You know you need an AML/CTF program before 1 July 2026. But where do you actually start?
Most business owners hit the same wall: AUSTRAC's guidance runs to 200+ pages, consultants quote $5,000–$10,000, and the DIY templates floating around online are generic and outdated.
We built AML Mate to solve exactly this problem. In this series, we'll walk you through the entire platform with real screenshots — so you can see exactly what you get before you sign up.
This is Part 1: signing up, setting up your business, and getting your personalised risk assessment.
What Happens When You Sign Up
Creating an account takes 30 seconds — email, password, done. No credit card required for the 14-day trial.
The moment you're in, AML Mate starts a guided onboarding wizard. No blank screens, no "figure it out yourself." The wizard asks you straightforward questions about your business:
- Business name and ABN — we validate your ABN against the Australian Business Register
- Your industry — accountant, lawyer, real estate agent, conveyancer, or jeweller
- Designated services — which specific services trigger AML/CTF obligations (the wizard only shows services relevant to your industry)
- Your compliance officer — who's responsible for your AML/CTF program
Here's what matters: every answer you give here pre-fills the rest of your program. Your industry selection determines which AUSTRAC starter kit template is used. Your designated services determine your risk profile. Your compliance officer details flow into Part A of your program automatically.
You're not filling in a form for the sake of it — you're building the foundation that everything else sits on.
Your Personalised Risk Assessment
Once onboarding is complete, AML Mate runs a deterministic risk assessment against your business profile. This isn't a generic questionnaire — it's a scored assessment based on the actual risk factors AUSTRAC identifies for your industry.
The assessment evaluates:
| Risk Category | What It Considers |
|---|---|
| Customer risk | Types of customers you serve (individuals, companies, trusts, foreign clients) |
| Service risk | Which designated services you provide and their inherent ML/TF risk |
| Geographic risk | Whether you deal with customers or transactions in FATF high-risk jurisdictions |
| Channel risk | How you deliver services (face-to-face, online, through intermediaries) |
| Product risk | Complexity and value of the services you provide |
Each category gets a clear risk rating — high, medium, or low — with specific explanations for why that rating was assigned. No black boxes, no vague statements. You can see exactly what drives your risk profile.
This risk assessment becomes Part A of your AML/CTF program. It's not a separate exercise you need to do — it's already done.
Your Dashboard: Everything at a Glance
After onboarding, you land on your compliance dashboard. This is your home base — a single screen that tells you where you stand and what needs attention.
What you'll see:
- Compliance score — a percentage showing how complete your program is, based on what AUSTRAC requires
- Countdown to 1 July 2026 — how many days you have left (and key milestones before then)
- Action items — specific tasks that still need completing: finish your program, add your first client, complete staff training
- Quick stats — number of clients, reports filed, alerts pending
The compliance score isn't vanity metrics. It's calculated against AUSTRAC's actual requirements: do you have a written program? Have you appointed a compliance officer? Are you conducting CDD? Are you monitoring transactions? Each requirement you meet moves the score up.
Think of it as your audit readiness indicator. When AUSTRAC asks "show us your program," your score tells you whether you're ready to answer.
What We Just Did in 5 Minutes
Let's recap what's already in place:
- Business profile with validated ABN and industry classification
- Designated services mapped to your specific AML/CTF obligations
- Compliance officer appointed and recorded
- Risk assessment scored across 5 categories with clear ratings
- Dashboard tracking your progress against AUSTRAC requirements
No templates to download. No guidance documents to interpret. No consultant meetings to schedule.
And this is just the starting point. In the next part of this series, we'll open up the AML/CTF Program editor and show you how Parts A through F are pre-filled with industry-specific content from AUSTRAC's official starter kits.
This is Part 1 of our "Inside AML Mate" series. Coming up next:
- Part 2: Your AML/CTF Program — what Parts A–F look like and how to customise them
- Part 3: Client management — adding customers, running CDD, and automatic sanctions screening
- Part 4: Reporting — how to file SMRs and TTRs
- Part 5: Staff training and audit-ready exports
Want to see it for yourself? Start your 14-day free trial — no credit card required. Or run a free compliance check first to see what your obligations are.