The Opti.Tax platform offers sophisticated software solutions covering the entire spectrum of electronic invoicing. Compatible modules, which can be purchased individually, are available for the various functional areas. The following is suitable for the comprehensive and secure management of matters relating to the Money Laundering Act and the prevention of money laundering: Money Laundering Module ideal. Samuel Königshoven and Wolfgang Schönwaldt demonstrated how to carry out a money laundering risk analysis using the software on „hsp live at 11".
As Customer Success Manager, Samuel Königshoven ensures that hsp’s clients receive the right support where it is needed. Wolfgang Schönwaldt is one of the founders of hsp. As a Senior Consultant, he has been providing advice and practical support to both users and hsp staff for decades. Both have been working intensively on this topic for some time now Money laundering, i.e. compliance with the Money Laundering Act (GwG) and the implementation of the required measures to Prevention of money laundering. The legislative requirements mentioned here are directed at tax practice firms, which have been forced into a difficult position. This is because the Money Laundering Act (GwG) obliges tax practice firms and tax advisers to report suspicious cases involving clients to the authorities without the clients’ knowledge.
Risk analysis forms part of the implementation of anti-money laundering measures. As this concerns the firm, the firm itself must first be set up in Opti.Tax’s project management system. A new project is then created in this folder. Next, under „Type & Characteristics", the topic of money laundering is selected. Wolfgang recommends a validity period of one year, as the documentation should be kept up to date on an ongoing basis. An annual update would ensure this. After clicking „Next", you are prompted to enter a name for the project. Here, Samuel recommends the simplest form of description: the topic and the year – for example, „Money Laundering 2023". An abbreviation such as GW23 would be suitable.
Under „Description", a brief summary of the changes compared with the previous year could be noted from the second year onwards. This would help maintain an overview of the updates after several years. Wolfgang reminds us to really think of every detail when making updates. To this end, he recommends a checklist which the person in charge could go through once a year. However, the notes in the „Description" field are intended for internal use only and do not appear in the documentation. The information contained there is relevant solely to the person in charge of the project.
Systematically minimising the law firm’s money laundering risks
The following windows are self-explanatory and will be skipped for this initial set-up. At the end of the process, a new anti-money laundering project will be created. At the bottom left, there are three sections: „General Information", „Assessment of the External Situation and Scope" and „Money Laundering Risk Analysis". The „General Information" section contains all the firm’s master data, i.e. information about the company, but no details relating to the subject yet Money laundering. The second point deals, for example, with the number of employees affected, as well as external circumstances relating to the company. The third point covers all risk analyses for each individual client.
As with other modules, any inconsistencies or omissions are indicated by messages featuring a warning triangle icon in the „Properties" tab in the lower window. Wolfgang, however, makes the important point that this information is intended for the user. This is because, when carrying out the money laundering risk analysis, no information needs to be submitted to the tax office or any other authorities. The validation is therefore carried out solely for internal control purposes. A demonstration of the programme can be viewed in the recording of the livestream from 14 April 2023, starting at 14:48.
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