Most software comparisons lead with productivity. For a practice, the more expensive question is compliance — because a missed deadline or a thin AML file costs more than a slow afternoon.
Deadlines are a compliance issue
A deadline tracked in one person's head is a single point of failure. Client obligations need to sit in a system that shows them whether or not anybody thinks to look.
AML files are the other one
Client AML is not the identity check alone. It is the check, the risk assessment, and the dated evidence that both happened — held somewhere you can produce on request.
- Identity verification held against the client
- Risk assessment recorded and reviewed
- An audit trail with dates
If those three live in different places, an inspection becomes an archaeology exercise.
Ongoing review, not a one-off
A client file assessed at onboarding and never revisited goes stale. Scheduled review is what keeps the file honest, and it is much easier when it sits on the client record rather than in a diary.
The practical checklist
- Every client deadline visible in one view
- AML checks, assessment and trail on the client file
- Review scheduled rather than remembered
- Role-based access so material is seen by the right people
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