Housekeeper-580

The Securities and Exchange Commission intends to visit all advisors who have never been examined before 2015 ends.   In addition to the list of documents you should collect, here are 5 ways to streamline your PortfolioCenter data so you’ll be ready.

1. Properly tag and close dropped accounts:  Never delete a closed account.  Instead check the “Closed” field and make sure the “Date Closed” field is appropriate.

2. Create the right Smart Sets.  You will most likely need a Smart Set for

  • active accounts (no groups)
  • discretionary accounts (both open and closed, no groups)
  • employee and owner accounts (no groups)
  • client households (reporting units)
  • “New Since” Smart Set and a “Closed Since” Smart Set (with this in place you could easily adjust the date to fit the time period of the audit)

3.  Use the data manager to make sure the following fields are complete and accurate as you’ll need them for the trade blotter:

  • Account Type
  • Discretionary flag
  • Advisor Name (in a multi-advisor firm)
  • Broker
  • Custodian
  • Model or Objective (if applicable to your practice)
  • Billing Spec
  • Billing Form
  • Taxable Flag
  • Inception Date
  • For inactive accounts, Closed Account & Closed Date

4.  Enter external management fee payments if you’re behind.  For best practices, you should do this every quarter, but reality sometimes intervenes.

5. Check to make sure you have the appropriate report disclaimers and notices.

Wouldn’t you rather outsource?

 

Photo Housekeeper Istanbul, Turkey  taken by Dzhingarova and used here under Flickr Creative Commons.