AML checks are not optional. They are not a nice-to-have. And if you are running an accounting or bookkeeping practice in the UK, they are your legal responsibility.
So what do they actually cost?
A standard AML check in the UK costs anywhere from £2.00 to £6.00 per check, depending on the software you use. Some providers bundle checks into packages. Others charge a monthly platform fee on top. A few offer pay-as-you-go.
With FigsFlow, an AML check costs £2.10 + VAT. That is it.
But before we get into the numbers, let us make sure we are all talking about the same thing.
What Is an AML Check?
AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering. An AML check is the process of verifying that your client is who they say they are, and that they are not on a sanctions list, a politically exposed persons register, or flagged for financial crime.
For accountants, tax advisors, and bookkeepers in the UK, this is not optional. AML checks are part of your Know Your Client (KYC) obligations. You are required by law to verify your clients before providing regulated services.
The reason is straightforward. Your practice can be used, knowingly or unknowingly, to facilitate financial crime. An AML check is your first line of defence against that.
Every check answers one question: can I actually act for this person?
What Does an AML Check Include?
A proper AML check covers three things.
- Identity Verification
Confirming that your client is a real person and that the document they have provided matches who they claim to be. Modern software does this biometrically, via a selfie and a photo ID, without any manual review needed on your end. - PEP & Sanctions Screening
Checking your client against politically exposed persons databases and global sanctions lists. If a client appears on either, you need to know before you onboard them, not six months in. - Ongoing Monitoring
A one-time check at onboarding is not enough. Circumstances change. Good AML software monitors your clients continuously and alerts you if their risk profile changes.
Some providers include all three as standard. Others charge separately for ongoing monitoring. Check what you are actually getting before you commit to a platform.
Is an AML Check Mandatory for Accountants in the UK?
If you provide accountancy, tax, or bookkeeping services in the UK, you fall under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. That means you are legally required to conduct Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on every client before you begin working with them.
This applies whether you are a sole trader running a small bookkeeping practice or a partner at a mid-sized accountancy firm. Size does not matter. Turnover does not matter. The obligation is the same.
Your supervisory body, whether that is ICAEW, ACCA, AAT, or HMRC, expects you to have documented AML procedures in place. If you are inspected and you cannot demonstrate that you have been checking clients, the consequences are serious.
What Happens If I Do Not Carry Out AML Checks?
Two things. Regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Neither is recoverable quickly.
The FCA and HMRC have both issued significant fines to firms that failed to meet their AML obligations. We are not talking about minor administrative penalties. Fines run into the tens of thousands. In serious cases, firms have had their licences revoked.
Beyond the financial hit, there is the client fallout. If it comes out that your firm onboarded a client without proper due diligence and that client was later implicated in financial crime, your firm’s name is attached to that story.
The question is never really “can I afford to do AML checks?” It is “Can I afford not to?”
Who Is Responsible for Conducting AML Checks?
In a sole trader practice, the answer is simple: you.
In a firm with multiple staff, responsibility sits with the nominated officer, often called the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO). This person is responsible for overseeing AML compliance across the practice, reviewing flagged cases, and reporting suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency if needed.
That does not mean the MLRO runs every check manually. The day-to-day process of collecting client ID, running checks, and storing results can and should be handled by software. But the oversight, the sign-off, the escalation decisions, those belong to a named person in your firm.
If you do not have an MLRO appointed, that is the first thing to fix.
When Should I Carry Out an AML Check?
AML checks must be completed before you begin acting for a client. Not after the initial meeting. Not once the engagement has been agreed. Before any regulated work begins.
Certain circumstances also require you to re-verify an existing client. These include a significant change in the scope or nature of the work, a change in ownership or control of a business, or any transaction that appears unusual given what you know about that client.
The most effective practices treat AML checks as a built-in stage of onboarding rather than a standalone compliance task. Embedded in your workflow, it takes minutes. Left as an afterthought, it creates gaps in your records and exposure in your practice.
Do I Need to Re-Check Existing Clients?
Yes, in certain circumstances.
If a client’s circumstances change materially, if there is a change in beneficial ownership, if you start providing a new category of service, or if something about their activity raises a concern, you are expected to refresh your due diligence.
Some firms run periodic reviews on all clients, typically annually, as a matter of policy. This is good practice and, more importantly, it is defensible. If your supervisory body ever asks how you manage ongoing CDD, “we review all clients annually and run checks on material changes” is a much better answer than “we checked them when they joined.”
Good AML software makes this easy. Ongoing monitoring means you are not manually re-running checks. The software flags changes. You review. You document. Done.
How Much Do AML Checks Cost Across Different Software Providers?
This is where it gets interesting.
Pricing across UK AML software varies more than you would expect for what is essentially the same underlying service. Here is an honest look at what the market looks like right now.
All prices + VAT. Correct as of 2026. Always verify pricing directly with the provider.
The honest summary: most practices doing standard UK client onboarding will find everything they need in the £2.00 to £3.00 per check range. The more you pay, the more you tend to be paying for either volume flexibility, international coverage, or features you may not actually use.
What Is the Cheapest AML Check in the UK?
Based on current pricing, FigsFlow offers one of the most competitive per-check rates in the UK at £2.10 + VAT, with no trade-off on what is included.
That matters because cheap does not always mean cost-effective. A low per-check price that sits inside a clunky platform, requires manual data entry, or does not include ongoing monitoring, will cost you more in time than it saves you in money.
With FigsFlow, the AML check sits inside a complete client onboarding workflow. You send the request, the client completes verification on their phone in minutes, and the results are stored automatically against their record. There is no chasing, no manual filing, and no separate compliance tool to log into.
For a practice onboarding even ten new clients a month, the time saving alone justifies the platform fee. The AML check cost is almost beside the point.
Conclusion
AML checks are not expensive. They are not complicated. And with the right software, they are not time-consuming either.
At £2.10 per check, the cost of staying compliant is less than a coffee. The cost of ignoring it is an enforcement notice, a fine, or worse, a client relationship that quietly exposes your firm to financial crime.
The practices that build AML into their onboarding process now will scale cleanly. The ones that keep treating it as a separate task will keep falling behind, one missed check at a time.
FigsFlow makes the whole thing take under ten minutes of your time. The client does the work. You get the result. Your records stay clean.
That is not just compliance. That is how a modern practice runs.
Ready to run your first AML check? Get started with FigsFlow today.
FAQ
With modern software, the client-facing part takes two to three minutes. They receive a link, upload their ID, complete a biometric selfie, and the results come back automatically. You do not need to be involved in real time. By the time you sit down to review a new client, the check is already done.
Technically, yes. You can ask clients to send copies of their passports or driving licences, run their names through a free sanctions list, and store the results in a folder. Practices did this for years.
Yes. AML check pricing is typically quoted exclusive of VAT. Factor in 20% on top when budgeting.
Yes, though business checks are typically more involved and often priced separately. You may need to verify beneficial owners, check the company itself, and assess the nature of the business. Some providers charge a higher rate for entity checks.
