The Shine of AI Blinds Many Planners
The hype around artificial intelligence is louder than a footy crowd at State of Origin. Advisers see demos of Copilot writing recommendations in seconds and start thinking “problem solved.” Yet, just like a GPS can’t fix a car with no fuel, AI can’t fix a database that’s full of duplicates, half-filled fields and cryptic file names. At Back Office Hero (BOH) we live by a simple rule: systems first, software second. Until your data is clean, AI will only automate the chaos. Data Hygiene: The Hidden Asset in Your Practice Data hygiene isn’t glamorous, but it’s the bedrock of every profitable advice firm we benchmark. When client information is complete, current and consistently tagged, three good things follow: Advisers trust the dashboards. Support staff stop re-keying or second-guessing figures. Compliance checks become click-through, not treasure hunts. That foundation lets AI do the clever stuff - summarising three years of file notes, flagging lapsing insurance, or spotting a missing Fee Disclosure Statement - without spitting out junk. What “Clean” Looks Like in a Financial Planning Firm Each household has one master record - no “Smith Family” v “John & Mary Smith” duplicates. Every phone number, e-mail and entity field is filled or deliberately blank (and noted as such). File names follow a naming convention: 2025-05-13_Review_Brett Jones.pdf, not Doc123.pdf. Rolling three-year history of goals and advice is recorded in plain language, not planner shorthand. All data sits in one source of truth (Xplan, AdviserLogic, Worksorted), while SharePoint holds the supporting documents. When those boxes are ticked, Copilot can mine the lot and deliver insights you can bank on. ive Risks of Skipping the Cleaning Step Bad recommendations – AI summarises an outdated SOA and you miss a change in objectives. False compliance alerts – missing data fields trigger red flags that waste everyone’s time. Reputational damage – clients see errors in meeting recaps and wonder what else you’ve missed. Licensee headaches – sloppy records breach data governance rules and invite audits. Money down the drain – you pay for AI tokens, consultants and add-ons that never reach ROI because the inputs are rubbish. Simple Steps to Start Scrubbing Today Run a duplicate search across your CRM and merge double-ups. Agree a naming convention for folders and documents, then lock it in with a SharePoint template. Create mandatory fields for core client data - Copilot should never have to guess marital status or risk profile. Assign a Data Champion (one of our favourite BOH roles) who checks weekly reports and chases gaps. Adopt a “one touch” mindset - the person who learns the data makes the update, not the next person down the line. Tackle one client segment per fortnight and you’ll be amazed how quickly the noise disappears. AI Loves a Good System - And So Do Auditors Once the scrub-down is done, Copilot can: Generate a rolling “client story” timeline in 30 seconds. Cross-check SOA, ROA and fee records against ASIC’s best-interests checklist. Highlight dormant opportunities - unused pension cap, stale estate plan, or unmapped goals. Just as importantly, every AI insight is traceable back to a clean data point, giving auditors confidence that your advice is bullet-proof. That’s the BOH mantra: process over heroics, evidence over memory. Final Word: Diagnose Before You Prescribe The allure of AI is real, yet meaningful results depend on disciplined data. Prioritise cleaning first and automation second; with a solid foundation, Copilot can serve as a reliable extra set of hands - without the risk of building on shaky ground. Mark Lewin Back Office Hero May 2025Super and Pension renovations in Xtools+ are complete. Do you want to move in?
Smarter modelling, more flexibility, and way less workarounds - You could be using it as early as 13 May 2025 We've transformed the way you model super and pensions in Xtools+, and it's all based on the feedback you shared with us. 💡 What’s New? We started with a simple goal: allow you to model a second super fund without lumping everything into one. But the more we listened, the more we realised there was a bigger opportunity. You told us you wanted to keep the tax components separate, so you could model retirement pension and estate planning strategies without workarounds. So, we’ve reinvented the way you model super accounts, contributions, cashouts, rollovers and pensions in Xtools+. User feedback has confirmed the new modelling to be a more flexible, intuitive, and powerful experience. 👉 Let us help you move in We’re excited for you to leverage the new features ASAP, which is why we’re opening it up from 13 May 2025. Otherwise, you could wait for the final release on 3 June 2025. However, we understand you might need a little help easing in, so we’ve recorded an introductory video. Watch the video I recommend you think about watching the video NOW. Set aside 19 minutes, or you could try 10 minutes at double speed! To view it, click this link to go to the Iress Learning Centre. Register for early opt-in If you like what you see in the video, please consider (or ask your site administrator) to register for early opt-in. You can find more details in this community article: Xtools+ CALM: Our Super and Pension Renovations are complete. Its time to move in! Deep-dive webinar We will be running a deep dive 1-hour Xtools+ Reinvented Super & Pension Modelling webinar on May 27. We will include some case studies, and I will be available to answer questions during the session. Please register at the Iress Learning Centre. Got questions or feedback? Please take a look at the video and article - if you still have questions or feedback, you could lodge an item on Xtools Connect (check out XTOOLS Connect - a new way to collaborate with the Xtools team!) Otherwise, feel free to comment in the thread below.AMA: I'm Jess Lamb, Xplan expert and Director at Practice Dynamix, Ask Me Anything!
Advisers and paraplanners, are you providing the best possible experience during the client review? And how could you be using Xplan to be making the process even more efficiency? Join me here on Thursday 13th November from 3pm to 4pm to find out! Whether it’s about maintaining client data integrity, automating workflows and client comms, or uncovering Xplan’s hidden gems – start popping in your questions below and Ask Me Anything! ❗️Update: This AMA has now ended but please continue to pop your questions in the discussion forums and make sure you tag me at jessica.lamb🤓 Xplan Hint: Don’t get caught with your pants down with IressID
Did you know that IressID is coming? You may have seen the emails and messages already, but in case you haven’t, make sure to read on as this will affect every user. IressID is a centralised identity management system that provides secure, streamlined access across Iress products. What this means for you is that you’ll be able to easily login to Xplan, Community, and Learning Centre using the same ID, and with more security of your access and data. If you have an Xplan login, this will switch over to logging in via IressID. IressID will be rolled out to all sites progressively over the course of 2025, so you will need to make sure you’re prepared, or you might find yourself locked out of Xplan! Everything you need to know is in this Community guide. Please take the 5 minutes to read this guide to save yourself any angst once IressID goes live on your site. As always, our Service Desk team via Iress Connect is ready to help if you have any trouble with the instructions! NB: If your site is IressID ready, you’ll see a banner saying "Iress ID is coming to your Xplan site this week" pop up in Xplan. Otherwise, each Xplan user will be notified closer to the date when your site is scheduled to roll out.
