Set up or update a household from notes and documents

Have Operator build a new client's household from what you already have, such as a fact find, a meeting or details you type, and keep existing households up to date. You check each change before Operator saves it.

What firms use it for

• Onboarding from a fact find. Attach the client's fact find and ask Operator to set up the household with its people, trusts, super funds and accounts. See Set up a household from a document.
• After a discovery meeting. From the meeting page, ask Operator to create a household for the people you met. See Set up a household from a meeting.
• A new structure. When clients set up an SMSF with a corporate trustee, describe it, and Operator records the fund, the company and who holds which role. See Update a household.
• Keeping details current. When a client emails a new address, ask Operator to update their record.
• Tidying names. Ask Operator to rename households so they follow the pattern your firm already uses.

Set up a household from a document

Use this when you take on a new client and already have their details in a fact find, an application form or similar document.

1. Select Operator at the top of the sidebar.

2. Select Attach files, then choose the document. See Attach files.

3. Enter your request. Name the people and say what to include. For example: "Set up a household for Ben and Clare Harper from this fact find. Include their two children, the Harper Family Trust and their super accounts."

4. Press Enter.

   Operator reads the document and checks whether the household already exists. If a household with a similar name exists, Operator asks whether you mean that household or a new one.

5. When the Confirmation required card shows, decide what to do. The card says that Operator wants to create the household with its contacts, accounts, relationships and team access. It does not list each detail.

   • To check the details first, enter "List everything you will add" in the box under the card, then select Do this instead. Operator lists the details, then asks again.
   • When you are happy with the details, select Approve.

Operator saves the whole household at once. If any part cannot be saved, nothing is saved, so you never end up with half a household.

You are added to the new household's team as its adviser. To check what Operator added, open the household and select the Members tab. See Record a household's members.

New households are clients unless you say otherwise. For someone you have not taken on yet, ask Operator to make the household a prospect.

To keep the document with the household, ask Operator to file it in the household's folder in Client Context too. It asks you before it saves the file there. See Work with files in Operator.

Set up a household from a meeting

Use this after a first meeting with people who are not in Alcova yet.

1. Open the meeting, then select Ask Operator at the bottom of the page. Alcova attaches the meeting to your request.
2. Enter your request, for example "The people in this meeting have no household. Create one for them as a prospect."
3. Press Enter, then check and approve the Confirmation required card, as in the steps above.

Operator takes the attendees' names and email addresses from the meeting. Add anything else you learned, for example "Their daughter Mia is 12."

Update a household

Use this when a client's details or structures change.

1. Open the household, then select Ask Operator at the bottom of the page. Alcova attaches the household to your request.
2. Describe the change. For example:
   • "Add the Harper Super Fund, with Harper Super Pty Ltd as its corporate trustee. Ben and Clare are directors of the company."
   • "Clare's new email address is clare.harper@example.com.au."
   • "Add Ben's personal super account at Example Super, account number 12345678."
   • "Change this household to a client."
3. Press Enter, then check and approve the Confirmation required card.

You can also ask from any page and name the household. If Operator cannot tell which household you mean, it asks. It does not change a household just because its name is similar to the one you gave.

What Operator can record

To have Operator remember details that have no place here, such as a client's goals, ask it to remember them. See Have Operator remember.

What Operator does not do

• It does not set up a family's trust, company or SMSF as a household of its own. It records the entity inside the family's household.
• It cannot merge two households. To combine them, ask Operator to set out the changes to each household. It shows you the plan before it makes any change.
• It does not change households that come from your CRM.

Remove a household

Ask Operator, for example "Remove the Harper household." Operator names the household and asks you to confirm. The household then no longer shows in Alcova, but its records are kept for compliance.

If something goes wrong

• Operator says your client data is managed by your CRM. Your organisation's households come from a CRM. Make the change there.
• Operator asks which household you mean. Answer its question. See Answer a question.
• Something Operator added is wrong. Ask Operator to correct it, or change it on the household's Members tab. See Record a household's members.

Related

• Record a household's members
• Add a household
• Contacts
• Follow up after a client meeting