How to build a custom financial planning software for your business?

Digitization is another term for modernization, and this stands true for all businesses. However, finance is one of the core functions of every business. Planning finances effectively can make or break the business. Another core component of any business is technology. Combining the two components, “Fintech” is the word that has worked wonders for organizations, not just in managing the finances but in forecasting and strategizing the future plans of the business.

It is now a widely accepted fact that managing and planning finances with the help of software are easier, quicker, and more accurate. Digital transformation is helping accelerate the process of better and more effective planning for an individual’s finances.

Thus, the market for financial planning software development is bound to grow. As per the report published by Allied Market Research, the global financial planning software market was valued at $3.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $16.9 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 16.6%.

It is predicted that providing better solutions will be more of a priority compared to the services sector in the financial planning software market. The reason is simple – it was through social media platforms that the financial advisory firms were connecting with their clients during the pandemic. This, essentially, gave rise to the need to develop solutions that keep both investors and advisory firms abreast of the updates and developments of the market at all times.

The financial planning solutions will help in assessing the investment suitability while aligning it with the client’s risk profile and financial objectives. The factors that have affected the growth of the financial planning software market are-

• Increase in awareness of the software planning software
• The upward trend of Fintech
• Increasing numbers of high net-worth individuals (HNI)

This clearly poses an opportunity for your financial planning software solution business as the trends will continue to see upward growth.

What is a financial planning software?

As the name suggests, it refers to software that helps improve the planning of finances by integrating the financial data of the individual or the organization that can be retrieved to achieve the desired analytical output. The data fed in the software can be from various sources such as financial transactions, investment tracking, bank records, portfolio management, and many other sources.

With the surge in the HNI clientele base, the financial planning organization felt the need for software that could track and manage the income of the clients. The clients, too, seek solutions to keep track of their investments and worth at their fingertips in the form of mobile applications.

To succeed, it has now become mandatory for businesses to have dependable financial planning software that can effectively manage their ERP, providing effective customer service. Besides this, managing the metadata is also enabled with robust financial planning software.

Feature List for Financial Planning Software Development

Financial planning advisor firms strive to offer value-based services to clients by providing them with transparent analysis and updates on their financial planning strategies. To keep up with the growing expectations of the client and market, having robust financial planning software is a must.  The most important features that the advanced financial planning software must have are:

Link to investment performance data

Successful financial planning is directly related to the performance of the investment market. A good financial planning software must have a feature that can connect clients’ investments with market performance. Getting clarity on the growth trajectory of the investment with the wider market performance will provide a true picture of how to achieve the final investment goals.

Efficient workflows

A financial planning company’s job is not only to provide investment solutions for clients or to manage their portfolios but also to manage their own day-to-day operations smoothly. By streamlining internal processes, financial planning companies can provide better services to their clients. Thus, it is a must that financial planning software provides you with an intuitive and easy-to-use experience. The ease of collecting data, making recommendations, managing a wide range of portfolios, and more should be seamlessly integrated.

Customizable experience

Customization is the new normal in the software industry. Presenting customizable reports, AI-based automated recommendations, and more are the basic expectation from the financial planning software. The definition of good financial planning software can be derived from the capability of the software to build custom reports demonstrating the unique financial journey of every client.

Evolution and benefits of a custom financial planning software

Traditionally, the financial planning software was nothing more than a calculator that helped advisors analyze the current client’s financial situation and assess the future outcomes based on the market trajectory. The evolution of financial planning software opened avenues for both advisors and clients to assess the real-time data and make instant investment decisions, enhancing the collaboration between the two parties.

With another step of evolution, the software is increasingly being used by clients themselves. The Personal Financial Management (PFM) software, although not new, is gaining popularity post-pandemic and is being widely adopted as an “Advisor Fintech” solution. While providing ease to clients in managing their personal finances, it is also expected to become the central hub for all the relevant data for clients and advisory firms.

The future of the software financial planning software development will have to focus separately on each section for client, firm, and market from the perspectives of performing the task of the basic calculator for advisors, collaborative tool for real-time analysis and decision making, and PFM. And not to forget for collective metadata gathered for business and financial insights on a broader scale.

In case you want to explore how IoT is transforming the BFSI sector, head out to our comprehensive guide on IoT in Fintech – How It’s Transforming the BFSI Market

However, the basic benefits of the financial planning software will help you in the following ways-

Strengthens your judgment and plans for action

The use of financial planning software enables you to rethink and redesign your financial operations. It enables you to make decisions that are more proactive as opposed to reactive. Such software enables you to confidently forecast the best course of action to maximize profits and costs.

Improved strategic analysis and planning

Financial planning software helps advisory firms and clients with the collaborative tool and PFM, develop and evaluate “what if” scenarios, find new revenue opportunities, and determine the probability of significant market trends and internal factors. These capabilities form the basis for profitable business strategies.

