Accountancy

AML for Accountants

SmartSearch is an all-in-one solution, offering flexible AML products for accountants, bookkeepers and tax advisory firms. We’ll help you meet AML regulations, get audit-ready and be 100% sure of your compliance, 100% of the time.

Making AML Compliance for Accountants Easy

Accountants are particularly vulnerable to money laundering, so ensuring your AML procedures are fit for purpose is vital. The expertise of qualified accountants can be used to disguise illegal transactions, and make them appear legitimate – this is why the accountancy sector is often targeted by those who carry out financial crime.

SmartSearch offers a time-saving, hassle-free AML software for accountants. We provide electronic customer identification and verification, as well as full sanction and PEP screening and ongoing monitoring. All AML checks are automatically saved in real-time, and can be retrieved on demand to support audits and regulatory visits.

For both accountancy firms and sole practitioners, failing to comply with AML regulations can have severe consequences; these range from fines to court proceedings or even a prison sentence. SmartSearch guarantees AML compliance for accountants, so you’ll pass your audit, every time.

Just a few areas we can help you with

Know your customer (KYC)

Electronically verify your customers and meet your due diligence obligations with the help of our automated facility for PEP and Sanction warning alerts.

A centralised solution

Our platform completes AML and KYC checks all in one place – and can even integrate with your existing system – streamlining your AML procedures and enabling you to verify your entire client base through one user-friendly interface.

Conduct your due diligence

Through our due diligence dashboard we ensure identification, verification and ongoing monitoring are completed on all your customers ensuring you can remain fully AML compliant at all times.

Manage monitoring

Our daily monitoring service takes updates from the world’s most accurate and up-to-date PEP and Sanctions list in the world so we can alert you if any of your client’s statuses change.

Mitigate the risk of fraud

We offer a wide range of comprehensive anti-fraud services that can be tailored to create a bespoke fraud prevention solution for your business.

Evidence your compliance

With the SmartSearch solution, you are always audit-ready. We can even retrospectively batch-upload existing customer bases to ensure a clean, compliant position.

See all product features

**Convenient AML Services for Accountants **

SmartSearch can help you with every step of your AML compliance, right through from initial checks to ongoing monitoring – but we can also adapt our products to suit you.

Whether you’re a part of a large accountancy firm or an individual practitioner, we’re able to integrate our services with your existing software, so you can run AML checks using information from your own system.

To make compliance even more convenient for accountants, you can even access our full range of AML products via the SmartSearch app – ideal for those with busy schedules who often find themselves out of the office.

WHO WE WORK WITH

What kind of accountancy firms do we work with?

Audits
Tax
Pensions
Corporate Recovery & Insolvency
Advisory
Risk & Compliance

HEAR IT FROM OUR CUSTOMERS

Our services are used by 1 in 2 of the top 100 accountancy firms

After an extensive review of multiple providers, we decided on SmartSearch for our AML procedures as it was the best platform we had seen and offered everything we need to ensure we are fully compliant.

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Our compliance department especially benefits from the wide range of information SmartSearch incorporate into their platform, giving us a clear result once the check is complete J A Black Partner

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You’re in good company

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top 3 tell-tale signs of suspicious activity for accountants to look out for?
According to the Serious Fraud Office, there are three key tell-tale signs which accountants should look out for when trying to prevent money laundering. These are as follows: 1. If a long-term client or customer behaves oddly, or makes uncharacteristic requests. 2. A client or customer asks you to make financial arrangements which don’t make sense commercially. 3. A client or customer asks you to provide services which are outside your area of expertise, and does so on multiple occasions.
Who are the UK accountancy AML supervisory bodies?
There are some fifteen different supervisory bodies responsible for monitoring the AML compliance of accountants, bookkeepers and other financial advisers, but these bodies are in turn overseen by the OPBAS. These regulatory bodies include the Association of Accounting Technicians, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Institute of Financial Accountants. To see a full breakdown of the supervisory bodies for this sector, visit GOV.UK.
Do sole practitioners need to comply?
Yes, sole practitioners still need to ensure that they are AML compliant. The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 stated that any company OR individual that is providing accountancy services must be registered with an appropriate supervisory body, so their AML compliance can be monitored.

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