Storage shed
The promise of paperwork reduction is eternally appealing. This may explain why eFileCabinet Inc. has hooked up with Intuit, integrating its archiving system with the software vendor's popular small-business accounting program, QuickBooks.
Users are now able to link customer, vendor, invoice, and bill information between the two programs. EFileCabinet pulls data such as invoice and check numbers and vendor contacts, as well as all supporting documents, into storage, and users can retrieve files using keywords.
The new feature also acts as a prompting device every time a transaction is saved in QuickBooks, allowing a user to immediately store the address change, address, or invoice in eFileCabinet. The integration upgrade requires a purchase of $299.
For more information, visit http://www.efilecabinet.com.
Towards safer social media
Given the welter of compliance issues they face, advisers remain understandably cautious about using social media.
Advisors Asset Management, Inc., a business resource for financial advisers and broker/dealers, is looking to change that. The company recently rolled out a free eService platform to help its adviser and B-D clients incorporate social media into their business mix.
It works like this. A broker-dealer sends AAM a copy of its social media policies and procedures, or AAM provides a list of best practices. It then works with individual firms to educate their representatives about creating media pages on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, as well as gives a run-down of their appropriate usage.
Along with helping its clients keep up with the times, this move lets AAM boost its presence among its clients. One component of the program is access to AAM's Live Blog, which provides the company's opinions on key economic indicators, capital markets and portfolio management.
To learn more, visit www.aamlive.com/blog.
Performance reporting goes mobile
A technology collaboration between RIA custodian Trust Company of America and the Black Diamond Performance Reporting portfolio-management system aims to make asset aggregation easier.
Black Diamond has integrated its reporting technology into Trust Company's custodial platform, thus providing clients online and mobile access to their portfolios.
The set-up collects data from multiple custodians, giving adviser and client a full view of assets, including fee schedules. Using this program, Black Diamond's reporting engine configures a performance report for the company, and reads it all through the digital screen of a single electronic device.
“We're changing the architecture of the management system by bringing all of this together, and powering it by mobile technology,” said Dennis Noto, information technology officer for Trust Company. “The time is coming when an adviser will sit down with a client and together they will review a dynamic, real-time performance report on mobile devices … while discussing investment scenarios.”
For more information on Trust's RIA custodian services, visit www.trustamerica.com.
For more information on Black Diamond's performance platform, visit www.blackdiamondreporting.com.
