Why Smart Kx Is the Smarter Choice for RIAs
Do you struggle with scattered billing data and tedious fee calculations?
As an RIA firm, incomplete fee billing tools can lead to mistakes, lost revenue, and frustrated clients. With Smart Kx’s all-in-one platform, you gain a unified dashboard, immediate error detection, and forward-looking projections.
Let’s compare how Smart Kx can revolutionize your billing process and drive your firm forward.
| Feature / Benefit | Smart Kx | Custodian-offered billing | Portfolio management system | Manual, spreadsheet-based calculators or custom built fee software |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | ✅ Intuitive interface; user guide; access to team; remove complications that a firm may not be using from the app | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ❌ |
| Product direction / investment | ✅All-in on firm’s revenue, end-to-end system | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ❌ |
| Reliance on key employees | ✅Easy to use, Smart Kx expert team is backup | ⚠️Varies | ⚠️Varies | ❌ |
| Accuracy | ✅ Built-in automation and manual review of calculations across the board; full disclosure of calc techniques | ⚠️Varies | ⚠️Limited capabilities | ⚠️Error-prone, multiple manual checks required, extremely vulnerable |
| Onboarding | ✅ Smart Kx onboards, review fee inputs and calcs for accuracy, provides training, reviews disclosed calculations for accuracy | ⚠️Varies - no review of current billing techniques | ⚠️Varies - no review of current billing techniques | ❌Lengthy setup; no review of current billing techniques |
| Complete Revenue System (Analytics, Insights, etc.) | ✅ Dashboard, ability to assess business | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Adjust fee agreement immediately | ✅Amend fee schedule, send to client immediately for disclosure or signature | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Compare Options
Custodian-Offered Billing Solutions
Custodian-offered billing solutions restrict advisors to a single custodian, often with limited features, no client agreement or disclosure options, and no dashboard for analytics or automated fee adjustments.
Smart Kx delivers a modern, flexible, and user-friendly platform that streamlines fee management, supports multiple custodians, and offers powerful billing tools with direct access to industry expertise. With robust features and a seamless user experience, Smart Kx is the smarter choice for RIAs looking for a simplified, comprehensive revenue system.
Portfolio Management Systems
Portfolio management billing solutions for RIA firms fall short on the full AUM lifecycle, lacking built-in client agreements, disclosure documents, and seamless ways to integrate fee details or calculators. They rely on manual data entry, making the process slow, error-prone, and limiting firms’ ability to manage revenue efficiently.
Smart Kx offers a more advanced solution, automating fee calculations and directly linking agreements to fee schedules for accuracy and easy adjustments. With powerful analytics and built-in flexibility, Smart Kx ensures firms can optimize billing and maintain full control over their revenue.
In-house Spreadsheet or Custom-built Solution
Relying on custom-built spreadsheets or in-house tools for fee calculations comes with serious risks—hidden errors can go unnoticed for too long, there are no built-in accuracy checks, and firms must constantly maintain the software and storage. Building and maintaining a software is a full time job requiring various subject matter experts. Plus, if key staff members leave, undocumented calculation rules can create major disruptions.
Smart Kx is purpose-built for AUM fee calculation, with automated accuracy checks, cutting-edge security, and the latest technology. As a dedicated software provider and AUM fee experts, we eliminate the need to outsource or rely on internal workarounds—ensuring precision, reliability, and efficiency in every billing cycle.
“When I started my new firm, I had to bring in clients quickly. I’d call a prospect, explain our offer clearly, and if they were interested, I’d immediately email them a prepared agreement. This way, each call was wrapped up in about 10 minutes. I managed to reach out to 90 prospects in one day.”