Fusing Bill Payment Tech and High-Touch Service
March 25, 2022.
ACCLAIM | WealthBriefing Recognises Leaders Across the Global Wealth Management Industry
Anneke Stender, Executive Vice President of PLUMB Bill Pay, talks to this news service about how it has stood out from the crowd.
What sets you apart from your peers this year and why?
PLUMB Bill Pay was developed by financial experts and accounting professionals with a deep understanding of the unique challenges of high-net-worth individuals and the needs of family offices.
What sets PLUMB apart is our fusion of bill pay technology and high-touch services. Of course, we have expertise in family office accounting, but we fuse this with secure technology that streamlines and improves bill pay processes. We serve as an extension of your family office team, treating all our customers and partners with the utmost care and precision- this includes overseeing not just bill pay and accounting, but managing wires, capital calls, and any other issues that arise that we can assist with.
How have your colleagues contributed towards the success of your organization?
At PLUMB, we stay ahead of the curve by creating our own proprietary Bill Pay Workflow Application tailored specifically to the HNW and single/multifamily offices. We understand the accounting necessary to support complex estate planning and consolidated reporting. The PLUMB Bill Pay app integrates with QuickBooks Enterprise, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, and SAGE Intacct to ensure ease-of-use and clear financial reporting.
The innovation behind our technology is powered by our ever-growing team of trusted professionals. Our team’s high level of knowledge and service in the UHNW individual space is the foundation of our technology, as well as what fuels the ongoing innovation of our product.
What are you going to do to stay on the front foot in a fast-growing but also challenging region such as this?
Our focus is “Service First”. Serve our clients. Serve our referral partners. Do a great job and do that by embracing our role in the UHNW industry. Obviously, technology is important, and we will continue to invest and grow our software platform along with continuing to provide a high level of service, evolve based on customers’ needs, and stay on the pulse of changes to stay ahead of the curve.
What have been the challenges you have had to overcome to reach such a standard?
We hire superstars. Now, our definition of a superstar is different than most. Our superstars are the foundation of great brands. Our superstars are client and Bill Pay associates, client relationship managers, and everyone else on the team that is there, day-in and day-out, serving their clients, contributing to their team, and providing white glove service. How do we sustain our high standard of service? By celebrating our team members. By investing in our team members. By creating technology that is industry leading and enables them to create an ever increasingly better client experience. Really, we’re just getting started, there is so much more to build!
How has your business and business model reacted to the pandemic? Has morale amongst your colleagues held up well during the pandemic? What have you done to bolster their spirits?
Team members are tough to come by and we do our best to retain and incentive them in unique ways to keep them with PLUMB. We embrace the challenges that our team members are going through and do our best to accommodate their needs. Frankly, some of our team members’ challenges initially caught us off-guard and we realized that the pandemic is not a “one size fits all” answer. We created a regular check-in between team members, virtual group events, and other team-building activities. Our “Monday Morning Kick Off” meeting became much more vibrant. Some things worked and have been adopted long term, other things did not. We will keep striving, trying new activities, while keeping our cadence of tried-and-true practices.
Have your differentiators become more important to your business? Are they still relevant?
High touch technology fused with top level service is our up-front differentiator. With that being said, when our clients’ need us to dig deeper, they come to understand and value the depth and breadth our team brings. While we continue to invest in and improve our proprietary bill pay technology, it’s our smart and caring people that routinely make the difference. Our team serves our clients and partners with the utmost care. Exceptional service will always be relevant.
Whom do you look to for inspiration?
Our clients, old and new, bring us inspiration. Each one started with their dream, and they are inviting us to play a role in that dream. We take that role of stewardship seriously.
What do you hope will be the result of receiving this accolade?
Spread the word about us, our people, and our story. We are a 20+ year overnight success that the world is just starting to know. This award is a testament to our best-in-class services and a foundation of technology and bank-level security that has led to our growth and success this year.
About Plumb Bill Pay
Plumb Bill Pay is a high-touch technology family office bill pay and accounting service provider whose services are custom designed to meet the needs of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Contact Plumb Bill Pay today.
Plumb Bill Pay Wins Prestigious WealthTech Americas Award
March 21, 2022.
Plumb awarded top prize for “Payment Reconciliation Services” at the WealthBriefing WealthTech Americas Awards 2022.
