Advice documents
Record of Advice
A concise advice document for further advice to existing clients where a full Statement of Advice is not required under ASIC Regulatory Guide 175. It documents the specific advice provided and demonstrates its appropriateness for the client’s circumstances.
ROA template
Record of Advice
- 01
Client Information and Adviser Details
- 02
Executive Summary
- 03
Scope of Advice
- 04
Your Current Situation
- 05
Your Risk Profile
- 06
Recommended Strategies
- 07If applicable
Recommended Products
- 08If applicable
Asset Allocation
and 4 more sections
The problem
Why the Record of Advice takes so long today.
Without Claras
Further advice is the document most likely to be under documented. Writing it means re-reading last year’s SOA to confirm what was advised, then setting out the change in a way that shows the original basis still holds.
With Claras
Select the earlier Statement of Advice as a source alongside the review meeting, and Claras drafts the confirmation that the client’s circumstances have not significantly changed, then the recommended strategies with the alternatives considered. Product and asset allocation sections appear only when the advice includes them.
Structure
How the Record of Advice is laid out.
These are the sections of the Record of Advice template in the Claras library, in the order they appear. Each section is drafted on its own from the sources you select. Conditional sections only appear when the advice covers them, and a licensee template can replace or reorder any of them.
Use it for additional advice to clients with an existing Statement of Advice, where their relevant circumstances have not significantly changed, or when implementing previously advised strategies. The Recommended Products and Asset Allocation sections are conditional.
- 01
Client Information and Adviser Details
Who the record is prepared for, when, and by whom, with the authorised representative and AFSL details drafted from your practice profile.
- 02
Executive Summary
Why the client is seeking advice, confirmation that circumstances have not significantly changed since the last SOA, and a summary of the advice.
- 03
Scope of Advice
The areas this record addresses and does not address, and its relationship to the earlier Statement of Advice.
- 04
Your Current Situation
Personal circumstances, a financial position table and the existing products relevant to this advice.
- 05
Your Risk Profile
The client’s risk profile, what it means for their investment approach, and whether it has changed since the previous advice.
- 06
Recommended Strategies
For each strategy: what is recommended, why the client is likely better off, the risks and disadvantages, and the alternatives considered.
- 07
Recommended ProductsConditional
A table per product category with provider, features and costs, and a replacement comparison where a product is being replaced.
- 08
Asset AllocationConditional
Current, recommended and target asset allocation for the client’s risk profile, with any differences explained.
- 09
Fees and Costs
Advice, implementation, ongoing and product fees, and any commissions, each stated plainly.
- 10
Implementation Steps
The numbered actions to implement the advice, the product disclosure statements to read and when the next review is due.
- 11
Important Information and Disclaimers
Validity period, the basis of the advice, privacy statement and complaints handling, with space for your licensee’s required disclaimers.
- 12
Client Acknowledgment
The client and adviser declarations with signature blocks.
Sources
What Claras draws on.
You choose which materials are relevant. Claras reads the parts of them that each section of the Record of Advice needs, and shows you the sources behind each section.
- The earlier Statement of Advice
- The review meeting
- Updated fact find or account statements you attach
Controls
The same controls on every document.
- Fixed wording inserted word for word, where you turn it on
- Adviser and licensee details drafted from your practice profile
- Review guidance on every drafted section: light, standard or careful
- Personal information removed before anything reaches the AI, by default
- Version history on every document
- Word export in your branded template
Your templates
Make the template yours.
Owners, managers and advisers can create and edit document templates under Templates. Start from the library, your own Word file or a description, then adjust any section heading or outline. Add or refine a section with AI, move sections up or down, and choose the export style that brands the Word file.
Use a library template
Open the template library, pick one and use it. Claras makes a separate copy your practice owns and can edit.
Upload the one you already use
Upload your existing template and Claras builds an editable template from its structure. Then turn on fixed text for the wording that must not change, and upload your Word file as an export style for the branding.
Describe what you need
Tell Claras what the document is for and it generates the sections, outlines and conditional rules for you to refine.
Square brackets are instructions
Inside a section, text in [square brackets] tells Claras what to write. Plain text guides the wording, and fixed text locks it.
Lock fixed text
Turn on fixed text for a section and the wording outside brackets, like your AFSL, phone number or disclaimers, is inserted word for word.
Conditional sections
Mark a section conditional and it only appears when the advice covers it, so one template serves every scope.
Version history and updates
Every change is versioned and can be restored. When a library template you copied improves, review the summary and apply it while keeping your edits, or skip it.
Licensee templates
Templates from your licensee.
Claras sets up licensees’ approved templates for the practices under their licence. If yours is on Claras, you draft from the exact structure they signed off, and they keep control of it.
Select your AFSL
On the Licensee tab under Templates, choose the AFSL your practice operates under. If your licensee has templates in Claras, you can request access.
Your licensee approves
The licensee sees which of their templates your practice uses and when. No client information is shared in either direction.
Their templates appear in your list
Their templates show in the Documents tab under Templates with an Official badge, and anything added in the last week is marked new.
- The licensee controls the content. Their edits reach every practice as soon as they are made.
- You can apply your own export style so the Word file carries your branding, or keep the licensee’s.
- You can duplicate a licensee template into an editable copy only where the licensee allows copies.
- If a connection ends, documents you already created stay available. New documents and regenerating sections from that template stop.
Licensee not on Claras yet?
Start from the Claras library or upload your licensee’s Word template as your own. When your licensee joins, we set up their approved versions for every practice under the licence.
Who it is for
Built for advisers. Governed by licensees.
For advisers
Draft your next document from the meeting you just had.
Record or upload the meeting, pick the template and review the draft. Your first file notes are free and there is no credit card to enter.
For licensees
Share your templates with your advisers.
Send us your approved SOA and ROA templates and we set them up, with the wording that must not change marked as fixed. Every adviser under your licence drafts from the same structure.
Other advice documents