Sterling · guided practice

How to use Sterling

Start with the first-visit example if you are new to Sterling. Then pick the person whose job is closest to yours, follow their example, and use the reference section only when you need more detail.

Choose your role

First visit — from a free check to your workspace

You do not need an account to explore Sterling or complete the Free Compliance Check.

1. On the Sterling home page, choose Start your Free Compliance Check. You can also browse Services or Explore subscriptions first.
2. Enter the company or organisation name and a contact email, then choose the entity type.
3. Answer all ten yes/no questions. If you are unsure, choose No / not confirmed; Sterling will show it as an area to check.
4. Choose See my results. Review the indicative score, potentially applicable obligations, possible gaps, available sources, suggested services, and recommended plan.
5. Use Edit my answers if anything is wrong. The result is a starting point, not a legal or compliance decision.
6. If you want to continue, choose Create your free Sterling account. Enter your name, firm or group name, first company name, email, plan, and password.
7. Free features begin immediately. There is no card-payment step. Sterling confirms the price and invoice before paid features are activated.
8. Sign in and open Regulatory Obligations to continue from the free-check result.

1. Clear Client — review a manual and file the evidence

Clear Client is the organisation administrator for Clear Demo Holdings Ltd., BVI-000001. This person can use every client tool and has a Team menu for managing access.

Review the manual

1. Sign in as client@example.com. Confirm that Clear Demo Holdings Ltd. appears above Your compliance workspace.
2. Under Choose a requirement, search for Compliance Manual and choose Open requirement.
3. Choose Continue saved work if a draft is shown. Otherwise leave Clear Demo Holdings selected and choose Open compliance manual.
4. Under Or upload a manual, choose the company’s searchable PDF, Word document, or text file. The largest allowed file is 10 MB. No saved manual was available during this walkthrough.
5. Under Published review controls, choose the appropriate controls. This practice company offers TCSP Internal Controls Self-Assessment · version 1.
6. Choose Save draft. When the document and controls are ready, choose Run gap analysis.
7. Read the report. If Sterling should help revise the manual, choose Request consultant revision.

File the board minute

1. Open Records and evidence. The page heading is Evidence Vault.
2. Under Add a document, use a clear title such as “Board minute approving the 2026 compliance manual”.
3. Choose the closest category. For this example, choose Other. Other available categories are Policy, Register, Filing confirmation, Screening log, and Training record.
4. Choose a related obligation, or leave Not linked. The list does not contain a separate compliance-manual obligation.
5. Choose the file and then Upload document.

If you need to add a colleague

1. Open Team, then Add member.
2. Choose Client user for someone who does the work. Choose Organisation administrator only for someone who may also add people and edit the company record.
3. Choose Create and send setup link only when you are ready to send an email. The person uses that link to choose a password.

The Team page also contains Organisation details and Entities. Clear Demo Holdings is recorded as a BVI company in General business, with a 31 December 2026 year end and “Sterling Registered Agent Demo” as its registered agent.

2. Clear Team Member — record staff training

Clear Team Member works at the same company. They see the same deadlines, drafts, evidence, and company records, but Team is not on their menu.

1. Sign in as member@example.com. Confirm that the company is Clear Demo Holdings Ltd., BVI-000001.
2. Open Registers and logs. Choose Training register · version 1, then Start new record.
3. Enter a reference, the date, the training topic, provider and attendees, the responsible person, and what evidence exists. Add a next review date if useful.
4. Set the status to Open, Under review, or Closed. Choose Save draft while information is missing, or Complete record when the entry is final.
5. Open Records and evidence. Upload the attendance sheet with the category Training record.
6. Leave Link to obligation as Not linked. Clear Demo Holdings does not currently have an active training obligation.

Agree who is editing a shared draft before you begin. Saving replaces the company’s current draft. Ask an organisation administrator if you need a colleague added or your access changed.

3. Harbour Agent — start a registered-agent risk review

Harbour Agent is the organisation administrator for Harbour Demo Registered Agent Ltd., BVI-000002. Its work is separate from Clear Demo Holdings.

1. Sign in as agent@example.com. Confirm that the menu names Harbour Demo Registered Agent Ltd..
2. Open Institutional risk assessment, then choose Open institutional risk assessment.
3. For a new assessment, Sterling opens the TCSP / registered agent institutional risk assessment automatically. You do not need to choose a version.
4. If you previously started an older draft, open Use the updated assessment form, tick the confirmation, and choose Use updated form. Your earlier draft is kept separately.
5. Describe the agency, its customers, services, and operating locations. Confirm the date and who prepared the review.
6. Work through products and services, customers and ownership, countries, delivery methods, operations and technology, and compliance arrangements.
7. For each area, record the facts. Choose the probability and seriousness before existing safeguards; this is the inherent risk.
8. Describe safeguards that are actually working and the evidence supporting them. Record planned improvements separately.
9. Choose the probability and seriousness again after the working safeguards; this is the residual risk.
10. Record the Board-approved risk tolerance. Answer the PEP, sanctions, and authoritative high-risk questions. Use Not yet confirmed or Potential match awaiting sanctions review when the facts are unsettled.
11. Choose Save draft while information is missing. When every required answer is complete, choose Generate assessment.
12. Open the report. Review the inherent and residual scores, any High-risk override, the source record, business facts, and suggested follow-up. The score may be ready while Sterling prepares the written explanation.
13. After senior management or the Board reviews the completed assessment and treatment of risks, open Record management or Board approval. Enter the approver, role, minute or resolution reference, notes, and confirmation.

