31st July AMA: I'm Courtney Youngblutt, Xplan expert, Ask Me Anything!

We all know efficient processes and smart tech use are non-negotiables for scaling your business and serving more Australians.

In Episode 2 of the Advisely Masterclass, I worked with Retire Aware’s Kylie Springall to lay the tech foundations for a high-volume advice model.

Whether you're just starting out, like Kylie, or growing your business, it can be easy to overlook the capabilities of the tech you already have.

If you’ve got a bold vision like Kylie and you’re building out your advice processes, trying to scale efficiently, or just need Xplan to do more of the heavy lifting, this AMA is your chance to ask. For example:

How do I track which referrers bring in my best clients?
What’s the best way to ensure my file notes meet compliance obligations in Xplan?
How can I track my marketing efforts?
Can I invoice my clients from Xplan?
How can I utilise Visualise in the onboarding process
When should I introduce the Client Portal into my fact-find process

Join me here on Thursday 31st July from 3pm to 4pm AEST.

I’ve worked with hundreds of practices to optimise processes and boost everyday efficiencies. If you have a repeatable process, there’s a good chance I can make it more efficient for you with Xplan. I’m here to help!

❗️This AMA is now closed for questions

?️ Let us know what you thought of the AMA and what topics you would like to see next here.

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Comments

rainier.reyes

Welcome everyone to this AMA thread!

Please ensure you read the instructions on the right-hand side of this page.

Submit your Xplan questions, queries and feedback now by hitting the 'Reply' button on the post above and @courtney.youngblutt will respond during the scheduled time.

Not sure what to ask? I highly recommend checking out some of our blogs in the Xplan Hub for some refreshers, as well as our latest Masterclass here.

If you have any issues, please don't hesitate to send me a message.

Looking forward to seeing all your questions!

anton.scholte.0

Hi Courtney,

I believe that the best way to scale our business with Xplan, is to be able to connect with Xplan to and from other software.

Could you please tell me how I can best work out how to connect with Xplan's API in order to import/export data?

Or is there another way to connect with Xplan to import/export data?

Kind regards,

Anton

sebastian.darcy

Hi Courney,

We have, a few years ago, moved to Model Office offering by Xplan, and I am not sure if this is the best offering nowadays, but concerned about another big move.

Is there a way to have someone look at our processes and point us in the right direction?
Or should we be looking at external Xplan providers such as Practice Dynamix to assist?
Is there a better offering to Model Office nowadays? And can we discuss these with someone?

Separately, is there a way clients can upload sensitive documents to Xplan and vise versa?

Look forward to the AMA.

denish

Hi Courtney,

we are having a problem with SMAs from some major platforms coming through as unbundled in IPS, where we want them to show as a single line entry for the purposes of simple client reviews (we use more detailed reports from the platforms)

Is there a toggle somewhere to change this and is it done by us or the platform? Platforms say XPlan but previous enquires to XPlan have said it is done by the platforms!

Thanks in advance

Denis

yonit

Hi Courtney,

I noticed in xtools+ that super taxable and tax-free components are now listed in dollar amounts rather than percentages. Is there a way to change it back to percentages?

Yonit

shell

Heya @courtney.youngblutt ? I am still keen to explore best practice for managing user groups in Xplan. For practices that outsource administration and paraplanning, and need to grant third-party access to their Xplan site—what key considerations should be kept in mind when adding or removing clients from user groups to ensure appropriate access and data security? Would love to hear your thoughts on this if I can. Thank you in advance ?

rainier.reyes

Hi everyone and welcome to today's AMA! Great to see all your questions already. In order to see new questions and responses as they come in, make sure you refresh the page regularly.

If you find that you're receiving too many emails during the next hour, you can adjust your email notification settings:

Click profile in the top-right corner.
Click 'My settings'
Navigate to 'Follows & Notifications'
Adjust settings for each action - these are automatically set to immediate but you can change the frequency to 'daily digest', 'weekly digest' and 'never'

You can collapse certain Q&A threads by clicking the small arrow next to a post so you can focus on the answers you want to know.

