End of Year Checklist!

The end of the year is quickly approaching, and now is the time to start putting together a year-end checklist for each of your clients.

Below are best practices for getting everything together to close out this year and prepare for 2024:

#1: Archive your Reports and Presentations from 2023 in the Vault

When the calendar turns over to 2024, any new reports or presentations will begin to use 2024 data. So, be sure to memorialize your client’s 2023 data by generating year-end reports and presentations, and saving them to the Vault. To be clear, any files already in the Vault will remain in the Vault. Ensure you retain 2023 information to refer back to by generating year-end reports/presentations before the end of the year.

#2: Check in on your clients’ goals

Did they have goals they wanted to achieve by the end of the year? How are they doing? Are they where they need to be—are they falling short? Now is the time to assess goals to see if it makes sense to extend any of them into the next year.

#3: Review simulations and assumptions

Review when the client’s Cash Flow simulation begins (Jan 1 of this year, Next Year, or This Month). It’s common towards the end of the year to change this simulation to Jan 1 of Next Year, but make sure to switch that back to Jan 1 of This Year or This Month once the new year begins.

Also, certain facts do not carry into the new year. For example, if you adjusted a client’s salary due to inflation at 5% that would not be the same in 2024. Don’t assume that what your client is doing in 2023 will be the same in 2024.

Example of Facts that won’t carry over into a new year:

• Global assumptions (that are applicable in every projection) for income and estate taxes do get updated internally so we’re using accurate tax figures and tables. We will update them for the current calendar year and adjust/index for future years based on the inflation assumption being used.
  
• Client-specific assumptions/projections about client data (i.e., income increases or living expense changes) won’t be applied in the new calendar year, therefore they must be updated (ideally on at least an annual basis).

#4: Utilize the client onboarding tool

Although the client onboarding tool is primarily used for bringing on new clients, it can also be a great tool to reuse at the end of the year. When you have a client selected, you can click on the world icon, select Manage, select Onboarding Options to the left, and then check the box that says Send client through Onboarding, and hit Save. This way, the next time the client logs in, they will go through onboarding again. This won’t erase the previous information they entered, it is simply a way for them to update any financial priorities, goals, or other changes to their personal financial situation and gives you an idea of how your clients are feeling going into the new year with new goals.

For a printable checklist, please review the Help menu and search End of Year Advisor Checklist, or click here! Another related resource that can be found in your Help menu is What the System Updates.