Many financial advice firms run on spreadsheets for certain tasks. They're familiar, flexible, and free. But as your firm grows, the cracks start to show.
If you're managing more than a handful of clients and prospects, spreadsheets create real operational risk, and they make it harder to show compliance and good customer outcomes to the FCA.
Looking for a system built for UK advice firms? Book a demo to see how Glimzer handles pipeline and client management.
Where spreadsheets break down
No audit trail
Spreadsheets don't record who changed what, or when. If a client record is updated or a note is deleted, there's no history. For FCA-regulated firms, that's a problem. Regulators expect you to show a clear trail of decisions and actions.
Version control is manual
When multiple people work from the same spreadsheet, you get conflicting versions, overwritten data, and no way to recover what was lost. Shared drives and email attachments make this worse.
No reminders or automation
Spreadsheets don't remind you that a client review is due or that a prospect hasn't been contacted in three weeks. Everything depends on someone remembering to check.
They don't scale
What works for 20 clients doesn't work for 200. As your firm grows, the time spent maintaining spreadsheets grows faster than the firm itself.
What a purpose-built system gives you
Moving to a dedicated CRM for financial advisers doesn't just tidy things up. It changes how your firm operates.
- Pipeline visibility across the entire firm, not just what's in one person's spreadsheet
- Automated reminders for follow-ups, reviews, and compliance tasks
- Audit trails that record every change, supporting your record-keeping obligations
- Role-based access so the right people see the right information
- Consistent workflows that every team member follows
A tool like Glimzer's Pipeline module is designed specifically for this, giving advice firms a visual pipeline that tracks prospects from first contact through to converted client.
When to make the move
There's no perfect time to move away from spreadsheets, but there are clear signs it's overdue:
- You've lost track of a prospect or missed a follow-up
- You can't quickly pull up a client's full history
- Onboarding a new team member means explaining your spreadsheet system from scratch
- You're spending more time maintaining your system than using it
Making the transition
The shift doesn't have to be disruptive. Look for a system that offers:
- Data import so you don't start from scratch
- Configurable stages that match your existing process
- Dedicated onboarding support to get your team comfortable
Firms that handle both mortgage and protection work alongside financial planning should also consider whether the system supports multiple workflow types.
The right system should also take data security seriously, with UK data hosting, encryption, and access controls built in.
Spreadsheets served their purpose, but they weren't designed for regulated advice. The sooner your firm moves to a system built for how you actually work, the sooner you stop working around limitations and start working with a tool that supports your growth.
Ready to move beyond spreadsheets? Book a demo and we'll show you how Glimzer works for firms like yours.