Plumb Bill Pay is proud to announce they have been awarded the best Payment Reconciliation Service at the annual WealthBriefing WealthTech Americas Awards.
According to ClearView Financial Media’s WealthBriefing: “The accuracy, security, and verification processes {of Plumb Bill Pay’s Payment Reconciliation Services} impressed the judges, along with the flexibility to securely log in from any location. The integration possibility of the app further ensures ease-of-use and clear financial reporting.”
Commenting on the firm’s triumph, Anneke Stender, Executive Vice President of Plumb Bill Pay, said: “This award is a testament to our best-in-class services, and a foundation of technology and bank-level security that has led to our growth and success this year. We are a 20+ year overnight success that the world is just starting to know, and we are thrilled to be recognized by the WealthBriefing WealthTech Awards for our innovation, dedication, and expertise.”
Watch Anneke Stender’s acceptance speech.
For over two decades, Plumb has helped high-net-worth clients achieve greater levels of personal freedom to savor their time and enjoy their lifestyles. By providing expert advice and innovative technology solutions to streamline, simplify, and centralize day-to-day financial operations, Plumb acts as an extension of their clients’ financial team, supporting individuals and families with their analytical and proactive approach to bill pay.
About Plumb Bill Pay
Plumb Bill Pay is a high-touch technology family office bill pay and accounting service provider whose services are custom designed to meet the needs of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Contact Plumb Bill Pay today.
Top Ways that Plumb Bill Pay Works with Trusted Advisors
Bringing Professional Insights to Personal Finances
At Plumb Bill Pay and Family Office Accounting, we streamline the efforts of our client’s trusted advisors to ensure that all aspects of their financial life are working together in a strategic and efficient manner.
A collaborative implementation with all our client’s professional advisors leverages their total expertise and gives everyone the backdrop to make better financial decisions and achieve goals.
Plumb Family Office Accounting works in partnership with trusted advisors to ensure the highest quality data and financial reporting is delivered to the personal financial management team. This helps maintain a comprehensive view of family wealth and gives full visibility into the performance of their portfolio.
Plumb Family Office Accounting does not manage wealth, or do taxes, audits, tax planning or financial planning.
“The month-end financial reports that Plumb Family Office Accounting provides to my clients give a clear, aggregated picture of their current financial status and helps establish wealth preservation,” –Client’s Estate Attorney.
How Plumb Bill Pay and Family Office Accounting Provides Value to Trusted Advisors
Wealth Manager:
- Simplifying complex financial structures with one holistic report
- Providing timely and accurate financial reports
- Helping to identify red flags or financial gaps
CPA:
- Providing a Controller-level point of contact between CPA and client
- Ensuring reliable, timely and organized client data
- Tracking 1099’s, K-1’s, charitable contributions, medical expenses, sales of stock and all other income
- Handling preliminary year-end tax work with Annual Tax Organizer
Trust | Estate | Divorce | M & A | Attorney:
- Being a resource for quick access to data and financial statements
- Setting up quarterly and yearly reviews of estate status
- Court accounting for estate planning
- Providing Trust accounting
- Assisting with financial analysis in a divorce – read divorce case study
- Tracking alimony, income and separate expenses
- Separating business and personal transactions before sale of business – read sale of business case study
Financial Planner:
- Providing an accurate snapshot of monthly spending
- Customizing financial reports and budgets for planning needs
- Setting up cash flow management
- Tracking income and expenses on a monthly basis
Insurance Broker:
- Setting up financial calendar of due dates, so there are no gaps in payment
- Annual reviews of insurance policies
- Detecting any gaps in coverage
- Providing an accurate overview of valuable inventory
Banker:
- Producing accurate personal financial statements
- Assisting with documentation for loans and renewals
- Tracking loan covenants
- Accelerating the refinance process
Are you a Trusted Advisor with high-net-worth clients who would benefit from Plumb Bill Pay and Family Office Accounting services? Please reach out for additional information or an introductory meeting.
Personal Financial Reports that Create Financial Clarity (Top 4)
Personal financial reports & insights that you need to make knowledgeable decisions about your wealth.
