Pass the KYC cost to the client without looking like a junk fee

People search “pass on KYC cost to client” when an agency adds 'AML admin' as a round number on the vendor's invoice and the vendor asks what the charge bought. Checked against AUSTRAC's real estate examples of dealing with customers on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. Whether you can charge the client at all is can you charge the client for an AML check. How to say it plainly is how to talk about AML with clients. The sector map is /tranche-2.

A junk fee is a surprise. This price is not.

Vendors notice a new line described as admin, compliance, or technology, with a number that does not match any receipt. That is the junk-fee feeling, even when the underlying check was real. The clean version is earlier and plainer. The client will verify their own identity, they will pay the provider, and the amount is the list price.

On FreeAML the agency is not out of pocket for a monthly suite, so there is nothing honest to 'recover' as a markup. Email the link, and let the client pay A$20 or A$40. If your question is whether the law or your retainer even allows you to charge, that is the other page. This page is how the charge looks, and it does not give you a script, and it does not touch tax treatment.

• Say it before the invoice. The first time they see the cost should not be a line they cannot decode.
• Name it as their check. Identity verification, paid to the provider, not 'admin' and not 'technology'.
• Use the list price. A$20 for a person. A$40 for a company or trust. A round number you made up is the problem.
• Do not double it. The firm suite is A$0. Adding a second agency fee on top of the client's payment is how it looks like a junk fee.

How the cost shows up

Where the junk-fee page stops

This page is how a client-pays check avoids looking like a junk fee. It is not the legal 'can you charge' answer, and it is not a script for the conversation. Those are can you charge the client for an AML check and how to talk about AML with clients.

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 agency does not need a recovery line for a suite it does not pay for, because the client already pays the provider for the check. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not set your invoice wording or add a markup on the check.

Frequently Asked Questions