KYB stands for "know your business". Before a provider moves money for your company, it checks that the company exists, who runs it and what it does. Then, for each payment, it checks what the money is for. Treat these as two different questions and you will answer both faster.

This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice, and preparing documents does not guarantee that a provider will accept them.

Keep two folders

Open one folder for the company and one for the payment. Corporate records and the director's ID go in the first. The contract and invoice for this purchase go in the second.

A company profile does not prove a purchase, and an invoice does not identify a company. When a reviewer asks for one, you send one folder and avoid a pile of mixed files that slows everyone down.

The first-step checklist

At A2vanta the first step of KYB asks for five things. Other providers ask for more or for different papers, so treat this list as a starting point and ask your provider for theirs.

Registration certificate

Send a clear, complete copy where the company name and registration number are readable. Use the same legal name in your cover note and payment folder. If your supplier knows you by a trading name, explain the link instead of editing anything.

Directors and shareholders extract

Check the issue date and whether it matches the company today. If a new director or a change of ownership is missing from it, say so up front and ask which document will cover the gap.

Tax ID

Copy it exactly as issued. If your records show several identifiers, label each one rather than leaving the reviewer to guess which number matters.

One director's passport

Ask how to send it securely before you send it. If the passport spells the director's name differently from the company register, add one sentence explaining the transliteration.

A line or two about the business

Say what you buy or sell and why you are paying this supplier. "We import packaging for wholesale distribution and are paying for a shipment of cartons" helps a reviewer. "International business solutions" tells them nothing.

We review these documents the same day you send them. Ownership questions beyond the director and the shareholder extract come at a later stage, so you do not need to hand over every owner's passport on day one.

Keep an ownership summary ready anyway

Write a one-page internal note listing direct shareholders and any holding companies between them and your business. Mark any record you cannot find yet. If a reviewer asks a follow-up question, you will answer in an hour instead of a week. Do not upload extra personal documents nobody asked for.

Build the payment folder

For each payment, the order carries the contract and the invoice. Before you submit, compare:

  • the buyer on the invoice with the company in your KYB folder;
  • the supplier on the contract with the account you are paying;
  • the invoice number, currency and amount with your payment instruction;
  • the goods on the invoice with your short business description.

If the account holder differs from the supplier, stop and ask what explanation the provider needs. Confirm any change of bank details with the supplier on a channel you already trust. Never edit an invoice to hide a mismatch; ask the supplier to issue a corrected one.

Add a short cover note that ties the files together: which company is buying, what it is buying, which invoice it is paying and who arranges the payment. Name the files so a reviewer finds each one without opening all of them. If the supplier sent a revised invoice, mark which version is current and move the old one out of the folder.

Before you send the pack, hand it to a colleague without explaining anything. If they can trace the buyer, the director, the supplier and the purchase through the files, a reviewer can too. A tidy folder will not fix contradictory records, but it will show you the contradiction before the money moves.

Ask whose wallet pays

A search for "business crypto account" suggests the company itself holds the wallet that pays. Providers handle this differently. Before you fund anything, ask your provider whose wallet can pay for a company invoice, what proof links that wallet to the company and how your accountant should record the payment.

Protect the documents

Keep one controlled working copy with descriptive file names and give access only to the people preparing the review. Check that every scan includes all pages. Ask the provider how it stores the documents, for how long and how you can have them deleted.

Ask about your case first

Read the invoice payment page or message the A2vanta bot with your company's country and what you plan to pay for. We will tell you which documents to send and how to send them safely. A conversation is not an account approval.