Plumb Family Office Accounting delivers financial peace of mind by providing personal financial reports with the highest quality of data to show a holistic view of personal wealth. A typical Plumb client leads a busy life with complex financial undertakings, such as multiple investments, corporate entities, private equity, trusts, international exposure and collective properties. In order to stay organized in their financial life, Plumb provides personal financial reports that reflect the multifaceted assets and financial holdings.
“The month-end personal financial reports that Plumb Family Office Accounting provides to my high-net-worth clients give a clear, aggregated picture of their current financial status and helps establish wealth preservation.” – Estate Attorney
Plumb Family Office Accounting services are customized to meet the need of any situation from basic bookkeeping with bill pay to personal financial management and cash flow analysis. Plumb works in partnership with their client’s personal financial team to streamline their efforts, giving them the backdrop to make better financial decisions. Learn how Plumb Family Office Accounting works with Professional Advisors.
Plumb Family Office Accounting | Personal Reporting & Accounting Services:
- Personal Financial Reporting & Analysis
- Personal and Family Bill Pay
- Cash Flow & Budget Management
- Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation
- Household Employee Payroll Services
- Trust Accounting & Foundation Accounting
- Personal Insurance Review & Coordination
- Outsourced Personal/Executive Assistant Services
Personal Financial Reports & Analysis
Below are samples of the different types of personal financial reports that Plumb Family Office Accounting provides to their clients. All the details of the report are collected per the 7-Step Process which is set-up at the beginning of the engagement. The main benefit of the personal financial reports is that they show consolidated and accurate numbers that reflect all the assets of the client.
Statement of Cash Flow:
The Statement of Cash Flow Report is a monthly snapshot of inflow and outflow of cash. As a consolidated report listing all the cash coming in each month and what is being spent, it provides a big picture of overall cash position. This personal financial report is helpful to execute the financial plans of the client and to be more disciplined with spending and saving, if necessary for retirement.
Net Worth Statement:
The Financial Recap or Net Worth Statement Report is a consolidated list of assets by asset class and shows a holistic view of all investments from month to month. The change variants are explained and analyzed into further detail in the financial notes section of the personal financial reports.
Family Monthly Budget:
This report is for the affluent family or successful entrepreneur who wants to track against a budget. Typically, the outline of the budget is put into place in the beginning of the year with the help of the client’s financial planner. Plumb Family Office Accounting tracks against Expense categories and sums up the over/under variance. By having this family budget report it allows for more efficient meetings with financial planning and focuses on year-to-date changes.
Vacation | Second Home Expenses:
Since most of Plumb Family Office Accounting clients own a second home or more, we’ve developed a Vacation Home Expense Report. This is a cost analysis report on the typical recurring expenses that center on real estate on a monthly basis. It shows any trends or spikes in expenses and helps to identify any issues and be proactive as to why they may be occurring. For example, one client had a spike in their water bill for two months, and Plumb Family Office Accounting identified that there was a leak in their pool and had it fixed to lower their expenses.
Experience the Plumb Family Office Accounting Difference with Customized, Personal Financial Reports and Take Control of your Wealth
Personal Financial Reports – Related Posts:
- Family Bill Pay Services: Organize your Financial Life
- Five Signs that You Need a Back-Office Family Office Accounting
- Why Use a Personal Bill Pay Service Firm
Organizing Financial Records with Plumb Outsourced Accounting
Be Year-End Ready
Here we are in the 4th quarter. This is the time of year that Plumb works closely with their business clients and high-net-worth families, preparing and organizing financial records for year-end planning.
Effective year-end planning starts with organizing financial records to present accurate information and reliable data to our business client’s trusted advisors, such as CPAs and commercial bankers. This gives everyone a financial baseline to pave the way for the remainder of the year and kick off 2022 planning.
As part of Plumb’s 7-Step Process, the end of the year means “pulling it all together” and producing accurate accounting information with a year-end wrap up. A tax package example from Plumb includes:
- Year-to-date Financials (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, General Ledger)
- Any significant adjustments that plan to be made before the end of the year
- Year-do-date fixed asset depreciation schedule, and the details of any purchases and dispositions made during the year
- Year-to-date Work in Progress Schedules
- Federal and state tax payment detail
- Charitable contribution detail
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
Get Started Now: Preparing for Year-End
When year-end and tax time rolls around, will your financial records be ready to present to a CPA or the IRS? Being prepared for year-end starts with setting up the right accounting systems and internal controls to process transactions appropriately. Transactions must be correctly classified, current, consistent and compliant. Organizing financial records starts with establishing accounting internal controls and procedures. For top considerations for creating accounting internal controls, click here.
