How Do Accounting Practices Manage AML Compliance Using Practice Management Software?

Key takeaway: UK accounting practices are legally required to conduct anti-money laundering checks on clients — yet most struggle to keep on top of them. Embedding AML compliance directly into practice management software transforms this from an overlooked admin burden into a streamlined, automated part of the client lifecycle.

UK accounting practices that fall under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) must conduct client due diligence checks before onboarding new clients and repeat them regularly thereafter. For most practices, however, AML compliance sits awkwardly outside their day-to-day workflows: a legal obligation managed through spreadsheets, manual reminders, and chased paperwork. The result is that checks get done at the start and then quietly forgotten.

BrightManager, Bright’s practice management tool, changes that by bringing AML checks into the same system accountants already use to quote, onboard, and manage clients.

AML Compliance Is a Legal Requirement

The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 apply to all accountancy service providers in the UK, including sole practitioners, small practices, and large firms. HMRC supervises many accountants directly under these regulations, and the penalties for non-compliance are significant.

Under MLR 2017, practices must:
• Verify the identity of clients before providing services
• Assess the risk that each client or matter could be used for money laundering or terrorist financing
• Conduct enhanced due diligence on higher-risk clients
• Keep records of the checks performed and the evidence gathered
• Monitor ongoing client relationships and repeat checks where there is a material change or on a regular cycle

That last point is where most practices fall short. Initial checks at onboarding are reasonably well understood. Ongoing monitoring, particularly annual or periodic re-checks of the client base, is the gap. It is not that practices are indifferent to compliance; it is that without a structured process, it simply does not happen consistently.

Embedding AML Checks Into Your Practice Management Workflow Closes the Gap

The logic is straightforward. Accountants already use practice management software to quote for new clients, send engagement letters, record contact details, and manage ongoing work. All of the information needed to conduct a meaningful AML check — client name, business type, services requested, risk indicators — is already in that system.

BrightManager, Bright’s practice management tool, puts AML checks at the point in the workflow where they are most natural: during client onboarding. When a new client quote progresses to engagement, the information captured in the quoting and onboarding process is immediately available to support the due diligence check. There is no need to re-enter data, hunt through emails, or switch between systems.

This matters for three reasons:

1. Completeness. The information needed to assess client risk is already to hand — registered address, business activity, the services being engaged for, and any notes from the initial conversation.

2. Accountability. AML tasks are assigned, tracked, and recorded in the same system used to manage all client work. There is a clear audit trail showing when a check was completed and by whom.

3. Consistency. Every new client goes through the same process, because the workflow makes it a required step rather than an optional one.

For practices subject to HMRC supervision, this kind of documented, repeatable process is exactly what supervisory visits are looking for.

Automation Means Annual AML Reviews Actually Happen

Initial onboarding checks are one thing. The harder problem is ongoing monitoring.

Best practice guidance from bodies including ICAEW and ACCA is clear: client due diligence should not be a one-time event. Risk profiles change — businesses restructure, ownership changes, the nature of services evolves. Annual reviews are widely recommended as a minimum for the general client base, with more frequent reviews for higher-risk clients.

In practice, very few firms do this consistently. The reason is not ignorance of the requirement — most practitioners know they should be reviewing clients annually. The reason is that without a system to prompt the check, it falls off the list. There are client deadlines, tax returns, payroll runs. An AML review for a client who onboarded two years ago simply does not rise to the top.

BrightManager, Bright’s practice management tool, addresses this through workflow automation. Rather than relying on a partner to remember, the software creates a task automatically — triggered by the anniversary of the original check, or on a schedule set by the practice. The accountant receives a clear, actionable prompt: this client is due for their annual AML review.

This shift (from discretionary to automatic) is significant. The annual check does not depend on memory, goodwill, or a spreadsheet someone has to update manually. It is built into the system.

Automation Goes Further: Drafting the Client Communication for You

There is a second layer of automation that takes the friction out of AML reviews even further.

One reason annual re-checks are delayed is the correspondence they require. Asking a client to re-confirm their identity, explain a change in their business structure, or provide updated documentation can feel awkward — particularly for long-standing clients. Writing the email from scratch each time adds to the friction.
BrightManager, Bright’s practice management tool, can generate the client-facing email as part of the automated workflow. When the AML review task is triggered, the software drafts the communication automatically — pulling in the client’s name, the relevant details, and the specific information or documentation being requested. The accountant reviews it, makes any adjustments, and sends.

The outcome is that completing an AML review is reduced to a single decision: press send. The system has already done the preparation.

This is not a trivial improvement. In a firm with hundreds of clients, the cumulative time saved across annual reviews is substantial. More importantly, it means compliance actually happens — not because the team is more diligent, but because the process is designed so that doing nothing takes more effort than completing the check.

What Good AML Practice Looks Like in BrightManager

For practices looking to use BrightManager, Bright’s practice management tool, to strengthen their AML compliance, the workflow looks like this:

1. New client quoting — Risk indicators are noted during the initial client intake, captured alongside the quote

2. Onboarding — An AML check task is generated automatically as part of the engagement setup; the accountant completes the check with all relevant client information already visible in the system

3. Ongoing monitoring — Annual review tasks are created automatically for each client, based on the date of the last check

4. Client communication — The system drafts the review email; the accountant approves and sends

5. Record-keeping — All checks, outcomes, and correspondence are logged in the client record, creating a clear audit trail.

This is a closed loop, from onboarding through ongoing review, managed inside the same tool used to run the practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

This content may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. Content is reviewed by a member of the Bright team before publication. Guidance on legislation can be obtained from your industry body.