The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has released its Accounting Sector Risk Assessment 2026, providing an updated view of the financial crime risks facing accounting practices.
Once you’ve read it, the next step is working out what the findings mean for your own business.
What does the assessment tell us?
The assessment gives accounting practices an updated picture of where financial crime risk is showing up across the sector and what to look out for in their own business.
It looks at the financial crime threats facing the sector, which accounting services may be vulnerable to misuse, the factors that can increase or decrease a practice’s risk, common warning signs, and how well AML/CFT controls are working across the sector.
The DIA identifies four services as the most vulnerable to money laundering:
- Trust and company services.
- Managing client funds through trust accounts.
- Insolvency practice.
- Other management of client funds, accounts, securities or assets
The assessment also covers other accounting services and provides more detail on the risks and warning signs linked to them.
The DIA also makes clear that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The level of risk will depend on the services your practice provides, your customers and the nature of your work.
So, the assessment gives you the sector-wide picture, but you still need to consider what those risks look like in your own business.
Five questions to ask
Use the DIA’s findings to check whether your own risk assessment and controls still reflect the risks your practice actually faces. These five questions can help:
- Which of the risks identified by the DIA apply to us? Start with the services you provide and the types of customers you deal with.
- Where are we most exposed? Consider where and how those risks could arise in the work you actually do.
- Does our risk assessment reflect this? Is anything missing, understated or out of date?
- Do our controls match the risk? Check that what you have in place is appropriate for the risks you’ve identified.
- Would our people know what to look for? Make sure staff understand the warning signs relevant to their work and know when to escalate something.
Need help reviewing your approach?
If you’re unsure what the latest risk information means for your business, Strategi Compliance can help you work through it and identify anything that may need attention.
Talk to the Strategi Compliance team if you’d like help reviewing your approach.
Build your red flag awareness
You don’t need to be a compliance officer to benefit from knowing the warning signs of suspicious activity.
Strategi Institute’s Red flags: spotting suspicious activities and steps to take online CPD module gives people across your business practical grounding in what to look for and what to do when something doesn’t seem right.
Contact us to find out more.