The Plumb Process:
With the start of every new engagement at Plumb an initial system map is designed, complete with tasks associated with daily, weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual transactions. Once finalized with the client, Plumb’s proprietary system map is then uploaded into task management software with a calendar reflecting financial and administrative due dates. These time-sensitive activities lead up to the year-end wrap up and final task of producing the annual tax package for the client’s CPA and trusted advisors.
Plumb Outsourced Accounting Tasks: Transactional Checklist with Due Dates
Organizing Financial Records
The task management system at Plumb notifies accountants from their dashboard when items are due for specific clients. With this organized and timely system, it allows for tracking income and expenses. It also keeping up-to-date with bank and credit card reconciliations and monthly journal entries.
Other notable tasks that help with creating accurate year-end financials:
- Making sure income and expense categories are correctly classified.
- Prepaid insurance and expenses must be amortized over the life of the term.
- Reconciling unearned revenues.
- Follow-up with collections.
- Review fixed asset purchases.
“Working with Plumb gives me financial peace of mind knowing that I’m audit and tax ready every month of the year”. “My CPA has confidence in my year-end financials and takes less time processing my tax returns, which saves me money,” -Plumb Outsourced Accounting Client
Ready to organize your financial records and start your year-end planning?
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Family Office Services | FAQ | Plumb Family Office Accounting
Family Office Services from Plumb Family Office Accounting
Frequently Asked Questions…
The family office services of Plumb Family Office Accounting were developed to help clients navigate through their complex financial life. By providing personal financial management with consolidated reports and timely bill pay, it gives a clear picture of our client’s wealth and the analysis needed to implement financial, estate and tax planning strategies.
Q: Is there a minimum net-worth to become a Plumb Family Office Accounting client?
Answer: No. We believe that comprehensive, timely and accurate information gives our clients true control of their wealth, regardless of net-worth. By getting into the habit of tracking income and expenses, it helps our clients in their wealth creation stage by following a financial plan to accumulate long-term savings and retirement goals.
A typical Plumb client has a net-worth ranging from $10 million to $150 million and sees the value in our service if they have a complex financial life, complete with multifaceted undertakings, such as alternative investments, corporate entities, private equity, international exposure, and collective properties.
Success Stories: Plumb Family Office Accounting Clients
Q: What is the difference between Plumb Family Office Accounting and a single-family office?
Answer: Plumb Family Office Accounting creates a virtual family office by providing family office services to include personal accounting, bookkeeping and reporting with controller-level insight on a part-time basis or as-needed.
Single-family offices are typically set-up with full-time accounting staff, including a CFO, staff accountants, CPA and a team of attorneys.
By having a virtual or remote family office with Plumb, clients receive the financial data and organizational structure they need without having to hire a full team of advisors on their payroll. Plumb Family Office Accounting works in conjunction with the trusted advisors of each client and provides financial data to the team to make better estate, tax and financial planning decisions.
Read: Top Ways that Plumb Family Office Accounting works with Trusted Advisors
Q: Does Plumb Family Office Accounting manage their client’s wealth or recommend financial strategies?
Answer: No. We do not advise or manage wealth, do taxes, or financial planning. We prepare comprehensive reports for clients and their advisors to see a holistic view of assets, including the performance of all investments, statement of cash flow, and net-worth statement.
View samples of personal financial reports created by Plumb
Q: What is the pricing structure of family office services by Plumb Family Office Accounting?
Answer: The price varies depending on the complexity of the family’s wealth and reporting needs. For most clients, we charge a fixed-fee engagement on transaction-based pricing. In order to come up with a pricing structure, we calculate how many bills to be paid, accounts reconciled and the frequency of their reporting needs (monthly, quarterly or annually).
Typically, our clients pay between $2,000 and $4,000 per month for family office services with the minimum engagement being $1,000 per month. Every client undergoes an annual fee review to see if there have been any changes in the scope of work throughout the year.
