Why do you need my passport?

If you decide you want or need to appoint an accountant, you will be asked to provide photographic identification. This helps to establish that you are who you say you are and goes towards compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.

Have you ever watched the American TV series Breaking Bad? In this series a chemistry teacher suffering from cancer tries to provide for his family by producing and selling drugs. But how does he make sure that it looks like his extra earnings have come from legitimate sources? He buys the local car wash and gradually sneaks the money through as extra sales of course. The profits of the company are “cleaned” in this way and look they come from a legitimate source. And that’s where an accountant comes in, always on the lookout for unusual activity in their client’s books. It’s a great series and well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it!

If you are not asked for to confirm your identity, you should ask yourself whether this is the right accountant to be working for you, are there other laws that are not being followed?

Money laundering is a major problem in the UK with an estimated £90bn being laundered through the UK each year. It is often small, cash run businesses that are used for money laundering. Because of this, accountants are at the front line of prevention and are mandated to ensure that we know who we are working with.

There are two reasons that I ask for photo ID before working with you.

• I am obliged to comply with the anti-money laundering regulations.
• It’s important that I know that the person instructing me to do the work actually has the authority to make the decision to appoint me.

A copy of your photo ID sits in your client file and remains there until 5 years after the end of our business relationship, at which point it is destroyed.

It’s not just about checking your ID once, filing it and forgetting all about it. Accountants are also required to speak to your previous accountant before taking you on as a client. Anti-money laundering processes are a constant part of my business that I revisit every time I pick up client documents to start work.

The law on Anti-Money laundering is in the process of being updated and I will of course be updating my processes to ensure I comply with the new regulations. It looks like accountants will be required to use electronic verification to confirm the identity of those they are working with, which won’t remove the need to hold photographic ID as well.