It’s the middle of tax season when you notice something unsettling.
You pull a client file to prepare their return and realise their proof of address expired eight months ago. You check your AML spreadsheet and find six other clients with expired documents. Then you spot three clients you’ve never actually screened against sanctions lists because they were onboarded during your busiest period.
This is the reality of manual AML compliance: things slip through. Not because accountants aren’t thorough, but because tracking dozens of expiry dates across 40+ clients using spreadsheets is genuinely impossible to sustain.
AML software for accountants eliminates these risks. This guide covers everything you need to know: your legal obligations, what proper AML software should do, how costs compare to manual methods, which features actually matter, and how to choose a platform that delivers complete compliance without the complexity.
Key Points Summarised for Busy Readers
Here’s what you need to know:
- UK accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisers must comply with Money Laundering Regulations 2017
- AML software automates verification, screening, and monitoring that manual processes can’t sustain
- Manual AML processes create compliance gaps, consume 15-30 minutes per client, and fail under regulatory scrutiny
- Essential features: electronic ID verification, real-time sanctions/PEP screening, automated risk assessment, ongoing monitoring
- Cost comparison: AML software delivers ROI within 2-3 months through time savings and risk reduction
- Leading 2025 platforms compared by features, pricing, and accounting-specific capabilities
- FigsFlow offers the most complete and affordable AML solution purpose-built for UK accounting practices
AML Obligations for Accountants, Bookkeepers & Tax Advisers
UK accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisers providing regulated services under Money Laundering Regulations 2017 face specific legal obligations. This includes services like tax advice, accountancy services, audit work, and trust or company formation services.
The regulations require firms to implement systematic processes for client verification, risk assessment, ongoing monitoring, and record-keeping. These aren’t optional best practices. They are legal obligations enforced by HMRC. Compliance involves Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for high-risk clients, sanctions and PEP screening, ongoing monitoring throughout the relationship, and maintaining records for at least five years.
Key requirements include:
- Register with HMRC as a supervised business
- Conduct risk assessments for every client
- Verify client identity and address before onboarding
- Identify beneficial owners (25%+ ownership or control)
- Screen against sanctions lists and PEP databases
- Apply Enhanced Due Diligence for high-risk clients
- Monitor clients on an ongoing basis
- Maintain comprehensive records for five years minimum
- Appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) where required
- File Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) when necessary
These requirements create significant administrative burden when handled manually. That’s precisely why AML software has shifted from optional efficiency tool to practical necessity for compliance.
For a detailed breakdown of every AML requirement affecting UK accounting practices, see our complete guide: List of 2025 AML Rules for Accountants in the UK
How AML Software Can Help
AML software can automate every compliance obligation and complete in seconds what takes hours manually. Tasks that once consumed entire afternoons now happen in the background while you focus on client work.
Before diving into how AML software delivers real value to accountants, tax advisers, and bookkeepers, let’s understand what this software actually is.
What is AML Software?
AML software is a digital platform that automates the verification, screening, and monitoring processes required under Money Laundering Regulations 2017. It replaces manual document collection, spreadsheet tracking, and email-based workflows with systematic, auditable compliance procedures.
The software handles three critical functions: verifying client identity through electronic document checking, screening clients against sanctions lists and PEP databases, and monitoring clients throughout the relationship. Each function generates automatic audit trails that prove compliance.
AML software isn’t document storage. It’s not your practice management system with a files folder. It’s purpose-built compliance infrastructure that actively checks, screens, verifies, and alerts rather than passively storing information.
Why AML Software is Non-Negotiable for Accountants, Bookkeepers & Tax Advisers
Manual processes fail at scale for predictable reasons. Here’s exactly how AML software solves each failure point:
- Eliminates Human Error & Inconsistency
Different team members apply different standards. One person accepts a utility bill from four months ago. Another rejects it. AML software enforces standardised workflows that apply the same requirements for every client, every time. No variations, no gaps, no defensibility issues during HMRC inspections.
- Prevents Missing Documentation
Client documents arrive via email, get saved to random folders, or disappear when team members leave. AML software centralises storage with mandatory documentation checks before proceeding to next steps. Nothing moves forward until everything required is captured.
