AML Rules for Irish Accountancy Practices
Accountancy firms are designated persons under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010–2021, which means AML training isn't optional, and neither is proving it happened. Here's what the law expects of an Irish practice, and how firms meet it in 30 minutes per person with our AML training course. For the practice-facing version, covering the risks, the pathway and what an inspection asks for, see AML training for accountants.
- Legal basis
- Criminal Justice Acts 2010–2021
- Who trains
- Partners, staff, trainees, firm-wide
- Must cover
- ML risk, CDD, STRs, tipping-off
- Frequency
- Kept current; annual in practice
- Evidence
- Dated records per person
- With Harrington
- 30 minutes, certificate issued
What the Criminal Justice Act requires of your practice
Five things an inspector expects an Irish accountancy firm to show. Miss any one of them and the file is incomplete.
- Train everyone the work touches
Partners, qualified staff, trainees and practice managers across audit, tax and advisory. AML is a firm-wide duty, not a compliance-team duty.
- Cover the substance
Recognising money-laundering risk, customer due diligence and beneficial ownership, ongoing monitoring, suspicious transaction reports to FIU Ireland and Revenue, and the tipping-off offence.
- Keep it current
Training must reflect the law as it stands, including the 2026 updates. Annual refresher training is the standard expectation in practice reviews.
- Anchor it to your risk assessment
Training should connect to the firm's own business risk assessment and documented AML policies written for the Irish regime.
- Prove it
Dated records per person: who completed what, when, and how they scored. This is the first thing inspectors ask for.
Meeting the requirements in 30 minutes per person
The Harrington AML course was written Irish-first for exactly this obligation, and the paperwork does itself.
- Mapped to the Criminal Justice Acts 2010–2021, updated for 2026
- Randomised exam, so every pass means genuine competence
- CPD accredited certificate per learner, timestamped
- MLRO dashboard shows firm-wide coverage at a glance
- Annual re-enrolment runs automatically
- One-click audit export when the inspector calls
Sector detail: AML training for accountancy practices · online AML compliance training
Accountancy firms are designated persons under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010–2021. The firm must ensure staff are trained to recognise money-laundering risk, apply customer due diligence, and report suspicious transactions, and must keep records that prove the training happened.
Everyone whose work touches clients or client money: partners, qualified staff, trainees and practice managers across audit, tax and advisory. Inspectors expect coverage across the whole practice, including staff who never touch the AML file.
Training must be kept up to date as legislation and risk change, and annual refresher training is the standard expectation in Irish practice reviews. Harrington re-enrols learners automatically each year so certification never lapses.
With dated records per person: who completed which course, when, the exam score and the course content covered. Harrington issues a timestamped, CPD accredited certificate per learner and exports the full audit pack in one click.
Your whole practice, compliant by Friday.
Book a demo and we'll show the AML course, the dashboard and the audit export, with an accountancy firm as the example.