Summa Tech has added anti-money laundering (AML) checks to its cloud-based Onboarder client onboarding platform, bringing identity verification and AML screening into the same workflow used by accountancy firms to establish new client relationships.
The feature was introduced in September 2026 through an integration with identity-verification and compliance provider SmartSearch. According to Summa Tech, the expanded platform is designed to reduce the need for smaller accountancy practices to move between separate systems when completing onboarding, know-your-customer (KYC) and AML processes.
The development comes as UK accountancy firms continue to face requirements around customer due diligence, risk assessment, record keeping and suspicious activity reporting. HM Revenue & Customs guidance states that businesses covered by the Money Laundering Regulations must conduct customer due diligence and maintain appropriate internal controls and monitoring systems.
What Summa Tech’s Onboarder Platform Now Includes
Onboarder is designed to bring several stages of the client onboarding process into a single digital workflow.
According to Summa Tech, the platform now combines:
- Letters of engagement
- Electronic signatures
- Know-your-customer checks
- Client risk assessment
- Anti-money laundering verification
- Client onboarding documentation
The addition of AML functionality addresses one of the areas that had previously required an external process, according to Summa Tech chief executive Nathan Keeley.
The integration with SmartSearch provides the compliance-checking component while Onboarder remains the environment in which firms manage the broader onboarding process.
SmartSearch says its accountancy offering supports identity verification, business and beneficial-owner checks, risk assessment, sanctions and politically exposed person screening, and ongoing monitoring.
The practical significance is therefore less about introducing AML screening as a new capability and more about incorporating it into an existing onboarding sequence.
Why AML Integration Matters for Smaller Accountancy Firms
For smaller practices, client onboarding can involve several separate administrative processes.
A firm may need to collect client information, issue engagement documentation, obtain signatures, verify identities, assess risk and retain evidence of the checks performed. When different software products are used for individual stages, information may need to be transferred between systems.
An integrated workflow can potentially reduce duplicate data entry and make it easier to maintain a consistent record of the onboarding process. However, the existence of an integrated technology platform does not by itself establish regulatory compliance.
UK AML obligations remain the responsibility of the supervised firm.
ICAEW guidance for AML-supervised firms requires appropriate customer due diligence, including assessing money-laundering risks and verifying client identity and, where appropriate, source of funds. Firms must also maintain policies and controls based on their identified risks.
That distinction is important for firms evaluating automated AML technology. Software can support compliance processes, but firms still need appropriate policies, risk assessments, oversight and procedures.
UK Accountancy Firms Face Broader AML Requirements
The regulatory environment extends beyond simply checking a client’s identity.
The UK’s accountancy-sector AML framework requires supervised firms to consider the risks associated with their clients and services. HMRC identifies customer due diligence, record keeping and suspicious activity reporting among the responsibilities of accountancy service providers.
ICAEW’s 2026 guidance for smaller firms identifies eight core areas of AML compliance, including firm-wide risk assessment, written policies and procedures, customer due diligence, ongoing monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, staff training, compliance reviews and persons of significant control discrepancy reporting.
The regulatory focus is therefore broader than an initial identity check.
Customer due diligence must remain risk-based
UK AML guidance does not treat every customer as presenting the same level of risk.
HMRC’s current guidance describes customer due diligence as a risk-based process. The level of checks can vary depending on factors including the customer, business relationship, product or transaction, with enhanced due diligence applying in certain higher-risk circumstances.
For technology providers, this means an onboarding platform needs to fit into the firm’s wider compliance framework rather than simply producing an automated verification result.
SmartSearch Provides the AML Infrastructure
SmartSearch is an established provider of AML and identity-verification technology in the UK.
The company says its services are used by more than 7,000 regulated businesses and that its technology serves accountancy, legal, property, financial services and other regulated sectors. Those figures are company-reported rather than independent market measurements.
For accountancy firms, SmartSearch describes functionality covering individual identity verification, business and ultimate-beneficial-owner checks, risk assessment, enhanced due diligence, sanctions and politically exposed person screening and monitoring of changes in client risk.
Its integration model also allows compliance capabilities to be incorporated into other software systems rather than requiring users to operate the SmartSearch interface as a completely separate workflow.
That integration capability is central to Summa Tech’s approach with Onboarder.