Family Bill Pay – Request a Quote
Download: New Client Questionnaire
Q: Do you provide any other family office services besides personal reporting, accounting and bill pay?
Answer: Since the majority of our clients lead busy lives, we’ve added outsourced concierge and personal assistant services. These are customizable based on the family’s need and can range from property management services to booking travel and restaurant reservations, household employee payroll and basic mail pick-up and distribution. Another example of outsourced concierge is relocation assistance, a project-based engagement in order to help manage and organize a personal move.
See list of outsourced personal assistant services
Q: Does a client need to be located in Southern California to work with Plumb?
Answer: No, all the financial reporting and bill pay engagements are handled electronically with cloud-based assistance. Plumb Family Office Accounting uses technology to facilitate bill pay and A/P work flow with a client login system to access reports and status updates.
We offer complete account protection and robust security measures to protect your information from unauthorized access. All confidential information is stored in a data center with multiple levels of security and can only be accessed by Plumb and you or your designated representative. All sensitive information is encrypted and uploaded to your private portal. Two-factor authentication to login to portal further safeguards your accounts and information
Plumb has staff located on both the west coast and east coast time zones to accommodate nationwide and international clients.
Q: Who is handling the relationship with Plumb Family Office Accounting clients?
Answer: Plumb takes a team approach for each engagement. Every client has a main point of contact, a Client Relationship Manager, who oversees a team of junior and senior staff accountants. The team approach is more cost-effective for the client, as each transaction is mapped in our task management software, and is broken down on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
There is a centralized client communication portal set up via email, so the team has access to client-specific information and requests. This ensures dependability and consistency if an accountant is out of the office, needs approval or controller-level insight.
Q: How can I be assured that my financial information is kept confidential and secure?
Answer: Plumb has been in business since 1996 and has a long history of continuity and confidentiality. We are fully bonded and all employees have to pass a background check before they are hired. With every engagement and task, it is handled with the utmost discretion and attention to detail.
We respect the privacy of our Plumb Family Office Accounting clients and take great measures to protect it. We ensure compliance with best practices and internal control procedures, different levels of approval and password protection. Our solid system of checks and balances gives our clients reassurance in the integrity and security of their private information and financial data.
Q: I have a special project that requires assistance on a one-time basis. Can Plumb Family Office Accounting help?
Answer: Yes, we can accommodate short-term engagements and project work. For example, Plumb Family Office Accounting works with divorce attorneys and their clients who are going through a divorce settlement and need help analyzing and tracking expenses to finalize child and alimony support.
Q: How is the family bill pay set-up?
Answer: We have created a 4-step bill pay process with segregation of duties and different levels of approval.
- Client Associate pays bills
- Vice President reviews and signs checks
- Client Associate reconciles bank account
- Client Relationship Manager reviews bank statements
The family bill pay process is first established with the creation of a financial calendar of due dates and vendor information sheet.
View: Family Bill Pay Services: Organize your Financial Life.
Success Stories – Family Bill Pay
How can you help with organizing for year-end and tax planning purposes?
Answer: We assist our clients to compile the annual tax organizer for their CPA. Creating this comprehensive, audit-proof package allows to maximize standard deductions, as well as, allows for the CPA to be more cost effective.
Additionally, we provide the CPA with quarterly reports to adjust estimated tax payments as needed to avoid annual penalties and interest charges with the IRS or Franchise Tax Board.
Learn More: Plumb Family Office Accounting Annual Tax Organizer
Are you ready to simplify your financial life and take true control of your wealth?
Related Posts:
- Why Use a Personal Bill Pay Service Firm
- Family Bill Pay Services: Organize your Financial Life
- Five Signs that you Need a Back-Office Family Office Accounting
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- La Jolla Blue Book
- Expertise – Best Bookkeepers in San Diego
- Rancho Santa Fe Association
Plumb Bill Pay Implements a Check Fraud Solution with Cheque-Guard
The Cheque Guard Suite of Products is the Industry-Leading Answer to Combating Check Fraud.
Press Release – Check Fraud Solution for Plumb Bill Pay
Plumb Bill Pay, a premier back-office accounting, financial reporting and bill pay firm for family offices and the high-net-worth, is pleased to announce a partnership with Cheque Guard and their check fraud detection tools and software. The combination of Plumb Bill Pay’s secure cloud infrastructure with state-of-the-art Barracuda Spam Firewall and Cheque Guard’s top-rated check printing security creates a robust defense to protecting client’s financial data.
