What Does an Outsourced Paraplanner Do?
- SOA preparation: Drafting Statements of Advice from adviser instructions, client data, strategy requirements and the firm’s established advice methodology.
- ROA preparation: Preparing Records of Advice for agreed changes, ongoing advice and updates to existing client strategies.
- Financial research: Conducting structured research across financial products, investment strategies, legislation and supporting information required for advice preparation.
- Financial modelling: Developing cash flow projections, scenario analysis and strategy modelling to assist advisers in evaluating potential client outcomes.
- Documentation: Preparing, organising and maintaining advice documentation and supporting records in accordance with the firm’s processes.
- Annual review support: Supporting recurring review cycles through research, strategy updates, documentation and preparation of required advice materials.
- Insurance-related support: Conducting research, product comparisons and documentation activities associated with personal insurance advice.
- Advice administration: Completing defined administrative tasks across the advice process to reduce the operational workload placed on advisers and internal teams.
- Workflow support: Managing allocated paraplanning tasks across the advice pipeline, helping firms coordinate workloads, manage backlogs and maintain turnaround expectations.
The advantages and disadvantages of outsourced paraplanning
Financial planners are currently in a bit of a limbo as they wait for legislation changes that’ll reduce paperwork requirements, a welcome change that will save on costs and time.
But whilst legislation changes bring relief, the financial planning industry continues to shrink – a 38% reduction in the last 3 years, according to Rainmaker.
This skills shortage brings its own challenges for advisors, including:
- Compliance – compliance obligations are time-consuming, and without enough people, managing the required documentation is getting harder and costlier
- Workflows – for smaller or single advisor firms, creating and maintaining robust workflows can be difficult as client work piles up
- Growth – without robust workflow processes, growth gets put on the backburner as advisors attempt to juggle client & admin work
- Brain drain – as advisors leave, they take their processes, knowledge, and networks with them, leaving firms grappling to fill this sudden void
Outsourcing paraplanning work can be the answer to many of these challenges, and we sat down with our Partner of Paraplanning & Mortgage, Deepthi Viswanathan, to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of outsourced paraplanning.
The 5 advantages of outsourced paraplanning
1. Cost savings
Outsourced paraplanning services often cost 50% less than onshore hires, saving firms a significant amount of money.
Employing in-house staff also requires extra costs when it comes to retention efforts. Activities such as team building days, holiday parties, and improved benefits can decrease profit margins. Outsourcing means that firms will be spending less on staffing and can put their profits towards growth instead.
2. Time savings
Outsourcing removes the need for in-house team members to train and manage staff. Training often reduces productivity for months as employees take time out of their schedules to manage new staff and review their work. And even when staff are trained, oversight of their activities and work takes time.
When firms outsource, the training is done by the provider. At SuperRecords, our paraplanning staff undergo constant training, and all managers are RG-146 certified and are required to accrue 40 CPD points annually.
3. Scalability
Outsourcing allows firms to scale much easier and quicker. At SuperRecords, we’re constantly hiring and training staff so that they’re ready to hit the ground running when firms and advisors want to add extra support.
With multiple ways to engage with us, contract terms are flexible and give clients the flexibility to decrease or increase support when they need to.
4. Access to the latest technology
The industry is constantly evolving, so it can be hard and costly for firms to keep up. Outsourcing allows firms to utilise the latest technology and reap the benefits without the added costs as providers take on this burden instead.
At SuperRecords, we’re working on new automation that reduces turnaround times, such as automating fact finding portals.
5. Improved workflows and processes
Finding an outsourcing provider that works with you is important, as the right one will support long-term growth. Deepthi shares that it’s common for our teams to look at your current workflows and processes and close any gaps they identify – we’re always able to customise to your needs.
What Does an Outsourced Paraplanner Do?
- SOA preparation: Drafting Statements of Advice from adviser instructions, client data, strategy requirements and the firm’s established advice methodology.
- ROA preparation: Preparing Records of Advice for agreed changes, ongoing advice and updates to existing client strategies.
- Financial research: Conducting structured research across financial products, investment strategies, legislation and supporting information required for advice preparation.
- Financial modelling: Developing cash flow projections, scenario analysis and strategy modelling to assist advisers in evaluating potential client outcomes.
- Documentation: Preparing, organising and maintaining advice documentation and supporting records in accordance with the firm’s processes.
- Annual review support: Supporting recurring review cycles through research, strategy updates, documentation and preparation of required advice materials.
- Insurance-related support: Conducting research, product comparisons and documentation activities associated with personal insurance advice.
- Advice administration: Completing defined administrative tasks across the advice process to reduce the operational workload placed on advisers and internal teams.
