Sole trader CDD versus individual CDD

People search “sole trader CDD Australia” when a tax practice’s client is a plumber with an ABN and a business name, and the file is about to be opened as a company. Checked against AUSTRAC’s overview of initial customer due diligence on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. Why a company check is a different price is KYB versus KYC. A sole trader who is the reporting entity, and the officer question, is can a sole trader be their own compliance officer. The sector map is /tranche-2.

One person, one customer

A sole trader is the individual. The business name is how they invoice, and the ABN is how the tax system labels them. Neither fact creates a company. Initial customer due diligence still follows your program for a person, AUSTRAC’s overview is the frame, and this page does not reproduce it.

The tax practice writes the legal customer in the first line of the file: the person’s name, then the business name in brackets if that helps the accounts staff. A company check is for a company. If the plumber later incorporates, that new company is a new customer. The old sole-trader file does not convert itself.

• Look at the contracting party. If the engagement is with the person, the customer is the person. A trading name on the email signature does not change the party.
• Keep the business name as a label. Record it so you can match the invoice. Do not open a second customer called the business name.
• Do not treat an ABN as incorporation. An ABN is not a company number. Company KYB is the wrong product until there is a company.
• Leave the officer question alone. Whether a sole-trader firm can be its own compliance officer is a different page. This one is about the customer in front of you.

Person, name, or company

Three strings often appear on the same card. Only one of them is the customer type. Pick it before you choose KYC or KYB.

Where the sole-trader customer page stops

This page is CDD on a customer who is a sole trader. It is not the price comparison in general and it is not the officer question for a firm that is itself a sole trader. Those are KYB versus KYC and can a sole trader be their own compliance officer.

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. Recording a business name is not a second check, and the firm suite does not include a company KYB for a person who never incorporated. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide that a sole trader is a company or complete their customer due diligence.

Frequently Asked Questions