Free sanctions test of a whole client list: how accounting firms can check all clients at once

Short answer: Unicorn Intelligence offers a free test of a whole client list against the official sanctions lists: an accounting firm or any business signs in with an email, uploads a CSV or Excel file (or pastes the names, or connects QuickBooks, Xero, Sage or a CRM) and gets a risk map showing how many clients have possible matches on the OFAC, EU, UK, UN and other official lists, split by list and by country. The test accepts from 10 up to 20,000 names and no card is needed.

Key definitions

Client list test: a one-off screening of all the names in a list at the same time, instead of one search per name.

Risk map of the list: the summary of the test: number of possible matches, red and yellow results, the lists involved and the countries.

Client due diligence: the checks a regulated firm must carry out on a client before and during the relationship, which in practice include sanctions screening.

Why firms test the whole list

Official lists are free to search, but one name at a time. A firm with hundreds of clients, each with owners and directors, cannot search them all by hand every time a list changes. A test of the whole list shows in minutes whether there is anything to review.

What you need

Step by step

1. Export the client list from your practice software or accounting system as CSV or Excel, or prepare it to connect directly.
2. Sign in at intel.unicornprivate.com with your email (or Google, Microsoft, Apple).
3. Open the list test in the dashboard and upload the file, paste the names, or connect QuickBooks, Xero, Sage or your CRM read-only.
4. Accept the data processing terms and start the test. Names are checked against the OFAC SDN and non-SDN, EU, UK, UN and other official lists.
5. Read the risk map: how many possible matches, how many red and yellow, on which lists and in which countries.
6. Decide the next step. To see the matching names and keep the list checked every day, put the list under monitoring. Decisions on each client remain the firm's.

Good practice for accounting firms

• Include owners and directors, not only the client entity.
• Fill in the country column: it cuts false matches.
• Repeat the test when you take on new clients, and monitor the list between tests.
• Keep a record of every review of a possible match.

Unicorn Intelligence is an informational tool: legal decisions and obligations remain the firm's.

Informative content: decisions and legal obligations remain yours.