Screen a new client

1. Open Screening. Choose Create screened party, or Import CSV for a prepared list.
2. Enter the legal name and choose Person, Entity, Vessel, or Unconfirmed. Add an identifier, aliases, and other facts when available.
3. Choose Save and queue screening, then use Sanctions register to follow the result.

Maintain the agency’s client list

Open Client portfolio. Use Add company for a company the agency manages, Edit to maintain its details, and Export Excel or Export CSV for a copy. The practice list currently contains only Harbour Demo Registered Agent Ltd.; Clear Demo Holdings is not shared with this account.

4. Sterling Consultant — review a service request

The consultant works across clients. Signing in opens Consultant Dashboard, not a client workspace.

1. Sign in as consultant@sterling.test.
2. Open Service requests. Use the search and status filters to find reference SR-00001.
3. Choose Open. Read the client’s request, needed-by date, and the catalogue service. In this example it is a Compliance manual request from NatCore Ltd.
4. Choose a priority and assign the consultant who owns the work.
5. Enter the quoted amount and currency. Add a clear client note describing scope, timing, and what is needed before work starts.
6. Use Internal notes for Sterling-only information.
7. Move the status from Requested to Quoted, then choose Save request. Do not move it to Accepted until the client accepts.

Other consultant jobs

• Reviews: open research answers, health-check reports, and client work waiting for professional judgment.
• Client risk and Deadlines: see which firms need attention and which dates are overdue.
• Sanctions review: decide a potential match only when a case is listed. Potential matches are not automatic decisions, and PEP review is separate.
• Compliance guidance, Financial services laws, and Source library: research the answer and check the source before advising a client.
• Assessment templates: review and publish client questionnaires. A published version cannot be edited; copy it to make the next draft.
• Risk methodology: approve a scoring method only after Sterling has reviewed its sources, weights, and thresholds.
• Operations: check whether background work, source updates, and reviews are moving.

5. Sterling Administrator — check the platform and add a firm

The administrator first lands on the consultant dashboard. Open Administration at the end of the menu for platform work.

1. Sign in as admin@sterling.test, then open Administration.
2. Read Service health. Stop if the scheduler or queue worker says Attention required; work that runs in the background will wait.
3. Open Organisations, then choose New organisation. Enter the firm’s name, contact email, and plan.
4. Open the new organisation. Set its plan status to Active only when the commercial approval or invoice has been confirmed.
5. Under Members, choose Add member. Create the first person as an Organisation administrator.
6. Send the setup link only when the email address is confirmed.
7. Under Entities, add the company record. The workspace needs this record before the client can save company-specific work.

A plain-language tour of Administration

When something does not work

You cannot sign in

1. Check that you are using the correct email address.
2. Choose Forgot your password? on the sign-in page and follow the emailed link.
3. For a practice account, remember that password works only until somebody changes it. Running the demo setup again does not replace an existing changed password.
4. If no email arrives or the account is deactivated, ask an organisation administrator or Sterling administrator to check your access.

Your report or screen says it is waiting

1. Leave the page if needed; saved work remains available when you return.
2. Open the work again and read its latest status. Do not repeat the request merely because it is waiting.
3. If it remains queued, tell Sterling which company, requirement, and status you can see. An administrator should check Administration → Service health or Operations.

The form, requirement, or button is missing

1. Check the company name shown in the menu and confirm that you are in the correct workspace.
2. Read the page message. No active action for this company means the requirement exists but there is no current obligation to complete.
3. A form may still need to be published, or the company’s plan or business type may not include that tool. Send the exact page title and message to an organisation administrator or Sterling.
4. Do not use an unrelated form as a substitute. Use the appropriate register or Evidence Vault only when the example or Sterling’s instructions say to do so.

The client routine in six steps

1. Check the company name in the menu.
2. Read What’s due.
3. Open the requirement or tool for today’s job.
4. Save the work before leaving the page.
5. Upload the proof under Records and evidence.
6. Return to the obligation or register and complete it only when the work is truly finished.

Reference — what is available

The walkthrough above is the day-to-day guide. Open these sections when you need the full list. The lists were checked against the practice system on 27 October 2026; live counts and dates can change.

Updated from the live Sterling screens reviewed on 27 October 2026. Operational warnings were rechecked the same day.