Every designer has had the call. A client you finished working with two years ago says their website is down, and somehow it's your problem. Usually it's a domain or hosting account that was never properly handed over.
A good handover protects your client and protects you.
Register in the client's name from day one
Create registrar and hosting accounts in the client's business name, with their email address and their card. Add yourself as a user or delegate where the service allows it. If you've already registered domains in your name, offer to transfer them now. Most clients will thank you.
Hand over logins properly
Give the client their own logins for the registrar, hosting, DNS, email admin and website admin, with 2-step verification on. Encourage them to store everything in a password manager, and make sure two people in their business can log in.
Write down who owns what
A handover document should list each service, the account owner, the login email, the renewal date and who pays. This is the part that usually gets skipped, and it's the part clients need most when something goes wrong.
Leave a backup and the renewal dates
A recent full backup, plus a list of every renewal date, means the client can recover without you if they ever need to.
Do it in minutes with Deedbox
Deedbox's Studio plan does the writing-down part for you. Add up to 30 client websites and it records the registrar, DNS, email and hosting for each, tracks renewals, checks every site daily, and ranks your portfolio by risk. Each client gets a PDF passport with your business name on it.
Studio is $39 AUD a month. Try the free check on one client site first.