In-depth guide · Wealth
Building a family office's reporting framework
Updated: · Leutrim Miftaraj, FLIORE · Editorial standards · Other languages: Deutsch · Français · Español
Short answer
A reporting framework defines who receives which reports and when, and how the figures come about. It distinguishes recipients – family council, principal, next generation, foundation board, advisers –, defines fixed modules such as net worth, allocation, performance, liquidity, risks and deadlines, and governs the data flow from the bank feed through reconciliation and valuation to approval under the four-eyes principle.
From a report to a reporting framework
Many family offices produce good individual reports but no reporting framework: every report is built from scratch, with its own figures, its own structure and its own reporting date. That costs time and leads to contradictions as soon as two reports answer the same question differently. A reporting framework separates the data basis from the presentation: the figures are produced once, reconciled and approved; the reports are views of these figures, tailored to their recipients.
Recipients and their questions
| Recipient | Core question | Frequency | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal or founding generation | Where does the wealth stand, what needs deciding? | Monthly | Net worth, development, open decisions, liquidity |
| Family council | Is the wealth developing in line with the strategy? | Quarterly | Allocation against strategy, performance against benchmark, risks |
| Next generation | What belongs to the family, and why? | Half-yearly | Simplified overview, explanations, learning section |
| Foundation board | Is the foundation fulfilling its purpose? | Per meeting | The foundation's assets, distributions, deadlines of the supervisory authority |
| Tax advisers, auditors | Are the figures right per legal entity? | Annually | Holdings, income, transactions per structure and reporting date |
The modules of a monthly report
- Net worth with the change from the previous month and from the start of the year, split into market movement, inflows and outflows, and revaluations.
- Allocation by asset class, currency and structure, each against the strategic allocation.
- Performance: time-weighted for liquid mandates, IRR and MOIC for private market investments, each with a benchmark.
- Liquidity: available funds, expected outflows such as capital calls and taxes, coverage.
- Risks and anomalies: concentrations, exceeded limits, open compliance points.
- Deadlines and decisions in the coming weeks.
The data flow
- Import bank data electronically (CAMT.053, MT940, portfolio statements) and exclude duplicates.
- Reconcile holdings per account and portfolio with the bank statements; clear differences.
- Value illiquid assets with method, date and source, or roll the valuation forward.
- Look through the structures and consolidate in the reporting currency.
- Plausibility check: explain large changes, flag missing rates.
- Approval under the four-eyes principle, then distribution or release in the client portal.
Controls that secure trust
A report is only as good as the controls behind it. At least monthly, holdings should be reconciled with the banks, valuations checked for currency and changes above a threshold explained. Every approved report is stored with a version, so that it can later be shown which figures were reported at which time. The GIPS set out the principles of fair representation and full disclosure for performance presentations – a good yardstick for internal reports as well.
Worked example (simplified)
A single family office used to produce a separate report from Excel for every family meeting. After the change, the figures are produced monthly in one process: bank data is imported on the third working day, reconciled by the fifth, valued and approved by the seventh. The principal receives the monthly report, the family council a quarterly strategy report from the same figures, and the children a simplified version every six months through the portal. Contradictions between the reports have since been ruled out, because there is only one data basis.
Reports for family members without financial expertise
Not every family member enjoys reading tables. Three rules apply to recipients without expertise: first, one page at the front with the three to five statements that really count – net worth, change and its reasons, the most important decision; second, explanations in full sentences instead of abbreviations, for example "The securities gained 2.1 per cent in the quarter, mainly because of higher share prices; the real estate was not revalued"; third, recurring charts so that changes are visible at a glance.
For the next generation, a short learning section that explains one topic each quarter works well – for example the difference between return and income, or the role of a foundation. Consistency is important: the same terms, the same order and the same colours in every report. Presenting figures differently every quarter creates mistrust, even when the figures are right.
In FLIORE
FLIORE imports bank statements, consolidates wealth through all structures in the chosen reporting currency, calculates TWR, IRR and MOIC and produces the monthly report as a PDF. In the client portal, family members see only released content; the data quality check flags outdated valuations and missing rates before approval.
At a glance
| Basic principle | One reconciled data basis, many views |
|---|---|
| Core modules | Net worth, allocation, performance, liquidity, risks, deadlines |
| Controls | Bank reconciliation, currency of valuations, explanation of large changes, four-eyes approval |
Terms on this page
- Capital call
- A request by a private equity or infrastructure fund to its investors to pay in part of their committed capital.
- Four-eyes principle
- Control principle under which important transactions, such as payments, are checked and approved by a second authorised person.
- Single family office
- An organisation that manages exclusively the wealth and affairs of a single family.
- camt.053
- XML format under ISO 20022 for electronic account statements, replacing the older SWIFT MT940 format.
Frequently asked questions
How soon after month-end should the report be available?
That depends on the data and the valuations. Five to ten working days is common. A reliable process that is always the same matters more than speed.
How are delayed valuations of private market investments handled?
With the latest available NAV, rolled forward for capital calls and distributions, and with a visible valuation date. Readers must be able to see how current a value is.
Should all family members receive the same report?
No. Content and level of detail depend on role and information rights, ideally set out in the family constitution.
Which key figures belong on the first page?
Net worth, change with its causes, deviation from the strategy, available liquidity and the most important open decisions.
Who approves reports?
A second qualified person after the preparer; for reports to governing bodies, often the head of the family office.
How long are reports kept?
At least as long as they may be relevant for decisions, taxes or audits. Versioned storage shows what was reported at which time.
Should reports be distributed digitally or on paper?
Digitally through secured access is safer than email attachments and allows graded rights. Paper can make sense for meetings, but copies should be numbered and collected or securely destroyed afterwards.
Who should have access to the raw data?
The family office team, with roles and rights – not the report recipients. Recipients receive approved reports; raw data is provided only for audits or on explicit request with explanations, so that no divergent own analyses arise.
Sources
- Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) – CFA Institute
- CFA Institute – standards and research
- Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA)
- ISO 20022 – message standard (CAMT.053)
- IFRS Foundation – principles of financial reporting
This page provides orientation and does not replace legal or tax advice. The cited legal sources in their applicable version are authoritative.
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