* This is a guest contribution courtesy of Claras.ai
Let’s be honest – you didn’t become a financial adviser to spend your evenings writing file notes. Yet here we are, with increasing compliance requirements and clients who expect more personal attention than ever.
Something has to give.
That’s why we built Claras.ai, an AI assistant designed specifically for Australian financial advisers. It transforms lengthy meeting recordings into clear, detailed file notes and client insights. Not just any notes – properly structured ones that match your templates, capture action items, and even draft client emails. All while keeping your client data secure and stored in Australia.
The Real Cost of Documentation
But don’t take our word for it. We recently mapped out exactly how Claras transforms the typical adviser’s documentation workflow across key client touchpoints. The results were eye-opening:
We mapped out the post-meeting documentation workflow for a typical client journey. The results show just how much time gets consumed by admin – and how much you could reclaim.
| Meeting Type | Traditional | With Claras |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Meeting | ||
| File note writing | 25 mins | 1 min |
| Client email draft | 15 mins | 1 min |
| Action item tracking | 10 mins | Instant |
| Total | 50 mins | 2 mins + checks |
| Fact Find Meeting | ||
| File note documentation | 35 mins | 1 min |
| Compliance checking | 15 mins | Instant |
| Client email & summary | 15 mins | 1 min |
| Total | 65 mins | 2 mins + checks |
| SOA Presentation | ||
| File note writing | 30 mins | 1 min |
| Implementation checklist | 15 mins | Instant |
| Client confirmation email | 15 mins | 1 min |
| Total | 60 mins | 2 mins + checks |
| Annual Review | ||
| Review documentation | 45 mins | 1 min |
| Compliance checking | 15 mins | Instant |
| Client summary & email | 15 mins | 1 min |
| Total | 75 mins | 2 mins + checks |
| Strategy Meeting | ||
| File note writing | 40 mins | 1 min |
| Strategy summary | 20 mins | 1 min |
| Action items & email | 15 mins | Instant |
| Total | 75 mins | 2 mins + checks |
Time saved per client journey: over 5 hours.
Let's put these numbers into perspective.
With an average of 10 client meetings per week (2 per day), you’ll save 10.5 hours every week.
That’s more than a full working day given back to you every week! That’s more time to:
- See 3-4 more clients
- Focus on business development
- Improve your client service model
- Or simply get home in time for dinner
The Path to Efficiency
While Claras starts saving you time from day one, peak efficiency is typically achieved within two weeks. Here’s what the journey looks like:
Days 1-3: Getting started
- Immediate time savings of 20-30 minutes per meeting
- Quick template setup with our pre-built templates
- Instant benefits from automated client emails and action items
Days 4-7: Building momentum
- Time savings increase as you refine your workflow
- Minor template adjustments to match your style and practice workflow
- Team grows confident with the new process
Week 2+: Peak efficiency
- Achieve the full time savings shown above
- Templates optimised for your practice
- Seamless integration with your existing systems
- Team fully comfortable with the streamlined workflow
Even from day one, you’ll see significant time savings compared to traditional methods. Start with your next meeting and you’ll quickly see how easy it is to expand to others.
How It Works
Let’s take a closer look at how to run a client meeting with Claras on your team:
- During the Meeting
- Focus entirely on your client
- Record the conversation
- No need for detailed note-taking
- After the Meeting
- Upload the recording to Claras
- Claras AI processes the conversation, removing all personally identifiable information (PII)
- Within 2 minutes, you receive:
- Structured file notes matching your template
- Extracted action items
- Draft client email summarising key points
- Compliance alerts for any missing required items
- Final Steps
- Review the generated content
- Make any personal adjustments
- Send to client and save to your file system
Real Results from Real Advisers
“Been using some old transcripts from video meetings, and this thing is GO000000000DDDDD!!!!! In fact, for a fairly complex financial situation managed to grasp the detail better than I did initially 🙂”
"Claras has enabled me to reclaim my life. It was so simple to make some adjustments to existing file note templates so your file note is just how you want it, including for something like an annual review where you may want it very structured with headings and subheadings it produces exactly what you are looking for... to me it's like magic."
“I recorded meetings into Otter, but the problem with the transcript is weird spelling and weird sentences. In the past, the editing of the transcript and rearranging of the info into a logical sequence took almost the same amount of time as writing the FN from scratch, so it wasn’t really a time saving. With Claras, I didn’t even read the Otter transcript before uploading it, and the result exceeded my expectations.”
Why This Matters More Than Ever
The 2023 Financial Advice Efficiency Report reveals that only 16% of advice firms are running with a fully automated review process. Those who do are seeing significant benefits:
- Half the time to 2.1 hours average to prepare review documents (versus 5.5 hours without automation)
- Higher client satisfaction rates
- Increased profitability
Getting Started is Easier Than You Think
Claras has been built specifically for Australian financial advisers, with:
- Australian-based data storage
- Built-in PII protection
- Compliance-first approach
- Simple interface that works with your existing tools
Start with a free trial at claras.ai and see how AI can transform your practice without compromising on quality or compliance.
Because your clients deserve your best thinking, not your best note-taking.
Stuart Riddle, Claras.ai