- Automates Sanctions Screening
Practices either skip sanctions screening or rely on manual searches that miss global sanctions lists. AML software screens automatically against all major lists (OFAC, UN, HMT, EU sanctions) updated in real-time. No guesswork, no exposure to sanctioned entities.
- Manages Expired Verifications
You verified a client three years ago. They’ve since moved, changed directors, or restructured ownership. Calendar reminders can’t sustain ongoing monitoring across dozens of clients. AML software handles automated review schedules, expiry alerts, and re-screening triggers based on risk classification.
The question isn’t whether your practice needs AML software. It’s how long you can afford to operate without the systematic compliance and audit trails that only proper software provides.
Discover how much your practice could save by switching from manual processes: Cost Savings of Automating AML & KYC for Accounting Practices
Cost Comparison: AML Software vs Traditional Methods
The real cost of AML compliance isn’t the software subscription. It’s the time your team spends on manual processes and the exposure you carry without proper systems. Here’s what the numbers actually show.
For a practice onboarding 50 new clients annually:
- Manual process = 50 clients × 60 minutes average = 50 hours.
- AML software = 50 clients × 15 minutes average = 12.5 hours.
At £75/hour billable rate = £2,812 in recovered time. Typical AML software subscription: £500-£1,200 annually. ROI timeline: 2-3 months.
Time savings tell only part of the story. HMRC penalties for AML failures are unlimited. Recent fines range from £10,000 for small breaches to £250,000+ for systematic failures. A single penalty exceeds ten years of software subscriptions. Factor in reputational damage, potential client loss, and legal costs, and the risk cost of manual processes dwarfs any subscription fee.
AML software isn’t an expense. It’s risk mitigation that pays for itself within the first quarter while protecting everything you’ve built.
Key Features to Look for in AML Software
Now you understand as an accountant, tax adviser, or bookkeeper why you need AML software, let’s look at how to select the right platform. Here are the top AML features that separate genuine AML solutions from glorified document storage systems.
- Electronic Identity Verification – Automated checking of identity documents against government and credit reference databases. Manual checking consumes 15-20 minutes per client and misses fraudulent IDs. Electronic verification completes in seconds with audit trails proving compliance.
- Real-Time Sanctions & PEP Screening – Automated checking against global sanctions lists (OFAC, UN, HMT, EU) and Politically Exposed Persons databases. These lists update daily. Manual checking is impossible to maintain accurately, and missing a sanctioned entity creates severe legal exposure.
- Companies House & PSC Verification – Direct integration with Companies House API to verify company details and identify Persons with Significant Control automatically. Eliminates time-consuming manual searches and transcription errors.
- Ongoing Monitoring & Periodic Reviews – Automated scheduling of client re-verification and continuous re-screening against updated sanctions and PEP lists. Client circumstances change, people become PEPs, and sanctions lists update daily.
- Complete Audit Trail & Documentation – Automatic timestamped record of every action, decision, verification, and document. HMRC inspections require proving what you did, when you did it, who did it, and why.
Based on your firm’s requirements, you might also consider factors like integration with your existing practice management software, multi-user access with role-based permissions, client portal functionality for document submission, customisable risk assessment frameworks tailored to accounting practices, bulk upload capabilities for existing client bases, white-label options if you want branded client experiences, and responsive customer support that understands UK accounting regulations.
AML Software Selection Checklist
Use this checklist when evaluating any AML platform. Any software that cannot tick every box cannot deliver complete AML compliance for UK accounting practices.
Top AML Software for Accountants, Bookkeepers & Tax Advisers in 2025
The AML software market includes dozens of platforms ranging from generic global compliance tools to accounting-specific solutions. Below is a quick overview of leading options for UK accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisers in 2025.
For detailed feature breakdowns, pricing analysis, and real-world testing of each platform, see our complete review: Top 5 AML Software for Accountants in 2025
How FigsFlow (#1 AML Software) Delivers Complete AML Compliance
FigsFlow was built by people who understand UK accounting practices because they lived the AML compliance frustration themselves. Every feature addresses a real gap that accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisers face under Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
While other platforms treat accountants as an afterthought, requiring workarounds to fit accounting workflows, FigsFlow was designed from day one around how accounting practices actually operate. The workflows use accounting terminology. The risk templates reflect accounting client types. The integrations connect with accounting software.
