Frequency is one fact
A service does not have to be your main source of revenue before it deserves a scope check. AUSTRAC warns that occasional activity can still fall within carrying on a business. A low annual count therefore does not settle the question. Separate how often you do the work from what the work involves. Check the exact service description and relevant conditions. A business with only a small number of affected engagements may still need a process that identifies them reliably.
- Unusual request
Record the actual work requested, even if it happens rarely.
- Service criteria
Compare the activity with the applicable designated-service description.
- Scope decision
Record the conditions, conclusion and process to follow.
Check occasional work as well as routine work
Low frequency does not create an automatic exemption. This suggested intake sequence has no transaction-count threshold.
Follow the process from top to bottom.
Find the work you rarely do
Review the activities that sit outside your standard service packages. Suggested evidence includes unusual invoices, one-off engagement letters and work performed by senior staff without a standard template. Ask whether these services are advertised, offered on request or accepted through referrals. The purpose is to find actual activities, not to set an invented transaction-count threshold. Record a rare service separately if its steps differ from your normal workflow. That makes it visible when you next review scope.
Example: the annual request
Imagine a small firm receives a particular kind of customer instruction once a year. Its standard intake form has no category for that instruction, so staff select other. A useful improvement is an escalation question for work outside the service list. The reviewer can compare the proposed steps with the current designated-service criteria before the firm proceeds. The example is about process design. It does not imply that every unusual request is regulated or that annual frequency creates an exemption.
Create an exception path
Give staff a clear route for requests that do not match an approved service description. Ask them to capture the customer objective, proposed work and expected output, then refer the matter to the responsible person. Record the decision and any limit on the work accepted. If you decline a service, make that boundary clear in the engagement. Check that staff have not started the excluded steps informally. Use new exceptions to improve the service map, rather than relying on individual memory.
Check informal commitments
Ask senior staff about services accepted through personal contacts or urgent requests. Those engagements can bypass the standard service list. Use the same scope review for them as for advertised work, and capture any new boundary in the intake process so staff do not have to invent an answer next time.