Before you begin
To use the Import Client option, you or your firm must have:
• An active Voyant user account with access to our AdviserGo software, either as a trialist or a subscriber.
• An active Redtail CRM user account. You will be asked initially for your Redtail login credentials to access the integration, so have them handy.
Use the Redtail Integration to Import Client Information
1. Login to your Voyant account.
2. From the “My Clients” home page, click the plus (+) button, bottom right, and select Import Client, as pictured below.
- Select Redtail CRM.
4. The first time you use this integration, you will be prompted to enter your Redtail username and password. Once authenticated, these credentials will be stored safely in a wallet within your user profile.
Note – After your Redtail credentials are authenticated and stored, you will not receive this prompt for your credentials again on subsequent visits, provided the software can successfully pass your credentials form your wallet to Redtail and that they can be successfully authenticated in their system. However, if your Redtail username or password changes or is no longer valid, you will receive a prompt to reenter your username and password.
5. After logging in, search for and select client records to import into Voyant.
Redtail allows for numerous, almost freeform variants of account types whereas Voyant has strictly defined account types.
If Voyant receives from Redtail an account of a type that is not recognized, it will prompt you to select one, allowing the item to be recognized and imported.
You must select an account type for each unrecognized account to proceed with the import. However, you will have the option to skip (omit) these accounts in the next step.
Important Note – There are a few types of unrecognized accounts that are not modelled yet.
- Review the items that will be imported. Click the Skip option, when necessary, to omit certain items from import.
- Once you have completed your review, click Done to finish the import.
Once the import is complete, the new plan will display in Voyant.
Correcting “Errors” After Importing
After importing, check the top of the screen in the AdviserGo for error messages. Errors messages will display as red banners across the top of the screen, as pictured below.
It is not altogether uncommon to see one or more error messages in your newly imported client case. CRM systems often store basic account information but not necessarily all the information Voyant needs to accurately model certain types of accounts. If an imported account does not include all the information Voyant requires, an “error” message will appear directing you to what needs to be edited.
These error messages are links, which you can click to jump directly to the item in question and correct the problem. Be sure to read the error message. The descriptions in these messages are usually very helpful.
If you determine an imported item isn’t needed in the plan, select that item from the Dashboard screen and viewing the item’s details, click the trash can icon top-left to delete it from the plan. Deleted items will appear again as available for import whenever you choose the option to Update the plan using the Redtail integration.
How to Identify Imported Items
The Dashboard will show a special integration link icon next to items that were originally imported from Redtail.
When performing future updates (more about how to run plan updates in a moment), the software will check Redtail for updated valuations and other new details about these linked accounts. If any updates are found, the integration will then update the accounts accordingly in Voyant.
“Refresh” Your Plans - How to Update Existing Client Plans with New Account Information from Redtail
Links now exist between these items in Voyant and their source accounts in Redtail (and ultimately Albridge).
Items with a link icon will be examined and potentially updated with new valuations from Redtail any time you run the Update option.
The plan Update option is available on the plus
(+) menu on the Dashboard screen in Voyant, as pictured right.
When performing a plan Update, the software will update linked accounts with new valuations and other information. It will also give you the opportunity to import any new accounts into
the plan.
The integration will also continue to show any accounts you’ve skipped in the past, presenting an opportunity for you to either import or skip them again.
Connect and Merge an Existing Client Case with Its Counterpart in Redtail
One of the conveniences of the Voyant-Redtail integration is its ability to fetch updated account information on an ongoing basis from the Redtail CRM system. But suppose you’ve already built a case manually in Voyant. Can a connection be established between the client case in Voyant and its counterpart in Redtail after the fact?
Luckily, the Voyant-Redtail integration has a mechanism for connecting and merging accounts in Voyant with their counterparts in the Redtail CRM. To connect and merge an existing client case in Voyant with its counterpart in Redtail:
- Open the client case in Voyant
- Viewing the Dashboard screen, click the plus (+) button bottom right.
- Select Import, as pictured right.
Note – You will not see an Import option on the plus (+) menu if you are viewing a case that already has a connection with an account in Redtail. You would instead see the Update option.
- Select Redtail and enter your Redtail CRM login
credentials if prompted.
- Find and select the corresponding client case in Redtail.
- You will be asked whether you want to:
- Merge account information from Redtail into the existing client in AdviserGo, which
is the option usually chosen in this case.
- Completely Overwrite the client case in AdviserGo with data from Redtail. This second option will erase and replace any work you have done in the client case with information from Redtail. This option is rarely selected.
From here onward the steps are mostly identical to those followed when starting an entirely new client case by importing information from Redtail. If any accounts do not have recognized account types, you will be prompted to select one. You will also be asked to review the imported items and to skip those accounts you do not want to import into Voyant.
There is one very notable difference, however. If you chose to merge the client records, the integration will try to identify similar accounts and will give you the option to “connect” these accounts. When reviewing accounts for merging you can:
- Add entirely new accounts from Redtail. These Redtail accounts are entirely unique. There are no accounts of their type in the Voyant client case.
- Skip accounts you do not want to import.
- Connect accounts from Redtail to their counterpart accounts in the Voyant client case.
For each Redtail account tagged to Connect, the software will present accounts of the same category from the plan in Voyant, allowing you to select the appropriate matching account for connection. Information from Redtail will then be used to update the selected account and a link will be established between the selected account in Voyant and its counterpart in Redtail for future updates.
If none of the accounts shown are a match, either click:
- + New to add the account from Redtail to the plan as a new account, or x Skip to omit the account from the import.
Going forward, Voyant will have links established between the connected accounts in the client’s plan and their counterparts in Redtail. Linked accounts can later be regularly updated using the Update mechanism, as described in the previous section of this guide.
Checklist – Common things to check after importing client information
While undeniably convenient, creating client cases from imported data is not carefree. Always be sure to check the imported information for accuracy. Below is a quick list of things to check after you’ve imported a client case. Further details follow on how to address these potential issues.
- After importing, check the top of any screen in Voyant for error messages. These messages are links, which you can click to jump directly to the item in question and correct the problem. Be sure to read the error message.
The descriptions in these messages are usually very helpful.
- Check the timing and ownership of expenses and confirm they are timed correctly and owned by the correct
owner(s).
- Double-check your client’s expenses for possible double accounting. If your client is itemizing expenses, verify that they do not include taxes, premiums on protection policies, and debt payments. These expenses are created automatically by the software.
For example, if they included a debt such as a mortgage in their fact find, the software will automatically create for this debt a “debt payment” expense, which can be found on the Expenses > Basics screen of the software. Future premium payments are also scheduled automatically when you manually enter protection policies into Voyant. Taxes are calculated and charged annually by the software.
- Check planned future contributions to savings, investments and pensions and set the timing of these contributions, if necessary. Also set any employer contributions.
- If the plan includes properties that have related debts, such as mortgages, and incomes, such as rental income, link these debts and incomes to the related property.
- Use Voyant to enter manually any items that are not importable.