The Potential Operational Impact of a Unified Workflow
Combining onboarding and AML checks can affect several parts of an accountancy firm’s administrative process.
Fewer separate systems
A single workflow can reduce the number of platforms staff need to access when establishing a client relationship.
More consistent records
Keeping engagement documents, signatures, risk assessments and verification results within connected workflows can make it easier to maintain an audit trail.
Reduced administrative duplication
Where the same client information would otherwise be entered into multiple systems, integration can reduce repetitive data handling.
Faster identification of outstanding steps
An integrated workflow may make it easier for staff to identify whether documentation, signatures or compliance checks remain incomplete.
These are operational benefits rather than evidence that a platform will automatically improve a firm’s compliance outcomes. Actual results will depend on how the software is configured and how firms use it within their existing control frameworks.
AML Technology Does Not Replace Compliance Oversight
The expansion of digital onboarding tools also creates an important distinction between automation and regulatory responsibility.
ICAEW’s AML supervision work continues to identify customer due diligence as an area where firms can fall short. Its 2024/25 monitoring findings highlighted issues involving CDD, risk documentation, policies, procedures, controls and training.
ICAEW has also reported that 11.6% of firms reviewed in one monitoring exercise were not performing and updating customer due diligence throughout the client relationship.
This illustrates why AML software should be viewed as part of a broader compliance system.
A successful onboarding check does not eliminate the need for ongoing monitoring, risk reassessment or escalation where circumstances change.
Pricing and Commercial Details Remain Undisclosed
Summa Tech has not publicly disclosed pricing for the expanded Onboarder service, customer numbers associated with the new AML capability or the commercial terms of its SmartSearch partnership in the material surrounding the launch.
The company is therefore yet to provide publicly disclosed data showing how the integration affects onboarding times, operating costs, customer acquisition or compliance outcomes for participating firms.
Those metrics will become increasingly relevant as integrated compliance platforms compete with standalone AML and KYC providers.
For smaller accountancy practices, the comparison is likely to involve more than software subscription prices. Implementation requirements, integration capabilities, data management, audit trails, support and the firm’s existing compliance processes can all affect the overall cost of adopting a platform.
What Accountancy Firms Will Need to Assess
For firms considering integrated AML onboarding technology, several factors remain relevant.
Regulatory coverage
The system needs to support the firm’s applicable AML obligations and risk-based procedures rather than simply provide an identity check.
Auditability
Firms need to retain appropriate evidence of customer due diligence and other compliance activity.
Ongoing monitoring
Initial onboarding is only one part of the client relationship. Risk can change after a client has been accepted.
Data protection and security
Client onboarding involves sensitive personal and business information, making data governance and security important considerations.
Integration
The value of a consolidated system depends partly on how well it connects with a firm’s existing accounting, practice-management and compliance processes.
Human oversight
Automated screening results may require review, escalation or additional information depending on the client’s risk profile.
The Broader Shift Toward Integrated Compliance Platforms
Summa Tech’s move reflects a broader direction in financial and professional-services technology: combining previously separate administrative and compliance functions into connected digital workflows.
The model can reduce the operational complexity associated with managing multiple applications. At the same time, regulatory obligations continue to require firms to understand their own risks and maintain appropriate controls.
For smaller accountancy practices in particular, the appeal of integrated platforms is likely to depend on whether they can provide compliance functionality without introducing the cost and implementation complexity traditionally associated with larger enterprise systems.
The competitive landscape will ultimately be shaped by measurable outcomes, including adoption, processing efficiency, reliability, auditability and the ability of firms to maintain effective AML controls.
Conclusion
Summa Tech’s integration of SmartSearch AML checks into Onboarder brings identity verification and anti-money laundering processes closer to the core client onboarding workflow used by accountancy firms.
The development addresses a practical issue for smaller practices that may otherwise rely on multiple systems for engagement documentation, electronic signatures, KYC and AML checks. However, the technology does not replace the firm’s responsibility for risk assessment, customer due diligence, ongoing monitoring and wider AML controls.
As UK accountancy firms face continued regulatory scrutiny, integrated onboarding technology is likely to remain an area of development within the broader regtech market. The significance of Summa Tech’s latest feature will depend on how firms adopt it and whether future evidence demonstrates measurable improvements in administrative efficiency and compliance management.
