What Is a Record?

Records are your primary point for storing information in AdvisorEngine CRM. Everything you do in the system happens within or is tied to one or more Records. Understanding the structure of Records and consistently populating them with accurate information will greatly increase the effective use of your CRM.

How Are Records Structured?

Records consist of two primary components; the Record and the Persons. All information stored within a Record is kept at one of these two levels, the Record level or the Person level. Each interaction with a Record either happens at the Record level or the Person level. Understanding the difference is critical to an effective use of the system.

Record Level

The Record level is like the folder into which you store all your information. Key points of information are stored at this folder level, like an overall label, the advisor responsible for it, the office it belongs to, and overall contact information. Most other points of the system, like Actions, correspondence, and reporting, interact at the Record level.

Person Level

Each Record “folder” can contain up to two Persons with more specific details than are kept at the Record level. These would be more equivalent to the actual files you put in a folder. All personal information, contact information, and other details unique to each Person are stored at the Person level. Through Person linking, it is also possible to have a Person appear in more than one Record (for example, once in a household and again in a business).

What Are Ways to Use Records?

The primary use of a Record is to store client information, but there are other ways to make use of the Record and Person structure to keep track of information valuable to your firm. Some of the more common examples include:

Client

The standard use of a Record. This includes a Record identifying the household and then one or two Persons included in the Record. Household children can be included in a few different ways, depending on how you wish to access the data. See Managing Minors for the pros and cons of each method.

Prospects

Similar to a client Record but usually with a little less detail and classified differently. Can be easily converted to use as a full client Record by changing the classification when their business is won.

CPA, Attorney, and other Business Associations

Records used to hold information about professional relations of either your firm or your clients. The professional Record is linked to the appropriate related Records through Record Relationships.

Entity

A Record of a business organization or the like that your firm associates with. How you add Persons and contact information can vary based on how you interact with the entity. See Company Records for the pros and cons of each method.

Employees

Use your CRM to keep a Record for each one of your employees. Track internal Actions and contact information through these Records. This can prove useful for some compliance requests when audited.

Firm

Create an entity-type Record for your own firm to track internal Actions. Relate employee Records to the firm for a robust internal data-tracking system.

Special Use

If you think of your Records as file folders, there are many other possibilities. Create a Record for tracking certain compliance events, for example. Determine what data you want out of the system later to help define how you want to structure what you store in it now.