“As a preferred outsourced bill pay vendor for many top multi-family offices, financial institutions and high-net-worth families, our security concerns around check fraud are a high priority,’ said Anneke Stender, Executive Vice President of Plumb Bill Pay. “After evaluating numerous solutions, we are confident that Cheque Guard is the leader in the industry with their innovative suite of products,” she said.
The Cheque Guard system replaces the need for Plumb Bill Pay to purchase individual checks from financial institutions for clients. Instead, specific account information is imported onto blank checks made with an image-survivable seal that encrypts the data into a barcode. The product is ChequeSeal, a next generation of Positive Pay that requires no issue file or transmission. The ChequeSeal is decrypted and verified at the bank to ensure authenticity of the check.
“Check fraud is the biggest form of payment fraud in the world, and we fully understand the magnitude of the issue,” said Emil Ramzy, President of Cheque Guard. “There is great synergy with the Plumb Bill Pay team and we are happy to partner with them and provide peace of mind that their check writing solutions are safe and secure,” he said.
Plumb Bill Pay offers a range of services, including bill payment, recordkeeping, income and expense tracking, cash flow reporting, vendor management and mail services. These solutions are customizable for every client depending on the need and complexity of their personal financial life.
“Security is at the forefront of Plumb Bill Pay, and we take a proactive approach to ensuring that customer data is not compromised,” said Robert Scherer, President of Plumb. “Cheque Guard gives us the extra layer of protection against the potential vulnerabilities of check fraud,” he said.
Plumb Bill Pay uses a proprietary task management system to facilitate and track bill pay management. It is hosted on a cloud infrastructure with bank-level security measures and VPN connection. Bills are paid on time, monitored for accuracy and reconciled by a dedicated team. This includes accounting experts who specialize in serving the needs of the high-net-worth.
About Plumb Bill Pay:
For over two decades, Plumb has been helping high-net-worth families, their businesses, and family offices achieve greater levels of personal freedom by handling their personal reporting and bill pay needs.
Plumb Bill Pay works with clients nationwide with office locations in Southern California: 1227 Prospect Street, Suite 200, La Jolla, CA 92037; 16904 Via de Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 and 100 Bayview Circle, Suite 270, Newport Beach, CA 92660 and New York City: 747 Third Avenue, Suite 200, New York, NY 10017
About Cheque-Guard:
Founded in 1991, Cheque Guard Inc. provides small to medium-size businesses and financial institutions with check fraud solutions, including ChequeSeal™ and ChequeSuite™. These software products allow businesses to integrate and deploy secure, controlled check printing and electronic payments for the Automated Clearing House (ACH), while creating a Positive Pay file for the bank as the checks are printed by the customer.
How to help eliminate check fraud with the protection of Cheque-Guard
This is the next generation of Positive Pay that requires no issue file and no file transmission. The secure seal by ChequeSeal encrypts the check data into the barcode. When the check enters the banking system, an instant verification goes into action. Before it is paid, ChequeSeal references the encrypted information for comparison and determines the check’s authenticity. For more information, click here.
Are you ready to gain financial peace of mind knowing that your bills are being paid on time, reviewed for accuracy and detected from check fraud?
Plumb Bill Pay Implements a Check Fraud Solution with Cheque-Guard
The Cheque Guard Suite of Products is the Industry-Leading Answer to Combating Check Fraud.
Press Release – Check Fraud Solution for Plumb Bill Pay
Plumb Bill Pay, a premier back-office accounting, financial reporting and bill pay firm for family offices and the high-net-worth, is pleased to announce a partnership with Cheque Guard and their check fraud detection tools and software. The combination of Plumb Bill Pay’s secure cloud infrastructure with state-of-the-art Barracuda Spam Firewall and Cheque Guard’s top-rated check printing security creates a robust defense to protecting client’s financial data.
“As a preferred outsourced bill pay vendor for many top multi-family offices, financial institutions and high-net-worth families, our security concerns around check fraud are a high priority,’ said Anneke Stender, Executive Vice President of Plumb Bill Pay. “After evaluating numerous solutions, we are confident that Cheque Guard is the leader in the industry with their innovative suite of products,” she said.
