Observations are Kerdora's way of scanning a client's plan and flagging things worth attention. Each flag is a rule evaluating the client's data against a threshold and spitting out a card when something crosses the line.
Every advisor-only client page has a flag icon in the top-right bar. Click it and you land on the Observations page inside the Office tab. The number on the icon is the count of active flags waiting for review. When you're on the Changes page, there's also a "View observations" button next to the filters that opens a side panel with the same list — handy when you're already mid-way through building out a client's action items.
Today there are 85 rules running. Each one looks at a narrow question, like "is this adult underinsured?" or "is there a 529 goal for this kid?", and only fires when the answer clears a floor that filters out noise.
Where to find them
Office > Observations. The full page view. Active, Dismissed, and Converted tabs sit across the top. This is where you work through everything in one pass.
Changes page side panel. Advisor-only "View observations" button at the top of the Changes page opens a right-docked panel with the same active list. Convert and dismiss work the same way. Good for triaging when you've already got Changes open.
Top-right flag icon. Every client page has it. Number shows active count. Click to jump straight to the Observations page.
The three kinds of flags
Every rule is tagged as one of three kinds. The list groups them in this order so the most actionable ones sit at the top.
Strategic changes. Gaps and opportunities worth addressing. Life insurance shortfalls, high-interest debt with idle cash sitting in checking, retirement goals that aren't fully funded, umbrella coverage that's too light for the net worth. These are the ones you'll usually convert into Changes to Be Made.
Observations. Fact-based findings about the plan that you should know about but don't always require action. A concentrated stock position, a retirement replacement ratio below benchmark, a joint asset that's imbalanced between spouses, a Roth IRA contribution lost to the phaseout. Investigate, then decide.
Reminders. Date-driven heads-ups. A client turning 65 (Medicare), a client turning 73 (RMDs starting), April tax deadline, Q4 estimated tax deadline, open enrollment. Awareness, not homework.
What gets checked
A sample of the 85 rules currently running, to give you a feel:
Life insurance gap. Compares current coverage against the need calculated on the Insurance tab. Fires when the gap is over $10,000.
Disability insurance gap. Same idea, on the disability side.
Umbrella liability gap. Flags when umbrella coverage looks light for the household net worth.
Umbrella without underlying limits. Umbrella policy exists but auto or homeowners liability limits don't meet the umbrella's threshold.
Retirement shortfall. Looks at a retirement goal's assigned balance vs. the lump sum needed today to hit target at expected returns. Fires on a gap over $25,000.
Roth conversion window. Flags years where the client is in a lower-than-usual tax bracket and has room to convert without bumping brackets.
Roth IRA phaseout missed. Client is in the phaseout range and contributed anyway.
Spousal IRA opportunity. One spouse with earned income, the other without an IRA contribution.
401(k) match not maxed. Employer match available, client contributing below the match cap.
ARM reset approaching. Mortgage is ARM and the fixed period ends within a year or two.
Mortgage PMI still paying. Home has enough equity that PMI could be removed.
Mortgage refinance opportunity. Current rate is materially above today's prevailing rate.
High-interest debt with surplus cash. Client is sitting on idle cash while carrying debt above a rate threshold.
Cash drag. Too much in cash relative to the plan.
Concentration risk. A single underlying name is more than 10% of the portfolio, or a single sector is more than 30%. Sees through fund wrappers — a 100% allocation to VTI doesn't trip the rule because no underlying name dominates, but a sector ETF or single-stock ETF still counts as a single-name position.
Beneficiaries need review. Accounts where the named beneficiary hasn't been reviewed in the configured window.
No contingent beneficiaries. Primary beneficiaries on file, but no contingents.
Minor children no guardian. Minor dependents present, no guardianship designation on record.
Revocable trust unfunded. Client has a revocable trust but no assets titled into it.
Stay-at-home parent uninsured. Household has a non-earning parent with no life insurance.
Upcoming birthdays. Milestones like 65 (Medicare) and 73 (RMD start).
April tax deadline / Q4 estimated tax. Calendar reminders.
Each card expands to show the numbers it compared (current, needed, gap) so you can see the "why" without hunting.
How concentration risk handles funds
Concentration risk used to fire on any large single position. It now looks through diversified fund wrappers using EODHD holdings and sector data, so the rule is more useful in real client portfolios:
A diversified fund (broad ETFs like VTI, total-bond funds, large index mutuals) is not counted as a single-name position. The rule looks at the fund's underlying sector allocation instead and contributes each sector pro-rata.
A concentrated wrapper (sector ETF, single-stock ETF, narrow active fund) is counted as a single-name position so a concentrated bet hidden inside an ETF still trips the rule.
A direct stock (AAPL, employer stock) always counts as a single name, contributing its full value to one ticker bucket and one sector bucket.
This means a client who's 100% in VTI doesn't get a false single-name flag, but the rule still catches concentrated employer stock, sector tilts, and single-stock ETFs.
What to do with a flag
Every active card has three paths:
Convert to change. Click the check mark. The convert modal opens, pre-fills a change description from the rule's suggested wording, and pre-picks a Change category based on the rule's tag (insurance, investments, cash flow, etc.). Confirm and it drops into Changes to Be Made on that client. The observation moves to the Converted tab.
Dismiss. Click the X. Good for noise, duplicates, or something you've already handled outside the plan. Dismissed flags live on the Dismissed tab and can be reinstated if they turn out to matter later.
Ignore. Leave it sitting. Observations re-run every time the page opens, so if the underlying data changes, the flag updates or disappears on its own.
Reminders don't get a Convert button, just Dismiss. They're not meant to become change items.
Jumping to the source
Most cards have an "Open details" link inside the expanded view that deep-links to the page where the data actually lives. An insurance gap takes you to the Insurance tab for that adult. A retirement shortfall takes you to that goal's detail page. A beneficiary-missing flag takes you to Estate. Makes it quick to fix the root cause without digging.
A few reminders (tax calendar items, gift exclusion) don't have a natural page, so they stay non-clickable.
Seeing what a rule actually checks
Every rule has a threshold baked in. Life insurance gap floor is $10,000. Retirement shortfall floor is $25,000. Concentration risk uses 10% (single-name) and 30% (sector). High-interest debt uses a rate cutoff, and so on.
Right now those thresholds live in code and aren't user-configurable. When the rule catalog stabilizes, the plan is to let advisors tune thresholds or toggle rules off. For now, if a flag looks off or you want to know the exact numbers behind it, ping support and we'll walk through it.
Quick tip
Use Observations as your first pass on any client file. Open the client, click the flag in the top-right. Twenty seconds later you've got a list of gaps, data-quality issues, and upcoming dates you'd otherwise have to find by clicking through every tab.
Then convert the strategic ones into actual change items and you've got a starting agenda for the next meeting.