A clean exit is mostly a matter of sequence: do the quiet money and benefits work before you announce, then resign, then land well. Tick each item below as you complete it. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can come back to it, and you can print the whole thing if you prefer paper.
The financial floor of any exit is runway: how many months your savings cover after the paycheck stops. Settle this first, because it decides whether the rest of the plan is even possible.
The step people skip, and where quitting gets expensive. Four audits, done quietly before you announce.
Systems access does not survive sentimentality. Gather what you are entitled to before your account closes.
Tell your manager first, live if you can, before anyone else knows. Keep it short, certain, and warm.
The notice period is the cheapest reputation investment you will ever make. Hand over generously and get the money facts in writing.
The first weeks have a short, unglamorous list that protects your runway.
The same handful of misses cause most of the expensive surprises, so they are worth flagging twice:
The single most common budget hole after quitting, and discoverable in an afternoon. Price it before you resign.
Bonuses, equity cliffs, and employer-match vesting all have dates. Check them against your resignation date.
Vested stock options often expire a short time after you leave. Miss the window and the value is gone.
Final pay, payouts, and reference promises that exist only in conversation have a short half-life. Get them in writing.
This is the short, tickable form. The full reasoning, the worked examples, and the country differences behind every item are in the complete job exit checklist guide and how to quit your job safely.
Five things, worked in order: the money (confirm your runway and budget), the benefits (health cover, retirement, leave, equity), the paperwork (download documents, review your contract), the resignation itself (notice, the conversation, a written letter), and your first 30 days out. Doing the money and benefits work before you announce keeps you in control of the timeline.
Yes. The boxes you tick are saved in your own browser, so your progress is still there when you come back on the same device, and nothing is sent anywhere. You can also print the checklist or save it as a PDF to work from on paper, and the Reset button clears your ticks if you want to start over.
The commonly missed items are pricing replacement health cover, checking bonus and vesting dates before choosing a resignation date, the short post-termination window to exercise stock options, and getting money promises in writing. Each is cheap to handle in advance and expensive to miss, which is exactly why a checklist helps.
Start before you resign, ideally a month ahead. The money and benefits sections need to be done quietly while you are still employed, because the moment you announce you lose control of the timeline. Use the weeks before your resignation to prepare, then the conversation and notice items follow, and the first-30-days section after you leave.