Digital collaboration reimagined: The Abacus Fiduciary Portal at SMAG

Challenges in everyday working life

What was the situation like before the introduction of the Fiduciary Portal, particularly with regard to document management, client communication and meeting deadlines and tasks?

The day-to-day work of managing mandates without a fiduciary portal was much more fragmented and considerably more time-consuming. Documents were shared via various channels depending on the client - be it by email, via Dropbox, OneDrive or even physically in paper form. This not only led to an increased coordination effort, but also required additional internal documentation to ensure that everyone involved was always up to date. To make matters worse, communication with the clients was anything but standardised: While some clients favoured emails, others used WhatsApp or preferred to pick up the phone directly. As a result, important information was occasionally lost or had to be gathered in a time-consuming process. This posed a considerable risk, particularly for time-critical issues such as tax returns or annual financial statements.

In addition, deadlines and tasks were often maintained manually in Outlook or in Abacus Activity Management - but there was no centralised overview for clients. This made it difficult to keep track of who had to complete which task by when.

Looking back, the entire process was a patchwork of different tools and processes that depended heavily on the respective clients and employees.
 

From fragmented communication to a central platform

What changes have you noticed in the team and how does the portal affect day-to-day work and service quality?

Since the introduction of the Fiduciary Portal, our way of working has changed noticeably and positively throughout. One major advantage is the standardised design of the processes: In the past, every client and often every employee had different ways of sharing documents, obtaining approvals or coordinating appointments. Today, all of this is done via a centralised platform, which makes collaboration much more efficient and transparent. 

This also means clear added value for our clients: They are informed about the current status of their dossiers at all times and can easily upload, view and approve invoices and documents - without having to wait for emails or callbacks. This significantly reduces the number of queries and noticeably speeds up many processes.

One particular advantage is the clear assignment of contact persons: Clients immediately recognise who in the team is responsible for them and can contact the right person directly and easily if they have any questions. At the same time, it is always clear to the team who is in charge of which topic, making coordination and harmonisation much easier and smoother.

Overall, the fiduciary portal has not only improved the quality of our service, but also increased satisfaction within the team - less uncertainty, fewer enquiries and more room for actual advice.
 

Successful introduction thanks to a simple user interface

Successful introduction thanks to a simple user interface

We found the introduction of the Fiduciary Portal to be extremely intuitive and user-friendly. The modular structure, which is reminiscent of modern website construction kits, is a particularly positive feature. This enabled us to activate the individual modules such as document approval, task management, deadline overview and the various communication channels in a targeted manner and adapt them flexibly to the needs of our services and clients.

This structure enabled us to introduce the portal step by step so that neither the team nor the clients were overwhelmed. Everyone had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the new functions at their own pace. The clear structure and simple user interface contributed significantly to the Portal's high level of acceptance right from the start - both internally within the team and externally with our customers.
 

Conclusion: A digital portal for greater transparency and service quality

How would you recommend the product to a colleague in one sentence?

The Fiduciary Portal has noticeably optimised our client work. As a centralised tool, it combines documents, deadlines, tasks and all communication in one place and at the same time ensures maximum transparency for clients. We can recommend the Portal, especially for anyone who wants to organise their processes efficiently and in a customer-oriented way.