Remember when "integration" meant your portfolio management system could export data to Excel? Those days are as outdated as charging 100 basis points to build a basket of ETFs.
Schwab's RIA Benchmarking Survey shows the industry isn't just talking about integration anymore – they're delivering on it. Almost half of RIAs with over $250M AUM have connected at least three data sources to their CRM, and smaller firms aren't far behind.1
Why the surge? Because in an era where clients expect instant, accurate information and seamless service, running an advisory firm with disconnected systems is like trying to win the Indy 500 riding a horse and buggy.
This is especially true when it comes to billing, as fragmented technology systems and manual data entry can result in incorrectly calculated bills, late invoices, and lost time. But fully integrated billing solutions can prevent these issues, enabling financial advisors to seamlessly connect their client data across various systems, automate the billing process for complex fee structures, streamline operations, and ultimately provide a better client experience.
Increased efficiency and productivity with integrated billing
Even the largest RIAs experience productivity declines. Fidelity found that repetitive tasks and increasing advisor workload (more clients per advisor) are factors in these declines, which can result in lost business.2
Nearly 40% of the advisors surveyed in Envestnet's 2024 Advisor Perspectives Survey reported they spent a majority of time on investment management and administrative tasks, and 30% said they weren’t able to spend enough time with clients.
While administrative tasks take up a large portion of an advisor’s workday, modern technology can free advisors from time-consuming back-office work.
By automating tasks that require manual data entry such as account creation, trading, and billing, advisors are able to spend more time on client service and advisor education, potentially allowing them to take on new clients.
Integrated billing improves client service
Integrations can provide on-demand access to fee histories and billing details for every account, making client communications easier and more efficient.
Instead of spending significant time manually generating invoices and calculating fees, advisors can focus on the relationship and each client’s unique needs.
By helping clients clearly see and understand the services and fees charged, billing integrations can improve transparency and highlight the value RIAs provide.
Enhanced compliance and risk management with integrated billing
We’ve explored how the average advisor spends up to a third of their workweek on administrative tasks, but even beyond that, a significant portion of that time is spent on compliance. This work is often repetitive manual data entry, where mistakes can easily occur.
Integrations streamline this work by distributing changes made in one app to others automatically. They also check data for consistency, alerting the advisor if an entry seems out of place. Other integrations help advisors ensure they’re covering all necessary disclosures, or that all documents are in order.
Billing software can be critical for regulatory compliance, as it can catch errors before they impact clients or create compliance issues, and help maintain a consistent record of transactions to help protect both your practice and your clients' interests.
Streamlining billing processes and more
At Envestnet, we offer a specialized cloud-based billing solution – Envestnet BillFin – to simplify the billing process and help ensure firms are paid correctly and on time. We also offer a suite of integrations designed to simplify billing processes, provide valuable business insights for RIAs, and extend the functionality of BillFin.
Key among these integrations are custodial connections, which allow for seamless transfer of account positions and automated fee processing. BillFin integrates with various RIA custodians – Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, and Altruist – to calculate fees accurately and generate payment files.
These connections, combined with BillFin’s highly customizable billing templates, flexible billing terms, and intuitive interface, can reduce the time you spend billing clients as direct debit files are sent to custodians for rapid payment of your management fees.
Frustration-free bill splits
While splitting fees doesn’t require complex calculations, frustration often sets in when figuring out how to implement and track them. By default, most billing systems don’t offer any support for tracking fee splitting. Many RIAs resort to spreadsheets for this, but it’s too inefficient to scale.
Envestnet Payouts makes fee splitting effortless, allowing you to set firm, client, and account-level rules for accurate and timely payouts. The software is platform agnostic, allowing you to use it either as an add-on to your BillFin license or as a standalone application.
Envestnet’s fee for service billing solution
Envestnet Payments is a fee-for-service billing solution that enables advisors to send invoices via email to their clients for services that are charged in addition to their management fees. These e-invoices contain a link that investor clients can click on to pay these fees via credit card or ACH.
The most common service that advisors are charging their clients for is financial planning services. Other services that are being billed are tax preparation services, estate planning services, and tax consulting services. This comes in handy when advisors have prospective clients that are interested in advisory services before they sell their companies, receive their inheritances, or have their retirement assets roll over after leaving their firm.
Envestnet Payments is integrated with Envestnet MoneyGuide for a seamless billing experience for financial planners and advisors.
“My billing process, from start to finish, now only takes me 30 minutes! The added integration with Schwab saves me an extra step, since BillFin will send my payment file back to them once I click the ‘send’ button. I only need to log in to BillFin, and its connectors pull and push everything I need to finish my billing.”
Tim Brockman AIF® CRPS®
Brockman Capital Management, LLC
It’s time to integrate your billing
Today’s top firms are using integrations for billing and other tasks. The reasons are clear: integrated systems help improve efficiency and productivity, strengthen the advisor-client relationship, enable regulatory compliance, and provide enhanced insights.
As the number of clients per advisor increases, billing integrations are essential for thriving in today's competitive landscape and maintaining advisor productivity. By automating and optimizing tedious billing processes, BillFin's comprehensive suite of integrations empowers RIA firms to make data-driven strategic decisions so they can better serve their clients today – and tomorrow.
See how BillFin and Payments can help solve your billing needs by setting up a demo today at https://www.envestnet.com/schedule-demo
