Coral Coast
Making the Switch From Xplan to Plutosoft
How a 28-member firm reduced their advice turnaround from 6 weeks to 1.5 days with Plutosoft.
About Coral Coast Financial Services
Founded in 2001 and based in Cairns, Coral Coast Financial Services has grown into a multidisciplinary financial services business with 28 staff, including 7 advisers. The practice offers a broad suite of services including personal and business accounting, holistic financial planning, managed accounts, and aged care advice.
The business had been using Xplan since 2018 as its core advice technology. Many staff had used Xplan in previous roles, making the software deeply embedded in the way the business operated. The firm used nearly every aspect of Xplan, holding licenses across modules such as Client Focus, IPS, Xtools, WealthSolver, Risk Researcher, Commpay, and Compliance.
They had dedicated resources to manage their own Xplan site and had achieved an advanced level of customisation and adoption.
This extensive use made the prospect of switching technology seem daunting.
The Breaking Point: Cost and Inefficiency
Although the practice had invested heavily in Xplan, cracks in its effectiveness were becoming increasingly apparent. Two key factors ultimately led the leadership team to question their reliance on the system. Firstly, the cost of running Xplan for 28 users had become significant, particularly with repeated and substantial price increases. Secondly, the inefficiency of producing advice documents was becoming a major concern, given the firm’s large client base and the need to produce up to 900 advice documents per year.
As the team reflected:
“The two key drivers of leaving Xplan were cost and, more importantly, the fact that it was becoming unworkable.”
Building advice documents had become a huge drain on time. Multiple Xplan modules required repeated data entry, creating duplication and complexity across the advice process. Backlogs of six to twelve weeks for advice document turnaround were common.
On top of this, Xplan’s pay-per-module structure required constant changes to staff access, creating ongoing administrative overhead to optimise costs. System limitations meant users often had to call Xplan to move licenses, forcing staff to log out and back in just to access different areas of the platform.
Beyond Xplan Why Plutosoft Stood Out
The business briefly considered AdviserLogic but ultimately felt that Plutosoft was better placed to address their efficiency challenges and support long-term growth.
When the team explored Plutosoft, several features immediately stood out:
- A ready-to-use templates library with easy customisation.
- Advice documents already built into the system, requiring only minor adjustments.
- Workflows presented as visual process maps/diagrams, making it simple to design processes and quickly identify and fix issues.
- One-point of data entry, ensuring accuracy and reducing duplication.
Implementation & Change Management
Given how entrenched Xplan was in the business, the leadership knew change management would be critical. Concerns included training staff on a new system and the risk of disruption during the transition.
The process began early, giving staff plenty of time to adjust to the idea of moving to a new platform.
The transition went smoothly, and the business began seeing tangible rewards within just a few months:
- 90% of the team felt confident using Plutosoft within three months.
- Day-to-day operations continued without disruption.
- Support from the Plutosoft Implementation Manager and easy-to-access training made onboarding straightforward.
- Even initially apprehensive team members now say they would never want to return to Xplan.
“We have a few early adopters in the business. The staff who were more concerned about change? They would never go back to Xplan now.”
From Xplan to Plutosoft The Transformation
The contrast with Xplan was immediate and striking.
“If you look at our productivity now compared to Xplan, it’s chalk and cheese.”
Advice document turnaround shrank from six to twelve weeks down to just 1–2 days, eliminating the backlog and allowing advisers to deliver timely, high-quality service.
Plutosoft’s digital template builder made it quick and easy to build and edit advice templates, removing the need to start from scratch. Every staff member now has access to the full system, eliminating the license restrictions that hampered Xplan usage.
“Switching to Plutosoft allowed me to do a number of things. One was upskilling the staff. Two, it gave us more productivity. And three, we could redirect the money we were spending on Xplan into growing and optimising the team.”
Workflows became shorter and more intuitive, and Plutosoft’s responsiveness to user feedback was a welcome change. Data quality was another key win:
“The way entities are handled in Plutosoft is far better. In Xplan, the team would often enter only cursory information. Now, everything feeds through properly, whereas in Xtools, it all had to be done manually.”
Results & Reflections
Today, Coral Coast Financial Services conducts around 900 reviews per year, with every client receiving an advice document at each meeting.
The business is unanimous that they would never return to Xplan. Processes are shorter, productivity is higher, and costs are significantly reduced. Staff who once resisted change are now strong advocates.
CRAIG ARMSTRONG
Director, Coral Coast Financial Services
“Even just from a cost perspective, moving from Xplan to Plutosoft makes sense. And when it comes to productivity, the benefits of switching are clear.”