Registered office and company formation services and AML

People search “company formation AML Australia” when a tax practice forms a company and provides its street address, and treats both as paperwork with no customer question. Checked against AUSTRAC’s professional designated services page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The wider accountant service test is designated services for accountants. Who you then identify on the company is the beneficial owner of a company. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Formation and the address are services

A tax practice often forms the company, holds the records, and lets the client use the practice address as the registered office. Each of those can be a service the AML/CTF regime cares about, depending on how the professional designated services are drawn. AUSTRAC’s page is the description. This page does not copy the list and does not tell you that your particular retainer is in or out.

Write the service you actually sell. “Shelf company”, “we incorporate”, and “use our address” should each have a line in the program: in scope or not, and why. A client who only wants the address is still a customer question if that service is designated.

• Name the product. Formation, registered office, and nominee roles are different products. A single line that says “company secretarial” hides which one you provide.
• Do not hide behind the tax file. The same client may have a tax return that is out of scope and a formation that is in scope. Split the files.
• The address is not a favour. If the program treats the registered office as a designated service, the customer is identified under that program. A mailbox number is not CDD.
• Then identify the people the program names. The company check and the individuals are separate. The beneficial-owner page is where that test lives.

What the practice is selling

Sort the invoice line before you sort the identity documents. The invoice is the clue to the service. The service is the clue to the program.

Where the formation page stops

This page is formation and the registered office. It is not the full accountant service list and it is not the beneficial-owner test. Those are designated services for accountants and the beneficial owner of a company.

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. Deciding that a formation is in scope is not included in the firm suite, and neither is the ASIC lodgement. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide that a formation or a registered office is a designated service.

Frequently Asked Questions