27th March AMA: I'm Lana Graham, Xtools+ expert and product manager. Ask Me Anything!

Hi Lana, 

Once the Xtools+ Reinvented Super and Pension Project is completed, could you schedule a webinar to explain the changes and demonstrate how it works? It would be great to include a Q&A session where participants can ask questions and receive answers in real-time.

Regarding the pension options, it's difficult to determine how the removal of these options would affect me at this stage. However, if you could show us how the following works in the new transaction screen, I might have a better understanding of whether it will continue to meet my needs:

• Cash out re-contributions (CORC) one-off and annually (SMSF and retail individually and/or to one another) and commencing new pensions with the new tax-free funds.
• Making contributions at the commencement of a pension.

Additionally, I have some "wishes", that I hope have been included in the project:

• An option to "expend" SMSF Pension payments.
• An option to show the SMSF Pension Chart for the duration of the modeling, similar to what we do for retail pensions.

and thank you!

Hi Lana,

I think you might have missed my question?

Hi michael.ryan , 

Quicker screens with real-time results in Visualise
The Visualise modelling screens actually leverage Xtools+ scenario modelling - Visualiser is simply a more modern user and customer friendly interface, so it is your go-to solution for real-time modelling with your clients. The Xtools+ scenario itself contains more detailed inputs and outputs, allowing you to refine more complex scenarios. 

A Better Xtools+ Experience is coming to you VERY soon! 
I do acknowledge that Xtools+ is more difficult to navigate  than Visualise due to its increased complexity. Its also slower to use since the outputs are often shown  on a Display screen, which you have to navigate to separately. We’re addressing this as part of our ongoing development and  you will be able to see it in action when we release our Reinvented Super and Pension modelling.

Some relevant features:

• You can enter regular super contributions and see the contributions impact on concessional and non concessional caps at the bottom of the screen.
• You can enter start of period transactions for super and pension accounts and see the impact on super and pension balances and components at the bottom of the screen.
• Super input screens will contain allot less inputs that trigger recalculation of the modelling and you will have a ‘Click to Update’ option that allows you to recalculate to see the results, only when it suits you.

Cashflow 
We’re aware that users are looking for more flexibility to allocate cashflow surpluses the way they want. Our roadmap includes some proposed initiatives to enhance Assets and Liability modelling, then Cashflow. We plan to add more flexibility as part of the Cashflow initiative.

Modelling a Property Sale and Repurchase without a V in Charts
It’s important to ensure the timing and amount of your property sale and the purchase of replacement assets are perfectly matched - this means you need to model all of those transactions on 1 July (or the start of period, if you have a key date). If you try to allocate the net proceeds by using the Surplus allocation options you will have a timing mismatch, hence the V on your chart. So you need go to the Asset Display screen to model the investment of any remaining property proceeds into a Financial Asset. 

I understand that isn't as intuitive as it could be - I’d love for us to build a transaction screen for you - similar to the one we are creating for super transactions. Perhaps we can revisit this idea as part of our Asset and Cashflow initiatives.  

Hi eliana.gonzalez,

Home Care Fees
I have been wanting to automate home care calculations for a while. I will record this feedback to help build a case for that. 

For the meantime, you can work around this by modelling a scenario that has your client entering residential aged care. Go to the Aged Care Details screen to find the Income Tested Amount - you can then use this to manually calculate your client’s Home Care fees. Once you have manually calculated the Home Care fees, you can then create a new scenario and enter the Home Care Fees as an Expense.

Partial Rollovers to SMSF
As noted in my earlier answer,  this will be a lot more flexible once our Reinvented Super and Pension modelling is released. I'm so glad we could address this for you!

Withdrawal of 85% of the excess concessional contribution.
Thanks for mentioning this. It’s not currently on our roadmap, but I will note your feedback.

Hi eliana.gonzalez 
While I'm here I thought I may as well  provide an early answer to your second point regarding SMSF. 

There is a hint in the diagram I shared above. Once we have released our new Reinvented Super and Pension modelling (ETA May 25). -  you will be able to model rollovers between super funds (including SMSF to Accumulation or Accumulation to SMSF) for EVERY period of the projection. And it can be for any amount, up to the balance of the fund.

I'll answer the rest of your questions next Thursday.

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