AML/CTF compliance board for professional firms

Since 1 July 2026, Australian law firms, accountants, conveyancers and real estate agencies providing designated services have obligations under the AML/CTF regime. Small firms now need to identify and verify customers and beneficial owners, screen for sanctions and politically exposed persons, rate risk, keep records, train staff and report suspicious matters on time. Most are doing it with checklists in email and a spreadsheet, and nobody can see at a glance which matters are not yet cleared to proceed.

An illustrative compliance board that sits beside the practice management system.

• New matter gate: a matter cannot move to "cleared to act" until due diligence is complete and a person has signed it off.
• Customer due diligence board: new, ID requested, ID verified, beneficial owners identified, screened, risk rated, cleared, enhanced due diligence.
• AI preparation, human decision: the agent requests documents from the client, checks they are complete, runs sanctions and PEP screening, and proposes a risk rating with its reasons. The compliance officer approves or overrides every rating.
• Ongoing monitoring: re-screening on a schedule and when client details change, with alerts for matches.
• Suspicious matter workflow: staff raise a concern privately; the compliance officer decides whether to report; the board tracks the reporting deadline. The system never contacts the client about a concern, to avoid tipping off.
• Program register: risk assessment review date, staff training completion, independent evaluation due, record-keeping checks.

Roles: compliance officer, partners or principals, fee earners, administration.

Illustrative: designed from the regulatory obligations and the workflows of professional firms, not built for a specific business. Firms must still take their own compliance advice; the board organises the work, it does not decide it.