How do multi-family offices stop collecting the same documents twice?
Multi-family offices stop collecting the same documents twice by keeping one record of each family's documents inside the systems the office already runs, and by meeting every adviser's request from that record. The family is asked only when a document is missing or has expired, and every request is counted, so the office knows how often each family was asked. Every access is logged, sensitive data is kept apart, and nothing is shared without consent.
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How does collecting a family's documents once work?
The system sits inside the platform the office already runs, such as Addepar, Masttro, Aleta or Altoo. Nothing is replaced, every rule below is the office's own, and every access is on the record.
Hold every family's documents in one place
Identity documents, proofs of address, trust deeds, structure charts, mandates and the rest are held once, against the family and the entity they belong to, inside the platform the office already runs. An adviser who needs one asks the record, not the family.
Collect each document once, at onboarding
When a family joins, the onboarding walks them through one list: what is needed, from whom, by when. Each document is asked for once, chased on a schedule until it arrives, and filed with the date it expires, so the office knows today which ones are still current and which are not.
Meet every adviser's request from the record
When the tax adviser, the lawyer, a bank or a new manager asks for a document, the request is matched against what the office already holds. A current document is shared from the record, with the family's consent and the access logged. Only a missing or expired one goes back to the family, and then once, in a single request that covers everyone who needs it.
Refresh KYC from a list of what has lapsed
Expiry and refresh dates are tracked against each document, so a KYC refresh is a short list of what has lapsed rather than a fresh request for everything. The reminders run on their own. The request to the family is drafted, then waits for a person at the office to approve it before it goes.
Put vendor requests and approvals in one place
Requests from the family's vendors and suppliers arrive in one queue with the documents they rest on, and each goes to the named approver for that family. A payment is always a person's decision: what the system does is gather the request, the invoice and the history, and put them in front of that person.
Log every access and keep sensitive data apart
Every access to a family's record is logged: who, what, when, and on whose request. Sensitive data is kept apart from the rest, an adviser sees what that family has agreed to share with them and no more, and nothing leaves the office without consent. Discretion is the job, and these are the rules the system is built on.
Assemble the reporting pack from what is already held
The family reporting pack is assembled on the office's schedule from what the record and the platform already hold, in the office's own format, and waits for a person to approve it before it goes to the family. Beside it, the office sees how many times each family was asked for a document this year, which is the number the review measures first.
What does this replace?
The email and spreadsheet status quo
- Each adviser keeping their own copy of a family's documents, and asking for a fresh one
- A KYC refresh that starts with a request for everything, every time
- Vendor requests and approvals scattered across inboxes, with no record of who said yes
- Reporting packs assembled by hand from exports and attachments
- No record of who accessed what, or of how often a family was asked
After
- One record of each family's documents, inside the platform the office already runs
- A refresh that asks only for what has lapsed, on a schedule
- Vendor requests and approvals in one queue, each with a named approver
- Reporting packs assembled from the record and approved by a person before they go
- Every access logged, and a count of how often each family was asked
What is asking twice costing the office?
The first cost is the family's patience. A family that pays an office to coordinate its advisers notices when the third adviser asks for the same passport copy, and each repeated request is a small sign that the office is not holding the record. The second is the hours: every repeated request is a chase, a reply, a check and a filing, done by someone senior enough to be trusted with the document, and a KYC refresh that starts from scratch multiplies that across every entity the family holds. The third is the handling: every copy that sits in an inbox is one more place sensitive data lives, and one more access nobody logged. The size of each depends on the office, so there is no number here. The review measures it on the office's own records: how many times each family was asked for a document in the last year, and what each repeat took.
How long does it take to set up?
A review comes first, about a week: where document requests and approvals stall, how often each family was asked, and what each fix is worth. A first working version is usually live in two to four weeks: one journey, usually onboarding and the documents it collects, live in the office's own systems against a written baseline, with the acceptance criteria agreed before any build begins. Once that holds, the KYC refresh, the vendor approvals and the reporting pack follow. After that we can run and extend it, monthly, and you can cancel at any time.
When is this not worth doing?
- If the office serves only a few families and one person already holds every document and every date, a tidy manual process is fine, and we will say so
- If the advisers will not take a document from the office's record and insist on asking the family themselves, a record will not stop the asking: that is an agreement between the office and its advisers, not a build
- If a family has not agreed to the office sharing its documents with its advisers, nothing can be shared on its behalf, and the first step is that conversation, not a system
- If you are about to change your reporting or document platform, wait until that settles rather than building twice
Frequently asked questions
How do multi-family offices stop collecting the same documents twice?
By keeping one record of each family's documents inside the platform the office already runs, and meeting every adviser's request from it. The family is asked only when a document is missing or has expired, and each request is counted. Every access is logged, sensitive data is kept apart, and nothing is shared without consent.
Does this work with Addepar, Masttro, Aleta or Altoo?
Yes. The system is built on top of the platform the office already runs, including Addepar, Masttro, Aleta and Altoo, rather than asking the office to move its families onto a new one. What that platform holds, and what sits beside it, is confirmed on the review.
Who can see a family's documents?
Whoever the office's rules say, and nobody else. An adviser sees what that family has agreed to share with them, every access is logged with who, what and when, and sensitive data is kept apart from the rest. Nothing leaves the office without consent.
What happens to the KYC refresh?
It becomes a short list rather than a fresh collection. Expiry and refresh dates are tracked against each document, so when a refresh falls due the family is asked only for what has lapsed, on a schedule the office sets. The request is approved by a person at the office before it goes.
Does it replace the people who hold the family relationship?
No. It removes the chasing, the matching and the filing, so the people who hold the relationship spend their time on the family rather than on its paperwork. Anything the rules do not cover goes to a named person with the context already gathered.
How much does it cost?
It starts with a review, about a week, that finds where requests and documents stall and what each fix is worth. The build is then scoped and quoted at a fixed price, which depends on how many advisers and systems are connected and how the office's approvals run. After that we run and extend it, monthly, and you can cancel at any time.
See where the time is going
Book a private review. On a short call we map where work is getting stuck in your firm and whether there is a system worth building. No pitch, and if there is nothing there worth doing, we will say so.