Fewer mistakes

The likelihood of human error is substantially higher when performing statistical analysis or working with numbers than when using a smart software solution. By implementing smart solutions, businesses can plan and work efficiently by reducing the risk of errors to a large extent.

Financial openness for shareholders

Having and providing access to the same software to your advisors and clients will put forth a transparent environment, building trust. Real-time access to the data will also help in making instant and quick decisions, which is much required for planning finances successfully.

[Also Read:  How Wealth Tech is Transforming Traditional Finance – 10 Benefits and Use Cases]

How to develop financial planning software for your business?

For advisors, financial planning advisory firms, or personal financial management, the vision and requirements of the software planning software might vary. Having said that, a comprehensive software package will offer a collection of algorithms to help and cater to different clients by offering customized solutions to plan their investments.

Of course, the development process includes conceptualization, designing, development, and deployment of the software. However, while creating financial software, the parameters included make all the difference and help the software differentiate it from its competitors.

Related Article: How to Build an Effective Personal Finance Application?

Choose the software type – Goal based vs. cash flow based

Every client is different and their needs, too, are different. Based on the clientele type, the first step is to choose the software type based on the advice your company offers to the clients. It can be categorized into goal-based and cash-flow based.

The goal-based financial planning software projects the goals based on the investment being done. One can assess the amount of investment required to achieve a required goal. This might not consider the overall earnings to gauge the investment required. On the other hand, the cash-flow-based planning software captures every earned penny and advises on the investment predicting the probable goals.

Delivery module – Interactive tools vs. printed reports

With digitization, we are fast moving towards paperless environments. The software must have an interactive and intuitive feature that can directly project the outcomes on the client’s devices, like smartphones and tablets. The software should enable collaboration by offering presumptive changes and projected results at the fingertips.

Customer-centric enhancements

Understanding and catering to different clients and finding new ones is the basic feature required in any financial planning software. The software must enable the advisor to cater to clients of all cadre – HNI or beginners. The software must have the ability to customize the investment solution provided by the advisory firms with the client’s expectations and experience.

Ease of input

The expectations from financial planning software are that inputting some basic numbers like earnings, savings, and other investments should provide a sensible and realistic output in terms of the investment. To ensure the same, the design process should be carefully laid out for the fluidity of the functioning. The design must include modular financial planning tools also, such as various insurances, stock options, tax planning, and more.

Rational platforms and plugins

Considering that all the users will not be equally tech-savvy, providing a feature of integrating personal financial planning solutions will be required. The software should be responsive on all devices, from desktops to mobile devices and more.

Choose the tech stack

Technology plays an important role in building robust software. The basic tech stack required to make the financial planning software is:

Frontend – HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript

Backend – Python, C++, C#, Ruby

Database – SQL, NoSQL

Include the security features

For various good reasons, financial planning software is leveraging cloud-based technology. As the data collected and processed is humongous and from various sources, keeping the security parameters strong is imperative. The development process should be carried out keeping the same in mind from start to finish.

[Also Read: How to Choose the Right Financial Software Development Company?]

Build a custom financial planning software with Appinventiv

With the pandemic accelerating online solutions, the financial planning software industry is showing a steep upward trend of growth in the financial planning software development industry. Various studies indicate that North America is expected to account for the largest revenue share in the sector. The time is now to capitalize on the opportunities.

Whether it is the upgradation of the current application you are using or you want to build one from scratch, an experienced financial software development company like Appinventiv can help you create a platform that can act as a robust collaborative tool for you to present your financial planning advice to the clients.

Additionally, at Appinventiv, we enhance our custom software development services with cutting-edge, ground-breaking feature sets designed to help your company achieve its financial planning and development goals.

For instance, Asian Bank took Appinventiv’s help in building a core banking platform that offers functionalities such as wire transactions with cryptocurrency, buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, and wallet recharge.

One of the leading fintech enterprises, Bajaj Finserv, was looking for a software that could make finance product purchases easier and quicker while keeping the security and privacy of clients intact. Appinventiv created a custom solution that resulted in 3 lac+ transactions every day.

So, whether you are looking for a goal-based or cash flow-based solution, our experts will provide a solution tailored to your needs and expectations. Share your requirements with our team and kickstart your project at the earliest.

FAQs

Q. What are the different tools financial advisors use as a software solution?

A. The array of software solutions used by financial advisors are

• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Portfolio management
• Trading solutions
• Investment and analytics

Q. What basic features should one consider when choosing financial planning software?

A. Financial planning software leverages you to easily input data and get detailed analytical reports, which can help provide financial planning solutions to your clients. So, it must have features like-

• Tax-focused tax planning
• Spending and cash flow planning
• Retirement distribution planning
• Collaborative reporting
• Ongoing planning with opportunities and suggestions

THE AUTHOR

Sudeep Srivastava

Co-Founder and Director