The Itemized Expenses Report is a new feature within AdviserGo that provides a detailed, year-by-year breakdown of projected expenses in a financial plan. This report helps users gain greater clarity and control over their future spending by offering transparency into where money is allocated across various categories each year.
Purpose of the Report
The report is designed to enhance financial planning conversations by breaking down total expenses into meaningful, specific line items. Rather than viewing overall outflows as a single number, users can now see exactly how their taxes, debt payments, lifestyle goals, contributions, and other obligations are projected to evolve throughout the plan.
Key Features
Each year displayed in the report includes itemized entries such as:
Taxes: Including federal, provincial, QPP/CPP, capital gains, pension income, and any taxes related to investment or retirement account withdrawals.
Debt Payments: Regular payments toward mortgages, vacation homes, or other liabilities.
Lifestyle Goals: Planned annual spending for personal or household living expenses. These may be adjusted over time to reflect inflation or lifestyle changes.
Retirement Contributions: Ongoing savings into qualified accounts, e.g., RRSPs, based on user-defined plan assumptions.
Gifts and Legacy Goals: Any charitable contributions, gifts, or bequests included in the plan.
Special One-Time Costs: Such as major purchases, travel, or healthcare expenses that fall outside regular budget categories.
Here is an example of the report:
Benefits of Using the Report
Granular Visibility: Offers a more nuanced look at annual spending, going beyond the high-level figures shown in other reports.
Better Conversations: Helps advisors and clients have more productive discussions around spending habits, priorities, and timing of major expenses.
Proactive Planning: Highlights future high-cost years, making it easier to anticipate and plan for periods of increased spending.
Budget Alignment: Helps users ensure their income strategy, whether from employment, pensions, withdrawals, or investments, matches projected expenses.
To find the Report, click on "Reports" from your Dashboard:
You will then want to scroll down on your screen until you see "Detailed Reports" and then locate "Itemized Expenses":
Then simply select "Generate Report":
To customize the timeframe of this report, select the three dots in the review, configure and generate section, then select configure.
From here you can customize what expenses appear in the expenses report (e.g. people in the plan, the business or any trust expenses), and what years are included.