All invoices addressed
• Final date communicated

At Access Disable

• Authentication disabled
• App replaced/removed
• Client notified

After Retention Period

• All data deleted
• Project deleted (if applicable)
• Resources removed
• Third-party services cleaned up
• Local files archived/removed
• Final confirmation sent
• Records updated

Administrative

• Billing updated
• CRM updated
• Documentation complete
• Team notified