Two Requests, One Onboarding: PBC and AML in the Same Flow
New clients face two document asks at once — the compliance-driven AML check and the work-driven PBC list. Running them as one flow keeps onboarding tidy and defensible.
A new client signs on, and within a day they receive two separate document requests from your firm. One is the AML/KYC check — proof of identity, verification of the entity, source-of-funds questions if the engagement calls for it. The other is the PBC (prepared by client) list — the trial balance, the bank statements, the loan agreements, the payroll summaries you need to actually do the work.
Both are legitimate. Both are necessary. But when they arrive as two disconnected emails, from two different people, referencing two different deadlines, the client experiences one thing: a firm that doesn't seem to have its house in order. And your team experiences another: two chase lists to run in parallel, with no single view of what's outstanding.
Why these two requests get separated in the first place
The split is usually structural, not deliberate. AML onboarding is often owned by whoever manages compliance and risk — the practice owner, an office manager, sometimes an external verification tool. The PBC list is owned by the accountant assigned to the job. These are different roles with different systems, so the two document flows never meet.
The result is predictable:
- The client identity documents come back promptly, but the PBC items trickle in over three weeks.
- Or the PBC list is half-complete and the job starts, while the AML check quietly sits unfinished because everyone assumed it was done at signup.
- Nobody can answer "what are we still waiting on from this client?" without checking two places.
The most dangerous version is the second one. Starting billable work before AML verification is complete isn't just untidy — under the AML/CTF regime it's a genuine compliance exposure. And because the PBC list feels more urgent (it's blocking the actual job), the identity check is the one that slips.
Treat onboarding as one document event, not two
The fix is to stop thinking of AML and PBC as separate workstreams and start treating the first 30 days of a new client as a single, sequenced onboarding event. Same client record, same request mechanism, same place to see what's outstanding.
Sequence matters here. AML/KYC should gate the work — verification comes first, and the PBC requests for a given job follow once the client is properly onboarded. That ordering isn't just good practice; it stops your firm from doing work it may not be able to bill, or worse, work it shouldn't have accepted.
What a combined onboarding flow looks like
- One trigger. The moment a client is accepted, both the AML checklist and the initial PBC list are generated — not left to whoever remembers.
- One request channel. The client uploads identity documents and financial records to the same portal, not to two inboxes.
- One outstanding view. Anyone in the firm can open the client and see: AML — verified or pending; PBC — items received, items still owed.
- One set of reminders. Automated nudges chase what's missing, whether it's a driver's licence scan or last year's depreciation schedule.
This is where good accounting client management software earns its place. The point isn't to add another tool to the pile — it's to collapse two parallel processes into one flow attached to a single client record.
Where Finye fits
In Finye, onboarding lives against the client, not scattered across inboxes. When you take on a new client, you can run the AML/KYC check and issue document requests from the same place, and the client portal gives the client one destination to upload everything — identity documents and PBC items alike. Requests can be itemised, so instead of one vague "please send your records" email, the client sees a clear list and ticks items off as they upload.
Because it's all tied to the client and the work items on your boards, the status is visible without opening six screens. You can see at a glance that AML verification is complete before the job moves off "waiting on client", and that the PBC list is either satisfied or specifically incomplete — down to the one item that's holding things up. Built-in AI can also help read and sort the documents as they arrive, so uploads don't just land in a folder waiting for someone to file them.
None of this replaces your professional judgement on AML risk, and Finye isn't a verification bureau — it's the practice layer that makes sure the check happens, gets recorded, and gates the work the way it should.
The register angle nobody talks about
There's a second reason to keep AML onboarding inside your client accounting system rather than in a spreadsheet or a one-off tool: AML isn't a one-time event. Verification needs to stay current. Risk ratings can change. Ongoing due diligence obligations don't end when the client's first return is lodged.
If your AML records live outside the system where you manage the client relationship, they go stale. The check you did at onboarding two years ago becomes the check you can't easily prove you did, and the trigger to refresh it never fires. Keeping AML status against the live client record — the same record that drives your work, your deadlines and your invoicing — means the information stays where it's used and where it's maintained.
What good looks like
You'll know onboarding is working when a new client's first experience is one clean set of requests, sequenced sensibly, with reminders that do the chasing for you. Your team should be able to answer three questions from a single screen:
- Is this client AML-verified, and is that verification current?
- What PBC items are still outstanding, specifically?
- Can we start — or bill — the work yet?
When AML and PBC live in the same flow, those questions stop being a scavenger hunt. The compliance check gets done because it's part of the process, not a favour someone remembers. And the client gets an onboarding that feels organised — which, more than any marketing, is what tells them they've chosen the right firm.