Tracking Annual Reviews

Overview

While Practifi offers a range of tools and features to help you manage your business, including annual reviews, the specifics of tracking annual reviews in Practifi may vary depending on your firm's workflow and preferences. This article outlines some of the functionality your firm can use to make sure you're documenting and tracking annual reviews with your clients.

• Scheduling Deliverables
• Taking Notes on Annual Reviews
• Reporting on Deliverables and Services
• Create a Deliverables Dashboard
• Utilizing Reports and Dashboards for Compliance

Scheduling Deliverables

Deliverables are essential to managing service requirements in your Practifi organization, so they can be a valuable tool for managing annual reviews. Practifi Administrators create Service records to represent the types of work your firm does for clients. Administrators also have the option to add related Deliverable records to capture the work of your client servicing team. When deliverables are in place, you can report on their fulfillment across your organization. 

After initiating a service, you have the option to fulfill deliverables on an ad-hoc basis as you provide said service. Deliverables are specific tasks or items that must be completed as part of the engagement, such as reports or presentations. To add a deliverable, navigate to the Deliverables section of the Service record, click the caret button and select New Deliverable.

At the administrator level, deliverables can be assigned to a service. When the service is initiated, the deliverables will automatically appear with relevant due dates and recurrences. If your organization does not currently have access to the Deliverables menu, please have your Administrator refer to our article on Enabling Deliverables.

After you have added any relevant deliverables to a service, certain user types can assign them to specific team members. To do this, from the Deliverables subtab, click on the deliverable, click the caret button and select Change Owner. You can then assign the deliverable to an individual team member or a role.

As team members work on the deliverables, their progress can be tracked in your Practifi organization. You can see who is responsible for each deliverable, when it is due and whether it has been completed. We'll talk about this more in the Reporting on Deliverables and Services section.

Once a deliverable has been completed, it can be marked as complete. To do this, go to the deliverable and click the Mark as Complete button. This will update the status of the deliverable and allow you to track progress on the assigned engagement. For more detailed instructions on working with deliverables, see Understanding and Using Deliverables.

Taking Notes on Annual Reviews

In Practifi, you have multiple options for taking annual review notes. It is considered a best practice to take notes of the annual review from the event's Feed subtab found in the activity log in Practifi. The Feed is an excellent location for this task because it provides a running record that all team members working with the client can access and review.

To access this subtab:

1. Navigate to the Event record associated with the annual review. This could be an event specifically created for the annual review or an existing event that includes the review.

2. On the Event record, click the Feed subtab to access the relevant notes section.
   
   

3. Within the Feed subtab, you will find a designated area where you can enter, view and update the annual review feed.

4. After entering or updating the annual review notes, click Share.

You can access the record's Feed by clicking on the Activities Feed navigation icon at the entity level. This page provides a view of the records feed specifically related to the entity you are working with.

The Feed displays a timeline of events and activities associated with a specific client or entity. These events can include notes, tasks, emails, meetings, documents and other interactions. It shows real-time updates, ensuring that team members can stay informed about the latest activities and changes happening with the client. Users can collaborate and communicate directly within the Feed by leaving comments, asking questions or providing updates. This fosters seamless teamwork and knowledge sharing among team members working with the client.

The Feed also allows for document sharing, enabling users to upload and attach relevant files or documents to specific events or discussions. This ensures that all relevant information is easily accessible within the feed. By leveraging the Feed in Practifi, users can have a centralized location to track and collaborate on client-related activities, ensuring transparency, effective communication and easy access to information for all team members.

You can access the Notes & Files subtab dedicated to the annual review event. When using the notes feature in Practifi, it's important to be aware of certain limitations, such as the notes being saved as PDFs and the inability to report on them directly. 

Please note: The specific layout and navigation of the Event record may vary slightly depending on the version and configuration of Practifi you are using, as well as any customizations made by your organization.

All users have the option to select New Note from the Global Actions menu to create a new note specifically for the annual review. You'll need to click the Add to Records button to associate it with the annual review event.

Reporting on Deliverables and Services

People Leaders and Administrators can leverage the Reports page in Practifi to create a report that provides an overview of deliverables with their fulfillment status and associated services. By customizing the report columns, they can include essential information such as entity name, deliverable name, frequency, last fulfillment date and next due date. This enables a streamlined tracking system to ensure thorough monitoring of annual reviews and prevent any oversight of advisor-owned clients.

The Deliverables with Fulfillments & Services report type provides information on deliverables, their fulfillment and associated services. To build this report:

1. Click the Navigation Menu and select Reports.

2. On the Reports page, click the New Report button. The Report Builder opens in a new tab.

3. In the Create Report window, select the Deliverables with Fulfillments & Services report type, then click Start Report.

4. Within the report, locate the column customization options. This allows creators to add or remove columns based on the requirements.

5. Add the following columns to the report:

   • Entity Name: This column displays the name of the entity (client or account) associated with the deliverable.
   • Deliverable Name: This column shows the name or description of the deliverable.
   • Frequency: This column indicates the frequency at which the deliverable should be reviewed or fulfilled (e.g., annual, quarterly).
   • Last Fulfillment Date: This column displays the date when the deliverable was last fulfilled.
   • Next Due Date: This column shows the date when the deliverable is next due for fulfillment.

6. Apply the necessary filters to refine the report based on the given requirements. Update the time range filter to select the desired timeframe for the report. To apply these filters, navigate to the Filters tab and adjust the fulfillment date to All Time. Additionally, include a frequency filter set to Equals Annually. This will narrow down the deliverables specifically related to annual reviews.     

7. Click Run. You can also click the Save & Run button to save the report for future use before running.

Advisors can leverage the reports mentioned above to generate recurring tasks specifically tailored to the services provided to each client. By analyzing the information in the reports, advisors can identify the frequency and due dates associated with deliverables for annual reviews. Using this data, advisors can then create recurring tasks within Practifi, ensuring that all necessary activities related to the services are completed on time. This approach helps advisors stay organized, maintain a proactive approach and minimize the risk of missing any crucial tasks or deadlines in serving their clients effectively. For more information on creating recurring tasks, see Using Tasks.

Create a Deliverables Dashboard

The same set of information mentioned earlier—including entity name, deliverable name, frequency, last fulfillment date and next due date—can be utilized to build a comprehensive dashboard in Practifi. This dashboard provides a visual representation of the status and upcoming deadlines for deliverables associated with annual reviews. By incorporating this data into a user-friendly dashboard, advisors and administrators can easily monitor and manage their workload, ensuring that no clients are overlooked from an advisor's standpoint.

Utilizing Reports and Dashboards for Compliance

In addition to their operational benefits, reports and dashboards in Practifi can be instrumental from a compliance standpoint. By leveraging these features, firms can ensure that no clients are inadvertently missed during the annual review of their services. The reports can provide an overview of clients, their corresponding services and the associated deliverables. This information allows compliance teams to verify that all clients receive the necessary annual review, enabling proactive monitoring and adherence to regulatory requirements.

Moreover, dashboards provide a visual snapshot of compliance status, highlighting any potential gaps or discrepancies. Compliance officers can use these dashboards to track completion rates, identify clients who may require additional attention and take appropriate actions to mitigate compliance risks.

By leveraging reports and dashboards, firms can enhance their compliance practices and maintain a comprehensive approach to annual service reviews, ensuring that clients receive the required attention and meet regulatory obligations.