Send me a message if you need any assistance!

courtney.youngblutt

Hi Anton, thanks for your question - integrations are definitely something we are seeing alot more of.

There are already a number of integrations with Xplan via our Iress Open network - you can see a list fo the current integrations available here https://community.iress.com/t5/Xplan-Integrations/Available-Integrations/ta-p/22576 - an Xplan site administrator can easily enable any of these on your site through System Settings > Iress Open. Available integrations cover a range of use cases such as data collection, advice presentation, document management, client portals, and more.

If you’re looking to extract data via API for business intelligence - we are currently in pilot with a BI tool that will sit within Xplan. No firm release date just yet, as it will depend on the feedback we receive, but keep your eyes peeled"

Also don't overlook Xplan's existing capability - sometimes the very thing you’re looking to do might already be possible within Xplan’s extensive CRM capabilities.

What’s the specific use case? What problem are you trying to solve by extracting data? There might be some other ideas...

courtney.youngblutt

Hey Sebastian, thanks for reaching out. I hear your concerns around moving sites, there’s always disruption and a little downtime, so I know it is not a decision businesses make lightly.

Iress has a new offering - Advice Tool Kit, which, when released, which specifically aimed to address feedback we have received over the years about Model Office. I have already passed your details onto the team who can help you out, and they will be in touch to talk you through the offering

In terms of processes - there are a number of options. Advice Toolkit has an out-of-the-box workflow process that you can adopt or adapt yourself if needed. We have also just recently published a Workflow Starter Kit in the Iress Learning Centre. The starter kit aims to guide you through how to build your own workflows. You can view it here: Workflow Starter Kit. We are also running a webinar on Tuesday, 26 August to walk through the kit and how you can use it to help you get started with your own workflows. You can register here if you are interested: Workflow Starter Kit Webinar.

If you’re not looking for out-of-the-box processes, but don’t want to build your own, you can contract Iress or a third party to build custom workflows just for you.

If you want to explore custom workflows, raise a ticket in Iress Connect , mention this post and your request will come through to my team.

courtney.youngblutt

Hi Sebastian - to answer your second question, clients can upload sensitive documents to Xplan through the Client Portal. You can use the portal as a secure messaging system on its own - you don’t have to provide access to portfolio data.

You can read a little more about how it works here: Secure Messaging Overview and here: Sharing documents and messages with the client.

If you’re interested in setting up a Client Portal just raise a ticket in Iress Connect and the team will take you through the setup process. ?

courtney.youngblutt

Hi Denis!

There’s no ‘toggle’ as such to only show a rolled up version of the SMA however, you can “group by SMA instrument, “ which allows you to collapse the underlying SMA holdings into a single line in the position screen.

Iress have done alot work around enhancing how SMAs are displayed in Portfolios then subsequently used in WealthSolver. This is a great article that helps explain what we’ve done and how to use some of the enhanced functions that exist on the Portfolio (Beta) pages - https://community.iress.com/t5/Help-Guide-Xplan/Enhanced-SMA-Capabilities-in-Xplan-WealthSolver-amp-IressNet/ta-p/58890.

How Iress displays SMAs in Portfolio is dependent on what information the providers send to IressNet. All providers send us the underlying holdings in the SMA, (except Hub24 who used to allow the adviser to choose when they set up the datafeed - but I am not sure if they still allow that - I think they also send the SMA underlying holdings unbundled now too).

Rolling up of an SMA product generally only occurs when modelling/making recommendations, as you model/recommend the SMA product as a whole, and not by underlying assets.

Re: the simple client reviews, being able to group by SMA Instrument should give you what you need.

There are also new reports called “Portfolio Valuation - SMA” and “Portfolio Valuation - Simple, SMA” that can be accessed via Client > Portfolios > Reports > Reports. These new portfolio reports support grouping by SMA via the Report Options as well.

I hope that helps!

anton.scholte.0

Thanks Courtney,

That is helpful, but I meant to connect with Xplan from Microsoft Copilot/Power Apps for example.

How can Microsoft Copilot/Power Apps connect with Xplan, if we are looking to use this to import/export Xplan data?

