Booking system arrangements during a business takeover

Checklist: What to consider and what agreements to make?

The most important question to answer upfront is: Is the Recras environment included in the sale? The arrangements you need to make depend entirely on the answer to this question.

Scenario 1: The new owner takes over the business, including the Recras environment

In most cases, this is the most logical step. With this, the new owner immediately takes over the running of the business from the previous owner. Recras holds all historical and future data: from bookings, client contacts, and quotes to full invoicing.

1. Arrangements before the transfer date:

• System access: As of when will the new owner get access to the Recras environment? It is advisable to let the new owner look around the system before the official transfer to get familiar with it. Agree on which role they will use: first as an employee (view-only) or straight away as an administrator.

• Training: Will the previous owners provide a walkthrough or handover on how they work with Recras?

2. Future bookings and financial settlement:

• Pre-paid bookings: There will undoubtedly be future bookings already in the system. Have these already been (partially) invoiced or paid? Make clear agreements about settling the funds for bookings that take place after the transfer but have already been paid to the previous owner. (Tip: In Recras, go to Menu > Bookings overview and filter for all bookings from the transfer date onward).

• Outstanding invoices from before the transfer: There will likely also be outstanding invoices for bookings from before the transfer date. In principle, the customer should pay these to the previous owner (since their bank account number is on the invoice). However, if the new owner sends out reminders from the system later on, customers might accidentally transfer the money to the new bank account number. Therefore, create a clear overview of all outstanding invoices for past bookings as of the transfer date.

3. After the transfer (access and final invoices):

• Login rights for previous owners: Until what date do the previous owners retain the right to log into Recras? Due to legal tax retention obligations (which vary depending on the country), they are required to download past invoices and financial records. Agree on how much time they will have to do this.
• The final Recras invoice: Recras always bills in arrears (usually around the 7th of the following month) based on the revenue that went through the system. For instance, the invoice that arrives in early January covers December’s revenue. These costs (including any Mollie transaction fees) therefore still belong to the previous owner. Agree on who will pay this invoice.

4. Contact with Recras:

• Reporting the change of ownership: For privacy and security reasons, Recras is only allowed to deal with the official license owner. Therefore, the previous owners must send an email to Recras explicitly stating that ownership will change as of the transfer date.

• Updating account details: The new owner should then send an email to Recras to confirm this and immediately provide the new bank account number for the license fees.

Scenario 2: Recras is not included in the sale

Sometimes a buyer chooses to work with their own pre-existing booking system, or the previous owners relaunch under the same license. In that case, the Recras environment remains with the previous owner.

Since future bookings are already scheduled that the new owner will need to fulfill, a data transfer is essential. The new owner needs to know the following about every booking:

• Who is coming? (Customer and contact details)

• What are they doing? (Which activity or package is booked)

• Has it been invoiced yet? (And if so, for what amount)

• Has it been paid yet? (Are there deposits that need to be settled)

• Are there any special details? (Dietary requirements, notes, or specific agreements)

Taking over a business is hectic enough as it is. Properly discussing the booking system in advance prevents outstanding invoices and current bookings from causing any surprises after the transfer.