For a registered investment adviser or small advisory firm, the best first automations in 2026 are meeting notes into the CRM, client onboarding paperwork, annual review prep and compliance record keeping. Each one takes advisors or operations staff hours a week, and each has a clear before number. A client onboarding build has a sample range of $3,500 to $6,000 over 3 to 5 weeks.
This guide is for independent RIAs and advisory teams of roughly 1 to 20 advisors. Accounting firms have different work; see accounting firm workflow automation.
The record keeping rule every build must respect
SEC Rule 204-2 under the Advisers Act sets which books and records a registered adviser must keep. Two parts matter most for automation:
- Rule 204-2(a)(7) requires keeping certain written communications, including those relating to recommendations or advice given or proposed.
- Rule 204-2(e)(1) requires most records to be kept for at least five years from the end of the fiscal year of the last entry, the first two years in an appropriate office of the adviser.
So when automation drafts a client email, a meeting summary or a CRM note, that output may itself be a record. Builds for advisers need to save what was sent, keep it for the required period, and make it easy to produce. Read the rule with your compliance officer; state-registered advisers have their own rules.
Five workflows to automate
| Workflow | What it replaces | Typical systems |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting notes into the CRM | Advisor writes notes after each meeting | Zoom or Teams, CRM |
| Client onboarding | Forms, follow-ups and account paperwork by email | E-signature, CRM, custodian |
| Annual review prep | Pulling holdings, cash flow and notes by hand | CRM, custodian, accounting |
| Compliance documentation | Updates logged late or missed | CRM, Microsoft 365 |
| Client portal updates | Monthly data copied into the portal | Custodian API, portal |
1. Meeting notes into the CRM
An AI agent drafts a summary of the meeting, action items and follow-ups into the CRM for the advisor to review and approve. In our meeting notes case study, a 6-advisor firm cut documentation from 45 minutes to 5 minutes per meeting, and note quality improved across all 6 advisors. The advisor still approves every note. See AI meeting summaries for advisors.
2. Client onboarding
New clients get one checklist, e-signature packets and automatic reminders for anything missing. Staff see where each client is stuck. In our onboarding case study, a firm with 85 client households cut onboarding from 2 to 3 weeks to under one week, a 65% reduction. More in why financial onboarding is slow.
Tell us your CRM and the task. We'll reply with one idea worth building first.
3. Annual review prep
The automation pulls holdings, notes, open tasks and life events into one prep document before each review. In our annual review case study, a solo RIA with 90 client households cut prep from 2.5 hours to 20 minutes per review, using an MCP server across Salesforce, QuickBooks and Xero. See annual review prep.
4. Compliance documentation
Required updates, such as risk profile changes or suitability notes, get logged on time with a reminder chain when they are missing. In our compliance documentation case study, an RIA with 140 client households cleared 22 overdue items in 2 weeks and has had no missed compliance updates since launch. See compliance docs automation.
5. Client portal updates
Monthly data moves from the custodian to the client portal on its own. In our client portal case study, an RIA with 120 households went from 4 hours of monthly manual updates to none, and client satisfaction with communications rose 18%.
Where a person must stay in the loop
- Any message that gives advice or a recommendation is drafted by automation and sent by an advisor.
- Money movement, trades and account changes are never done by an AI agent alone.
- Every draft, approval and sent message is stored with the rest of your books and records.
Our post on human approval gates for finance AI agents goes into detail, and the AI agent governance checklist covers logs, permissions and the off switch. Our governance page lists the rules every agent we build follows.
What it costs
| Build | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Client onboarding | $3,500 to $6,000 (sample range) | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Single workflow, such as portal updates | From $2,500 | 2 to 6 weeks |
| MCP server for review prep | From $3,500 | Depends on systems |
| First AI agent, such as meeting notes | $4,000 | Depends on scope |
| Care plan after launch | $350 a month | Month to month |
The cost guide shows what moves a quote, and every price is on the pricing page. If your team works in Claude, our post on connecting your CRM to Claude and our MCP hub explain how assistants get safe CRM access.
A 90-day plan
- Month 1: start with meeting notes. Measure minutes of documentation per meeting before and after.
- Month 2: add onboarding reminders and the missing-item checklist.
- Month 3: add review prep and compliance reminders, and confirm with your compliance officer that records are kept as Rule 204-2 requires.
The financial services automation checklist lists what to check in each system.
How this fits implementation work
We build judgment-heavy steps such as meeting summaries as AI agents, fixed steps as workflow automation, and assistant access to your data as MCP servers. Our financial services page lists all case studies. To find the first thing to automate in your firm, describe one task through the free automation audit; we reply within one business day.
Independence and limitations
This guide summarizes SEC Rule 204-2 as published on eCFR, read October 29, 2026. It is not legal or compliance advice. Case study results come from specific clients and will differ for your firm.