Is this possible currently?

Kind regards,

Anton

courtney.youngblutt

Hi Yonit, the changes to super and pension modeling in Xtools+ are exciting, as with anything new, it does take a little while to get across the new way of doing things

From what I understand, the Super Display pages have always been in $ (so no change here). The Pension Display pages still show the % components as its worked out by % for pensions.

If my answer is not helpful, would you mind posting some more detail under the “Reinvented Super and Pension” article here: https://www.advisely.com.au/discussions/conversations/at-last-reinvented-super--pension-modelling-in-xtools-has-arrived/1915 and our resident Xtools+ guru @lana.graham will be able to help.

Thanks Yonit.

willerd.jost

Thanks @courtney.youngblutt, we've registered for the Workflow Starter Kit webinar. Very interested in the automations to help gain some efficiencies

courtney.youngblutt

Hey Michelle! ?

Awesome questions! Thank you.

User Groups are key. Setting up a separate user group that advisers can add their clients to when they want a virtual administrator or paraplanner to work on them works well. If the virtual assistant is working for multiple businesses on a managed or licensee site, it can become a bit trickier - but essentially, you need a separate user group for each business that you work for.

Access Levels definitely. Make sure a user's capabilities only allow them access to exactly what they need and no more (as to what they can view, create, or amend).

@bridget.lowe ’s tip about exploring how Xplan assists with security measures such as IP whitelisting for geolocation.

Login profiles limited by IP addresses: Under System Settings > Login setting > Login profiles, if you select to add a new profile you can then use specific IP addresses or IP ranges to restrict access to enhance security.

Logins restricted to times of the day: Under a Users Access settings you can also restrict access by time of day… This article tells you more: Override Time Restrictions for Individual Users .

?Here are a couple more tips:

If you do allow access for third party users to your clients’ file note information, keep in mind that they will be able to see everything, not just the most recently uploaded attachments or file notes.
Don't forget to remove access when the third-party user no longer needs to view them.
With the new IressID it is possible to have multiple people able to log in under a single Xplan user account. Useful if you have a virtual team that needs access at different times. See ‘Shared Access’ for more information.

Hopefully that's some food for thought for you!! ?

courtney.youngblutt

Awesome!! That's good to hear!

courtney.youngblutt

Hi Anton, no, this is not currently possible. There are some AI integrations in the Iress Open network - Have a look at what The FAYBL AI Assistant can do - it might help in some areas.

Thanks Anton.

primrose.foster

Awesome insights shared so far @courtney.youngblutt ?

I personally found your Masterclass episode with Kylie super compelling (everyone else please check it out - especially if you feel you could be getting more out of Xplan!)

What I would like to hear from you is: what was your biggest personal takeaway from working with Kylie on helping to get her tech setup for volume? Has it changed or reinforced the way you now help other advice businesses with Xplan?

denish

Thanks Courtney - I will have a look at the info and have a play around

courtney.youngblutt

Oh great question!!!

My biggest personal takeaway from helping Kylie get her tech setup for her new venture was:

1. Advisers really do have a unique opportunity to rethink advice delivery and move beyond traditional models to reach unadvised Australians in a way that is sustainable from a business's perspective while achieving high-impact outcomes from clients.

2. Discarding assumptions was crucial. Both Kylie and I had preconceived notions about how Xplan could best serve her - Kylie, based on her previous experience with Xplan while I was quick to assume how I thought Xplan could help here at the outset. By listening to Kylie's vision, we discovered Xplan could streamline her business and reduce costs in unforeseen ways. A great outcome!

Has it changed or reinforced the way you now help other advice businesses with Xplan?

Yes. When you become entrenched in the tech, it’s easy to get caught up in the technical aspects, focusing solely on function and efficiency. The MasterClass has reminded me that it is often best to step back and look at the bigger picture - the end client experience, the ideal process, or simply the 'jobs to be done', before honing in on where Xplan can truly add value. Such a good reminder.

Thanks for asking @primrose.foster

shell

Love your work @courtney.youngblutt thank you so much! ? This helps me greatly!

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