KYC for 88 client companies: screened automatically, signed online, filed by itself
Estonian accounting firms must know their clients and keep the paperwork. The firm had 88 active clients, a spreadsheet, and no signed questionnaires. Three weeks later it had automated screening, a three-language web form, and signed PDFs landing in the right folder.
Results
Figures are from the screening run of 14 August 2026 and the invitation rollout of 3 September 2026. The timeline is kickoff on 13 August to the first live signature on 27 August.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Background screening of existing clients | manual, client by client | 60 people in one run, 0 errors |
| Sanctions matches needing a person | every name match | 4 of 84 raw matches |
| Onboarding document | PDF by email, printed, scanned | web form → signed PDF, 3 languages |
| Cost per signature | — | about €0.40 |
| Invitations sent to the client base | — | 79 of 80 (49 ET · 23 RU · 8 EN) |
| Kickoff to first live signature | — | 3 weeks |
The challenge
- A duty with no process
Beneficial owners had to be identified and screened, and questionnaires signed and renewed — but nothing existed beyond a spreadsheet and good intentions.
- Clients should not feel investigated
Sanctions and politically-exposed-person checks had to happen without asking the client for anything or telling them a check was running.
- Three languages, one record
Clients answer in Estonian, Russian or English; the accountant needs one canonical record and a PDF in the client's language.
- Trust nothing you did not verify
A signature provider's callback can be delayed or lost. The firm needed the signed status confirmed independently before filing.
What we built
From the registry code, company, management and ownership data are pulled from the Estonian business register and the beneficial-owner registry. Each person is screened server-side; the client is not involved.
84 raw matches were reduced to 4 for a person to review: 69 dismissed by full-name mismatch, 11 by birth date. A same-name hit with a clearly different birth date is not raised.
A web form in the firm's branding changes with the legal form — company, sole trader, private person — and stores language-neutral values in the CRM while rendering the PDF in the client's language.
The generated PDF is signed with Dokobit without leaving the page; signature status is re-checked independently rather than trusted from the callback.
The signed PDF goes to SharePoint by year and company name; the CRM card gets the signature date, status and a 12-month renewal date. Personal ID numbers never appear in chat notifications.
Invitation links carry a token, so an accountant can resend a link and the answers still land on the same record.
How it went live
Scope and vendors
Two tracks agreed: automated screening of the existing base, and a client-facing questionnaire with e-signature. Signature provider chosen on price per signature and Baltic ID support.
13 August 2026Screening run, then the form
Existing base screened on 14 August (58 of 60 clean). Form, PDF and signature tested end-to-end in the sandbox by 17 August; filing live on 19 August.
14 – 19 August 2026Live signatures and invitations
First production signature on 27 August at roughly €0.40 each. Invitations to the whole client base on 3 September, 79 of 80 delivered.
27 August – 3 September 2026Honest limits
Two of 60 client records had unusable registry codes and were fixed by hand. One invitation bounced because the client's domain had expired. Some consent text is machine-translated pending the firm's sign-off. The CRM cannot show an owner's share on the parent company record, so that detail lives in notes. About a fifth of clients were still in the invitation queue at the time of writing.
Frequently asked questions
Is this legal advice or a compliance product?
Neither. The firm defined what its KYC duty requires; we built the collection, screening, signature and filing around that definition. What to ask and what to do with a hit remains the firm's decision.
Why not just email a PDF to sign?
Because then someone has to chase, check the signature, file the result and set a reminder for next year. Here the record, the folder and the renewal date are created by the pipeline, and a resend cannot create a duplicate.
Can this run outside Estonia?
The screening lists are international. The register pull and ID-based signature are country-specific: Dokobit covers the Baltics, and other registers and signature providers can be connected in the same pattern.
How much does a signature cost?
About €0.40 per signature at the provider's production tier, plus the provider's monthly package. The firm pays the provider directly.
What does the accountant see?
A CRM card with screening result, signature status and renewal date, a folder in SharePoint with the signed PDF, and a notification when a client signs — without personal ID numbers in the message.
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