The Cheque Guard system replaces the need for Plumb Bill Pay to purchase individual checks from financial institutions for clients. Instead, specific account information is imported onto blank checks made with an image-survivable seal that encrypts the data into a barcode. The product is ChequeSeal, a next generation of Positive Pay that requires no issue file or transmission. The ChequeSeal is decrypted and verified at the bank to ensure authenticity of the check.
“Check fraud is the biggest form of payment fraud in the world, and we fully understand the magnitude of the issue,” said Emil Ramzy, President of Cheque Guard. “There is great synergy with the Plumb Bill Pay team and we are happy to partner with them and provide peace of mind that their check writing solutions are safe and secure,” he said.
Plumb Bill Pay offers a range of services, including bill payment, recordkeeping, income and expense tracking, cash flow reporting, vendor management and mail services. These solutions are customizable for every client depending on the need and complexity of their personal financial life.
“Security is at the forefront of Plumb Bill Pay, and we take a proactive approach to ensuring that customer data is not compromised,” said Robert Scherer, President of Plumb. “Cheque Guard gives us the extra layer of protection against the potential vulnerabilities of check fraud,” he said.
Plumb Bill Pay uses a proprietary task management system to facilitate and track bill pay management. It is hosted on a cloud infrastructure with bank-level security measures and VPN connection. Bills are paid on time, monitored for accuracy and reconciled by a dedicated team. This includes accounting experts who specialize in serving the needs of the high-net-worth.
About Plumb Bill Pay:
For over two decades, Plumb has been helping high-net-worth families, their businesses, and family offices achieve greater levels of personal freedom by handling their personal reporting and bill pay needs.
Plumb Bill Pay works with clients nationwide with office locations in Southern California: 1227 Prospect Street, Suite 200, La Jolla, CA 92037; 16904 Via de Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 and 100 Bayview Circle, Suite 270, Newport Beach, CA 92660 and New York City: 747 Third Avenue, Suite 200, New York, NY 10017
About Cheque-Guard:
Founded in 1991, Cheque Guard Inc. provides small to medium-size businesses and financial institutions with check fraud solutions, including ChequeSeal™ and ChequeSuite™. These software products allow businesses to integrate and deploy secure, controlled check printing and electronic payments for the Automated Clearing House (ACH), while creating a Positive Pay file for the bank as the checks are printed by the customer.
How to help eliminate check fraud with the protection of Cheque-Guard
This is the next generation of Positive Pay that requires no issue file and no file transmission. The secure seal by ChequeSeal encrypts the check data into the barcode. When the check enters the banking system, an instant verification goes into action. Before it is paid, ChequeSeal references the encrypted information for comparison and determines the check’s authenticity. For more information, click here.
Are you ready to gain financial peace of mind knowing that your bills are being paid on time, reviewed for accuracy and detected from check fraud?
5 Bill Pay & Accounting Tips for Family Offices
Anneke Stender, Executive Vice President of Plumb and the Founder of the Family Office Accounting and Bill Pay Division of Plumb, discusses bill pay and bookkeeping solutions for family offices.
An overview of Anneke’s background and Plumb Bill Pay
Plumb was founded in 1996 as an outsourced accounting firm for small to medium-sized businesses.
As we developed close and trusted relationships with these privately held businesses, we realized how unorganized some of the business owners were in keeping track of their personal finances. Due to our expertise in accounting and financial reporting, we recognized that we could serve the owners and their families as their outsourced accounting department.
Our family accounting and bill pay services were developed by accounting professionals who have a deep understanding of the unique needs of high-net-worth individuals and family offices. The idea is that we serve as an extension to our client’s family office teams, providing accurate data to all of their advisors so they can make better tax, estate and financial planning decisions.
“By providing high-touch accounting services and technology solutions through our Plumb BillPay app, we act as financial stewards for our Family Office clients in their day to day financial lives. We make sure that their bills are paid on time and their accounting practices are in order, so that our clients can devote more energy to enjoying life and have peace of mind.” – Anneke Stender
1. What are the different ways in which families and family offices pay their bills & handle their finances?
There are three different ways that bills are currently processed within families and family offices:
- Dedicated staff such as personal assistants, CFO/Controller or an in house bookkeeper.
