Getting ready for ACSP in Engager

With the introduction of Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)  for all filings with Companies House, you’ll need to start getting ahead of your responsibilities and what you will need from your clients, in order to file your returns. 

Getting ahead of this now, will help prepare you for any issues later down the line when this is rolled out. Imagine receiving fines for not having a piece of ID!

In Engager, you need to prepare for this by creating a Custom Field and then sorting your client data thereafter. We’ve also provided you with templated emails to start sending out to your clients when ready.

Managing ACSP in Engager

We need to create a new area to track / monitor the clients affected and for you to see whether you have the appropriate ID documentation, to then update Companies House.

Using Zama will help make this extremely simple to do., 

Step 1 - Custom Fields

Head to Settings - Client Data - Custom Fields 

We need to find a home for our new fields, so as this is based on AML and ID, we’ll use ‘AML’ and we’re going to select ‘new field’

Then create the following with the name, the dropdown choice then the 3 options of Completed, Not Completed and Not Applicable (this will be for trusts / sole traders / non-LTD charities etc)

Then hit ‘Save’

That’s Step 1 complete

Step 2 - Managing your ACSP Data in Engager

Now that we’ve got our Custom Fields built in Engager, let’s start reporting on who does and doesn’t need this. 

Let’s clear out those that aren’t impacted by ACSP, so people like sole traders / charities (non-LTD) anybody that doesn’t actually have any filings to Companies House. 

Step 1 - Tidying up the filters. 

In order to ensure that our new Custom Fields are visible, we need to add these to our Columns. 

Select Columns, then scroll down on the right hand side right down to your sub-category of ‘AML’

Then simply select the box for ‘companies house ID verified’ to ensure that this field is now going to be visible in your Client List. 

You can now see your new field sitting on your client list, like so:

What you’ll want to do is start an admin process of vetting your clients and filing the ID with Companies House, then marking it as ‘completed’. This will be an internal process for you to run, Engager is here to help you manage but not file / update Companies House. 

Rather than going through these one by one, we want to update the ones that aren’t relevant, by using filters and then ‘Bulk Editing’ to save time. 

Identify your clients that aren’t impacted by ACSP

Let’s use ‘filters’ to segment those that aren’t impacted by these new rules changes. So select ‘filters’ then ‘type’

We’ve selected the client types that we don’t feel will be impacted but please remember, these are your clients and this is a guide

Now that we’ve got our segment, let’s bulk update Engager to say that the Companies House ID Verified is NOT Applicable

Select All using the square here

Then ‘bulk actions’

Edit Client or Service Data

Now complete the options and mirror the following:

Then hit ‘Submit’

If you want to update these manuall, please locate the client in questions, then head down to ‘manual AML’ then update accordingly like so:

You’ll now start seeing where you need to plan your management of this moving forwards, from contacting the client, to requesting the relevant ID to doing the actual updating of ID with Companies House directly

This will take some time to run through all of your clients. 

Now that they’re taken care of, let’s look at the ones that need our attention. 

Xama Users

Please note that although we link with Xama, Xama can’t push the ID into Companies House for you and we also can’t push data into Companies House - this will be a manual process of managing your clients and responsibilities

For those of you using Xama, this will be a very straightforward process as you’ll already have the relevant ID documentation sitting on the client profile. It’s then simply a case of working through Xama clients and updating Companies House, once you’ve been registered, then updating Engager to say Companies House ID Verified - ‘Completed’

Using the above method with Filters and Columns, you can further segment your client list into Xama users, cross-referencing those have been completed already, so that you can start actioning with Companies House

If you’ve not yet run the Xama checks, you can use this list to start these requests, so that you’re then ready to update with Companies House later on, then update in Engager. 

Manual AML Checks

For those of you that are doing AML checks outside of Xama, you can still segment your data accordingly and use the templated emails to help manage your roll out. If you’re interested in speaking with Xama or seeing how it works in Engager:

• https://xamatech.com/
• https://help.engager.app/hc/en-gb/articles/18597497063058-How-to-use-Xama-and-Engager-for-AML-Checks

Storing Companies House Personal Codes for Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) 

With the new Companies House changes going in with ACSP, we thought it would be great to have an area to store the ID Verification Codes within the Engager platform - please note that is the contact record, not the LTD for obvious reasons

Now that Companies House have confirmed the format of the code, we’ve been able to implement this into the Engager Platform, for you to house all director codes - saves having to to build Custom Fields etc. Super handy!

How to record your client’s Companies House Personal Code

1 - Head to the client contact

2 - Click on Step 1, General Info

3 - Navigate down to the new field ‘Companies House Personal Code’

4 - Enter the code following the format of xxx-xxxx-xxx

Please note that we’ve made it so you don’t need to worry about the hyphens or            caps

5 - If you’ve entered using an incorrect format we’ll tell you

6 - Hit Save

Reporting on who has and hasn’t had their Companies House Personal Code saved in Engager

As part of your new responsibilities, you will need to know who has and hasn’t had their ID verified and confirmation saved as the code. 

So now, once you’ve entered in a few personal codes on the client record, you’ll be able to see these clear from the Clients screen. 

1 - Head to the Clients tab

2 - Select Columns

3 - Search for ‘Companies House Personal Code’ and select

You’ll then see the code entered against your individual's name

If you press the Heading of Companies House Personal Code, you’ll quickly be able to sort by completed and not completed, so you can then take option on those that don’t yet have a code next to them. 

Planning your client communications and roll out. 

Any additional request for personal ID information needs to be handled delicately and well in- advance of the upcoming changes with Companies House. 

We’ve written a short and a long email for you to use with your clients. Please use these as a guide, we’re ultimately not responsible for the wording or reaction to how your client reads / perceives the request.

The emails will help clients know what is needed and why. 

You can now start sending these emails out in bulk, now that you’ve done the work to segment your client lists. 

Wrapping Up

Rolling out ACSP doesn’t have to be stressful. By using Engager’s features—Custom Fields, Filters, and Bulk Actions and email—you’ll have everything in place to manage your obligations smoothly and efficiently.

If you need further help or templates for client communication, we’ve got you covered with pre-written email templates ready to use.