File note template for a CDD decision

People search “CDD file note template” when a lawyer needs the CDD decision to be readable six months later and is about to write it as a long email. Checked against AUSTRAC’s page on AML/CTF policies on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. A fuller collection list is the customer due diligence checklist. The free checklist page is the free CDD checklist. The sector map is /tranche-2.

What the note has to hold

A file note is how a later reader, or AUSTRAC, sees that the program was applied, and the CDD file note template is a fixed set of lines so the busy file still has them. It does not contain the reasoning for every client type, and that reasoning lives in the program. On the matter you record the facts and the decision: in scope or not, the rating, the measures you used, and whether you waited, while policies stay the firm-wide rules. The note is this matter.

Keep it short enough that it is written before the work proceeds, and a two-page essay after settlement is a reconstruction. One page on the day is a record. This page does not reproduce AUSTRAC’s policy guidance and it is not legal advice on privilege, and if a suspicious matter is in view, the note must not be written in a way you then send to the client. What you tell the client is a different page.

• Customer and service first. The name on the note is the customer in the program, not whoever rang. The service is the one you are actually providing.
• Rating and measures on the same page. A rating with no statement of what you then did is half a decision.
• Outstanding items are explicit. If a check is not back, say so, and say whether the designated service is paused.
• Name the decision-maker and the date. A note with no owner cannot be reviewed when the matter changes.

Lines worth keeping

Pre-commencement customers have their own timing, on pre-commencement customer AML. Do not use this note to re-badge an old client as new, or the reverse.

Where the file-note page stops

This page is the shape of a CDD decision note. It is not the checklist of evidence and it is not the suspicious-matter record. FreeAML does not write the note or make the decision.

What the client pays

On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. The note is not a check, and writing it does not include the client-pays KYC or KYB price. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not make the CDD decision or turn a note into your program.

Frequently Asked Questions