From 1 July 2026, accounting firms that provide designated services are reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act. OneHQ builds customer due diligence, screening and record-keeping into the practice you already run — not another subscription to bolt on.
AUSTRAC enrolment opened for newly regulated professions.
1 Jul 2026
Obligations commenced. CDD applies to new engagements for designated services.
29 Jul 2026
Enrol with AUSTRAC and notify your AML/CTF compliance officer by this date (or 14 days after enrolling).
Dates reflect the AML/CTF reforms as they apply to Tranche 2 entities. This page is general information, not legal or compliance advice — confirm your own obligations with AUSTRAC and your professional body.
Does your firm need to comply?
Tranche 2 of the AML/CTF reforms extends anti-money-laundering obligations to accountants — but only where you provide a designated service under the Act. It is the service that triggers the obligation, not the client.
Commonly in scope
Assisting to set up companies, trusts or other structures
Acting on, or arranging, the buying and selling of a business or entity
Managing client money, accounts or assets as part of a designated service
Not a designated service on its own
General tax return preparation, routine bookkeeping and ordinary advisory work do not, by themselves, trigger AML/CTF obligations. The distinction matters — and OneHQ is built to record it per client, rather than treating your whole list as one flag.
A long-standing client is not automatically low-risk. A 15-year tax client asking for their first company setup is a new designated service. OneHQ keeps the well-established assessment (TPB) and pre-commencement status (AUSTRAC) as separate legal tests — it never merges them into one "legacy client" tick.
What OneHQ's AML module does
AML lives on the main rail beside your jobs and files — same list, same worklist grammar. A matter behaves like a job; a person is a record you identify once and re-screen as needed, drawn from your existing client list rather than typed again.
Customer due diligence
A CDD worksheet per matter — identify the individuals behind an entity, capture the risk assessment, and record the determination against the client.
Identity verification
Record in-person or prior-system identity, or run a digital identity check. The strongest evidence attaches straight to the person's record.
Risk-based review clock
Saving a risk assessment sets the re-screening cadence for you. Freshness pills and a "needs screening" queue tell you what is due, and when.
Records that outlive tidying
Verifications are 7-year retention records. A relied-on check can't be casually deleted; it's voided with a reason, auditably, and exports as a regulator-ready file.
Bring your existing clients across in one pass
You don't click through two thousand clients. A bulk migration writes an individual record per client, distinguishing a well-established assessment from clients whose identity was checked in a prior system — never pretending everyone before today was verified. Recent arrivals are set aside so their ID actually gets checked.
Built in, not bolted on
Most firms answer Tranche 2 by buying yet another subscription — a standalone KYC or screening tool that doesn't know your client list, your groups or your jobs. That's the exact problem OneHQ exists to remove.
One client record. The person you screen is the client you already hold — identity carries across, so you never ask for what OneHQ already knows.
One place to look. A client's AML status sits on the same record as their jobs, calls, emails and documents.
One less bill. AML is part of OneHQ, not a separate per-check invoice from an outside provider.
OneHQ is your system of record, not your compliance officer. You still enrol with AUSTRAC, adopt your own AML/CTF program and appoint a compliance officer. OneHQ is where the customer due diligence, screening and records that program requires actually live and stay current.
AML is the boring bit. It rides on the best part.
Nobody chooses their practice software for the money-laundering module. They choose it because it makes the whole day lighter — and AML happens to come along, done properly, for free.
In OneHQ a client's AML status sits on the same record as every call, email, SMS, signature and job. One list grammar across the whole app, one search bar, one screen that shows the next action instead of a wall of buttons. When a client rings, their entire story is already in front of you — compliance included — before reception transfers the call.
That's the real pitch. See how OneHQ turns a dozen disconnected subscriptions into one place worth using, or reach it with the AI you already use over our MCP connector.
Frequently asked
Obligations for Tranche 2 entities, including in-scope accountants, commenced on 1 July 2026. AUSTRAC opened enrolment on 31 March 2026, and firms must enrol and notify their AML/CTF compliance officer by 29 July 2026 (or within 14 days of enrolling). Confirm your specific timing with AUSTRAC.
Only where you provide a designated service under the Act — for example assisting to form companies or trusts, arranging the sale of a business, or managing client money or assets as part of that service. General tax return preparation and routine bookkeeping do not, on their own, trigger obligations.
No. You enrol with AUSTRAC, adopt your own AML/CTF program and appoint a compliance officer. OneHQ is the system where the customer due diligence, screening and record-keeping that program requires are carried out and kept current — including a regulator-ready export of a client's file.
AML is built into OneHQ, working from the client list you already hold. Digital identity verification is available where you want the strongest evidence, but the matters, person records, risk clock and retention are all part of the platform — not a separate subscription.
A bulk migration writes an individual record per existing client, recording whether the relationship is well-established or was identity-checked in a prior system — without ever claiming everyone was freshly verified. Clients who joined in the last 90 days are set aside so their identity is actually checked rather than assumed.
One place for the whole practice — AML included
See how OneHQ brings compliance, Xero, comms and jobs into a single client record.