Most new-client setup problems come from the same small list of missed steps. Here's what trips people up, and the quick fix for each.

If the client sent you a statement, don't retype it. Drop the PDF into the Data Extractor and it'll pull balances, holdings, and ownership for you. Typing everything by hand is slower and it's where most errors creep in.

Fix: Start onboarding with the Upload step. Let the Extractor do the heavy lifting, then review what it pulled.

An account that isn't tagged to a goal shows up on the balance sheet but doesn't fund anything. Goal progress looks wrong because it is wrong.

Fix: On each account, set the goal assignment. Retirement accounts to the retirement goal, 529s to education, brokerage to whatever it's earmarked for.

Adding the primary adult but not the spouse or the kids breaks filing status, household expenses, and any education goal tied to a child.

Fix: Open the Household tab and add every adult and child. The Checklist will stay red on Household Members until you do.

Observations will flag missing beneficiaries, but it's easier to catch at setup than to clean up later.

Fix: On each investment account, set primary and contingent beneficiaries while you're there. Takes 30 seconds per account.

If you skip the Expenses step, the Cashflow tab has nothing to work with. Savings rate, discretionary spending, and any income-gap math will all look empty.

Fix: Enter a total spending number in onboarding even if you don't have a detailed budget yet. You can refine the categories later.

Enabling Giving when the client doesn't donate meaningfully clutters the plan. Leaving it off when they do hides a real part of their financial life.

Fix: Flip the household Giving toggle to match reality. Turn it on for clients who want charitable giving tracked, off for everyone else.

A retirement goal with no expected retirement age and no income need won't show a meaningful gap. The calculator needs both to run.

Fix: On the retirement goal, set the target retirement age and the annual income need. Even rough numbers beat blanks.

The Checklist is designed to flag exactly what's missing for each planning module. Advisors who skip it tend to miss fields that Insurance, Retirement, or Cashflow need.

Fix: After onboarding, open the Checklist tab and work through the red items top to bottom. Household first, then Accounts, then the goal sections.

Building a Guide from scratch on the first client takes forever and usually produces something you'll throw away.

Fix: Start from an AI-generated template or one of your saved templates. Tune the language after you've run it past a few clients.

Two quick checks:

If those are clean, you're ready.