Source of funds versus source of wealth with AU examples

People search “source of funds vs source of wealth AML” when a firm is asked where the deposit came from and answers with the customer’s life story, or the other way around. Checked against AUSTRAC’s enhanced customer due diligence page on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. When those questions sit inside a heavier file is enhanced customer due diligence. Collecting them before you start is pre-commencement customer checks. The sector map is /tranche-2.

This payment, or the life behind it

Source of funds points at the money in this deal, and source of wealth points at how the person came to have assets at all. Enhanced customer due diligence is where a program usually writes these questions. AUSTRAC’s page is the frame. This page does not reproduce it and does not set a document list.

An Australian deposit can be the proceeds of the customer’s last home, wages from an employer, or a distribution from a family trust, and those are funds stories for this payment. Wealth is the longer story: a business sold years ago, savings from a long employment, or assets held across several years. One can be true and the other still unasked. The program decides which question this file needs.

• Name the payment. “The deposit on this contract” is a funds question. “How are you wealthy” is a wealth question. Do not accept one answer for both unless the program says that answer covers both.
• Use a local story you can follow. Sale of a previous home, wages, or a trust distribution are recognisable funds stories. They are examples, not a menu you must collect.
• Do not turn the answer into a document catalogue. The program says what evidence, if any, you keep. This page will not add a list.
• A thin story is still a record. Write what you were told and whether you accepted it. A blank “verified” is not a source.

Australian examples, side by side

The examples show the cut. They are not findings that a story is acceptable. The program and the file decide that.

Where the source page stops

This page is the difference between the two questions. It is not the enhanced-due-diligence write-up and it is not the pre-commencement timing note. Those are enhanced customer due diligence and pre-commencement customer checks.

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. A source-of-funds conversation is not a check product, and the firm suite does not include a wealth opinion. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide that a source story is adequate or list the documents that prove it.

Frequently Asked Questions