- CPA firm provides bill pay services in conjunction with their existing accounting services department.
- Third-party bill pay provider that specializes in bill pay services, cash management, as well as reporting for families and family offices. These firms typically work in conjunction with the various family office advisors such as their financial planners, CPAs and estate planning attorneys to provide reliable and accurate reporting.
2. What are the 3 advantages to outsourcing Family Office Bill Pay?
It boils down to three advantages to outsourcing the bill pay function within a family office setting:
- Families can take advantage of the segregation of duties, including the checks and balances around their bill pay function. What we see here is that most families have one dedicated person handling all steps in the bill pay process. The biggest pain-point third party providers solve here is to alleviate the lack of checks and balances in this process by having a second or even third set of eyes review the transaction before it is released.
- Ooutsourced service firms take advantage of the latest technology in their space which helps to automate the process. Frequently, this leads to increased efficiencies and transparencies in the bill pay and approval process for families. For Plumb, this includes a proprietary bill pay technology solution that we have developed in house. Our bill pay workflow process software is an efficient, secure and easy way for our clients to get the right approvals prior to issuing a check or electronic transfer without having to comb through various email communication.
- Service firms like Plumb take a white glove or high-touch service approach when working with high-net-worth families and their family offices. This leads to quick turnaround times and the ability to handle last-minute requests, like urgent wires or ACH transfer which can be a big stress relief for families and their advisors. We call this service stance stewardship.
Ultimately, what third-party service providers do for bill pay is to optimize control over the process, bring more scalability, redundancy, precision, and expert oversight into the bill pay and financial organization of families and family offices. As a result this really creates more financial clarity and peace of mind for their clients.
3. What are best practices to optimize Bill Pay for policies, controls and security?
- The confirmation of wire instructions: Confirm instructions verbally and record these verbal confirmations. If wire instructions have changed, we verbally confirm revised instructions.
- Centralization of bills: We set up a post office box and a dedicated email address for each client for all incoming invoices which streamlines communication and minimizes loss of bills.
- A billing tracker is then created to schedule out payments. The billing tracker allows us to proactively reach out if no invoice is received.
- Segregation of duties: An effective workflow for bill pay should look like this:
1. Individual receives and enters the vendor invoices.
2. Second individual will review the transactions to ensure the appropriate
approvals have been completed.
3. Third individual will have the authority to sign off on the transaction. - Workflow approval application software: Applications provide you with the ability to set approval limits by vendor, dollar amount or entity, as well as integrate with the underlying accounting system to avoid double data entry.
4. How is Plumb Bill Pay integrated with capital calls?
Capital calls and alternatives are an administrative burden for most of our clients.
The Plumb team takes care of the following financial administration tasks:
- When a new investment is made, the bill pay system can book the overall commitment, and schedule capital calls.
- Team monitors and tracks the remaining commitment.
- Verbal confirmation of wire instructions.
- Categorization and reconciliation of capital calls and distributions.
- Monthly report to the family and its advisors to better manage any upcoming cash and tax planning needs.
- Collecting all of the year end K1 statements for the CPA to incorporate with their tax compliance work.
5. How does Plumb Bill Pay allow families to have more clarity over their wealth?
Financial clarity is achieved through integration with existing advisors. Integration with other service providers happens on the reporting side. We link into the various banking and investment portals to obtain the data and categorize them in the underlying accounting system.
Our recommendation around reporting is that:
- Monthly cashflows should be provided to the family, as well as the financial advisors so they can appropriately plan for future cash reserve needs.
- Quarterly consolidated financial report is generated which contains a balance sheet, profit and loss, as well as entity financials. The goal here is to provide accurate and reliable data so that other service providers around the family can be more effective from a financial, tax and estate planning perspective. This allows our clients a much clearer and more accurate financial picture.
“Again, the most important take away here is that high net worth families and family offices are looking for ways to simplify their bill pay and bookkeeping needs and doing this in a secure and transparent fashion. They are looking for experts that specialize in their respective area and work well with their existing family advisors. The integration with a third party service provider that is fully integrated with a family office group and their financial advisors can really streamline this process.” – Anneke Stender