Working through the leaving checklist

Learn how, as an HR admin, you work through the checklist Heartsome creates as soon as you record someone's leaving. That way you don't forget anything: no laptop, no leave still to be paid out, no team without a manager.

Where do you find it?

Go to People → [name] → Employment. The checklist is on the card at the top. You can also get there from the action item "Finish [name]'s offboarding" on your Pulse.

What's on it?

At the top are Heartsome's items. Heartsome takes them from data that's already there, and you only see the ones that apply to this colleague:

• Account owner: the colleague is the account owner. Only they can hand this over, so you'll see "Waiting on [name]". Ask them to do it before their last day.
• Leave to settle: how much leave is left on the last day, or how much too much was taken. See Settling leave when someone leaves.
• Exit survey: "Send [name] the exit survey". See Sending an exit survey.
• Direct reports: "[number] direct reports need a new manager". Click Reassign (see below).
• Vacancies: "[vacancy] has no other hiring manager". Click Change the hiring team and add someone. The item also goes away if you close the vacancy.
• Reviews: "Feedback still to write in [review cycle] for [colleagues]". Ask the colleague to write it before their last day. After that it can't be given.
• Assets: "[asset], assigned [date], not returned". Click Go to assets and choose Mark as returned there.

Below them are your own company's steps, such as "Remove from the chat tool" or "Remove from the password manager". You tick those yourself.

Heartsome's items disappear by themselves once they're done, even if you do it on another page. For example, mark the laptop as returned and that item is gone.

Reassigning direct reports

1. On the direct reports item, click Reassign.
2. Under New manager for all, choose one manager for everyone. Or choose a different manager per person.
3. Should someone have no manager? Choose No manager on that row.
4. Click Save.

Every row needs a choice. Former colleagues who were still linked to this person also appear in the list, marked "no longer works here".

Your own steps

• Ticking off: click the box in front of the step. Ticked by mistake? Click again.
• A step for this colleague only: type it under the list at "Add a step, for this list only" and click Add. For example "Hand supplier contacts over to Lisa".
• A step that doesn't apply: remove it with Remove this step. For example, if the colleague works in the warehouse and has no password manager, take that step off. Your company's list doesn't change.

You set which steps are on the list by default in Company Settings → Offboarding. See [Setting up offboarding steps] [link to follow].

Closing

• By itself: once everything is done and the last day has passed, Heartsome closes the leaving overnight. You'll see "[name]'s offboarding is done. It closes after [date]."
• By hand: after the last day you can always click Close now. If something is still open, Heartsome asks "Close with this still open?" and shows what's still open. Choose Close anyway or Keep it open.

You can't close before the last day, because the date can still change.

Is the colleague still the account owner? Then you can't close until the account has a new owner.

After closing

The card stays visible to HR, with the last day, the reason, the date it closed and your own steps as they were ticked. No action item appears on Pulse any more.

Pulse

For each open leaving, your Pulse shows the action item "Finish [name]'s offboarding", with the number of open items and the last day. You'll see up to five: first those still to leave, soonest date first, then those who've already left.

Updated on: 19/10/2026