What is KYC (Know Your Customer) for UK accountants?
Mehmood Rajoka7 min readUpdated May 2026
In brief: KYC (Know Your Customer) means collecting and verifying a client's identity — their name, date of birth, address, and a government-issued photo ID — before beginning work, as required under The Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Key points
- KYC is the identity verification step within CDD
- Collect photo ID and proof of address for every client
- Verify beneficial owners for corporate clients
- Keep KYC evidence for a minimum of five years
- Re-verify clients after long gaps or changes in circumstance
How Know Your Customer verification works, what documents to collect, and how KYC fits into the CDD process.