- Workflow support: Managing allocated paraplanning tasks across the advice pipeline, helping firms coordinate workloads, manage backlogs and maintain turnaround expectations.
What Are the Disadvantages of Outsourced Paraplanning?
Paraplanning solutions can increase capacity, but firms need to assess the operational considerations before engaging an external provider. The key areas include oversight, workflow coordination, communication, data security and maintaining appropriate quality and compliance controls.
1. Reduced Visibility Across Advice Workflows
External teams may give firms less direct visibility into day to day financial planning support progress. Without clear workflow tracking, responsibilities and escalation processes, practice leaders can find it harder to identify delays, manage workloads and maintain consistent turnaround times across advice work.
2. Additional Coordination Across Teams
Outsourcing introduces another team into the advice workflow, which can create coordination requirements around instructions, documentation, deadlines and feedback. Without clearly defined processes, advisers and practice staff may spend additional time clarifying requirements or following up on outstanding work.
3. Communication and Turnaround Challenges
Differences in working hours, communication processes or understanding of firm specific requirements can affect turnaround times. This becomes particularly relevant when advice volumes fluctuate or urgent work arises. Firms should establish communication protocols, service expectations and escalation procedures before outsourcing.
4. Data Security and Confidentiality
Outsourced paraplanning involves sharing sensitive client, financial and personal information with an external provider. Firms therefore need confidence in how data is accessed, stored, transferred and protected. Security controls, access restrictions, confidentiality measures and provider governance should be assessed before engagement.
5. Quality Control and Compliance Oversight
External paraplanning does not remove the firm’s responsibility for reviewing advice documentation. Inconsistent technical work or insufficient understanding of Australian financial advice requirements can increase review effort and compliance risk. Firms need defined quality assurance processes, adviser oversight and clear accountability for final advice.
How to Choose an Outsourced Paraplanning Provider
Check Financial Planning Experience
Assess the provider’s experience supporting financial planning firms and the types of advice work they handle. Relevant experience can indicate whether their team understands advice workflows, documentation requirements and the level of technical support required across different client and advice scenarios.
Review Security and Data Protection
Understand how the provider protects sensitive client and financial information throughout the engagement. Review access controls, data storage, confidentiality processes, security certifications and employee policies to establish whether the provider’s data protection framework meets the firm’s governance and risk requirements.
Ask About Quality Assurance
Ask how completed work is reviewed before it reaches the adviser. A defined quality assurance process should cover technical accuracy, documentation standards, consistency and corrections. Firms should also establish who is responsible for final review and approval within their own advice process.
Confirm Turnaround Times
Establish expected turnaround times for different types of paraplanning work and understand how urgent requests are handled. Providers should have sufficient capacity to accommodate changing workloads without compromising quality. Clear service expectations can help firms plan advice pipelines and manage client commitments.
Understand the Pricing Model
Look beyond the headline cost and understand how the provider charges for different types of work. Compare pricing structures against expected advice volumes, complexity, revisions and additional requirements to determine the likely overall cost and whether the model remains practical as workloads change.
Check Australian Financial Advice Knowledge
Confirm that the paraplanning team understands the Australian financial advice environment and the documentation standards relevant to the firm’s work. This is particularly important when outsourcing offshore, as differences in regulatory knowledge can increase review requirements and create additional compliance considerations.
When Should a Financial Planning Firm Consider Outsourcing?
- Growing SOA/ROA backlog: Reduce accumulated advice work before delays affect client service and adviser capacity.
- Advisers spending too much time on documentation: Free adviser capacity by shifting time intensive preparation and documentation tasks to specialist support.
- Difficulty hiring paraplanners: Access additional financial planning support when recruiting experienced paraplanning professionals is challenging.
- Staff leave: Maintain workflow continuity when internal paraplanning capacity is temporarily reduced.
- Inconsistent workflow: Stabilise workloads and turnaround times when internal capacity fluctuates.
- Increased advice volumes: Scale paraplanning capacity as client demand and advice activity increase.
- Need for flexible capacity: Adjust support according to workload without committing to permanent additional headcount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Give yourself a competitive advantage with outsourced paraplanning
Our Paraplanning team has supported hundreds of financial advisors with SOAs, ROAs, and support services such as corresponding with insurance underwriting teams, setting up new super accounts, preparing annual review documents, and much more.
With over a hundred paraplanning staff on board, our team is ready to jump in when you want to start delegating paraplanning work. If you’d like to know more about how we can boost your capacity, improve your productivity, and drive maximum efficiency, you can book a chat with us today.
Other paraplanning resources that you might find interesting
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