The annual AML refresh is one of the most resented exercises in a UK accountancy practice. Somebody - usually the MLRO or a paralegal - opens a vast spreadsheet, sorts by last-reviewed date, exports a list of overdue clients, and starts a months-long chase for updated ID documents, refreshed risk ratings, and re-screened sanctions hits. The work is essential and almost never on time. The Compliance Radar in Accupe is built to replace that spreadsheet entirely.
What the Radar holds against each client
For every client in the firm, the Compliance Radar maintains a live record of: the current AML risk rating (low, standard, high), the date of the last CDD or EDD refresh, the next scheduled refresh date, the expiry dates of all collected ID and verification documents, the date and outcome of the last sanctions and PEP screen, any open adverse-media hits awaiting review, and the open and closed actions raised against the client.
All of this is held against the client profile rather than in a parallel spreadsheet, which means a partner can see the AML status alongside the jobs, deadlines, billing position and document store without switching tools.
The red/amber/green view
The Radar presents the whole client book as a sortable view with status indicators. Red flags an overdue refresh or expired document. Amber flags a refresh or expiry inside the next 30 days. Green confirms current. The MLRO can stand in front of the view, point at the reds, and assign them out in a meeting that takes 20 minutes rather than an afternoon.
Filtering by risk band, sector, or assigned partner lets the firm carve up the work sensibly - high-risk first, by responsible partner, with the team member who handles property clients picking up the property segment.
Document expiry tracking that actually fires
One of the most common findings in supervision reviews is firms holding expired identification on file - a passport that ran out three years ago, a utility bill from 2019. The Radar tracks the expiry date of each collected document and surfaces it before it lapses. The client receives an automated request through the secure portal to upload a refreshed copy. The MLRO sees only the exceptions that need intervention.
Screening that runs even when the team forgets
Accupe's AML screening - via the OpenSanctions integration - covers sanctions, PEP, and adverse media. The Radar holds the cadence: continuous sanctions re-screen, configurable PEP and adverse-media cadence, event-driven triggers on beneficial-owner changes pulled from Companies House.
When a new sanctions designation lands, matching clients surface on the Radar with a hit awaiting review. The MLRO reviews, records the clearance or escalation rationale, and closes the action. The audit trail is created automatically - no spreadsheet, no email chain, no "I think I cleared that one in July."
What it does not do
The Radar produces the audit trail. The firm submits any SARs to the NCA through the SAR Online portal - the MLRO writes and submits, the platform records that submission and the outcome. The Radar does not file with the NCA on the firm's behalf, and no responsible vendor should claim otherwise. The same applies to OFSI licence applications, which remain a firm-side action.
The Radar also does not replace human judgement on CDD or EDD calls. It surfaces the events, holds the evidence, and tracks the actions. The MLRO and the partners decide on the substantive call.
The annual review reframed
With the Radar in place, the AML annual refresh ceases to be a discrete project and becomes a continuous, low-effort process. The MLRO runs a weekly 15-minute review of reds and ambers, assigns actions, and clears them through the portal. The MLRO annual report writes itself from the platform's log: client counts by risk band, refresh completion rates, document-expiry hit rates, screening event volumes, and unresolved actions.
At supervision time, the firm exports a current risk-rated client list in one click and walks the inspector through the audit trail of any sampled file in another. The work that used to take a fortnight to prepare for is already prepared.
Operational cost recovered
Firms that move from a spreadsheet-driven refresh to the Compliance Radar typically recover hundreds of non-billable hours a year. The hours are redeployed to fee-earning work or, more often, to advisory capacity that previously did not exist. The compliance function moves from being a tax on the firm's operations to being a structured, defensible programme that runs in the background.
Closing
The annual AML refresh does not have to be a quarterly panic followed by a January scramble. Hold the data once, against the client profile, with the cadence and the screening built in. Let the platform surface the exceptions and the team handle them. The Compliance Radar in Accupe is the practice-management layer for AML - the actual NCA submission, OFSI licensing, and substantive judgement remain where they should be, with the firm and its MLRO.