FigsFlow now includes a complete AML and KYC module, making it the only platform that handles your entire client journey from proposals to full compliance.
Here’s how FigsFlow Handles KYC
- Collect client documents electronically through secure portals
- Gather proof of identity and proof of address without email chains
- Verify document authenticity automatically using industry standard technology that checks against comprehensive government databases
- Store all documents in one organised place with instant access
And here’s how FigsFlow Handles AML
- Screen clients automatically against global sanctions lists, PEP databases, and adverse media
- Conduct risk assessments using purpose-built templates designed for accounting practices
- Apply Customer Due Diligence (CDD) workflows with automatic documentation
- Trigger Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) processes for high-risk clients systematically
- Schedule automated monitoring at custom intervals for ongoing compliance
- Receive notifications when client risk profiles change
- Generate complete audit trails with automatic timestamps for every action
- Export compliance reports ready for HMRC or regulatory review
All of this happens in one single workflow. Your client receives proposal and engagement letter through FigsFlow, submits documents via the secure portal, and FigsFlow handles everything from identity verification to ongoing monitoring automatically. Direct connections with Xero, QuickBooks, and practice management systems mean no duplicate data entry.
Simplify Your AML Compliance Today
FigsFlow delivers complete AML functionality at a fraction of the cost with transparent monthly subscription and affordable per-check fees.
See how AML compliance should actually work. Try FigsFlow free for 30 days with complete access to all features.
Additional Resources
- Money Laundering Regulations 2017 – Money Laundering Regulations 2017: consultation – GOV.UK
- HMRC AML Supervision Guidance – ECSH33335 – Enhanced due diligence – HMRC internal manual – GOV.UK
- What’s the Difference Between KYC & AML? – Difference between KYC & AML Explained | FigsFlow
- Step-by-Step Guide to Clients’ AML Checks for Accountants – Step-by-Step Guide to Clients’ AML Checks for Accountants
- 2025 Anti-Money Laundering ID Check Guide for Accountants in UK – 2025 Anti-Money Laundering ID Check Guide for Accountants in UK – FigsFlow
Conclusion
Manual AML compliance creates inevitable gaps: expired documents, missed sanctions screening, lost audit trails, and forgotten review schedules. This can be avoided with automated AML software that verifies identities, screens against sanctions and PEP lists, conducts risk assessments, and maintains complete audit trails automatically.
However, not all AML software are created equal. Even the best specialist platforms only serve one purpose. Achieving complete compliance means juggling multiple subscriptions and switching between disconnected systems.
This can be avoided with FigsFlow, which has everything from proposals and engagement letters to complete AML and KYC compliance in a single integrated workflow.
See how FigsFlow works in action. Book a FigsFlow demo and discover the difference purpose-built AML software makes for your practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pricing varies significantly by platform and model. Per-check models range from £1.50-£80 per client verification. Subscription models range from £50-£500+ monthly. FigsFlow combines transparent monthly subscription with affordable per-check fees, delivering complete functionality at a fraction of what comparable platforms charge.
Integration capability varies by platform. Leading solutions like FigsFlow integrate directly with Xero, QuickBooks, and major practice management systems, allowing client information to flow automatically without duplicate data entry. Always verify specific integration availability before committing to any platform.
Yes. Document storage isn’t AML compliance. AML software actively verifies identity documents, screens against sanctions lists, conducts risk assessments, triggers EDD workflows, schedules ongoing monitoring, and generates audit trails. Practice management systems store documents but don’t perform the verification and screening processes MLR 2017 requires.
FigsFlow is the best AML software for UK accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisers because it’s purpose-built for accounting practices. Unlike generic platforms or specialist tools that handle only one function, FigsFlow delivers complete AML and KYC compliance integrated with proposals, engagement letters, and practice management in a single workflow at transparent, affordable pricing.
Yes. Integrated platforms like FigsFlow handle both KYC verification and complete AML compliance in one workflow, eliminating gaps and ensuring everything is properly documented.
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