In-depth guide · Technology
Implementing family office software: the project plan
Updated: · Leutrim Miftaraj, FLIORE · Editorial standards · Other languages: Deutsch · Français · Español
Short answer
Family office software is introduced successfully when the project is run as a project: with a target picture, responsible people, phases and acceptance criteria. A sequence of initiation, concept, implementation and deployment has proved its worth, based on the Swiss project method HERMES. Most of the effort comes not from the functions but from clean data: structures, persons, holdings and history.
Why implementations fail
Software implementations in family offices rarely fail because of the software. They fail because of unclear goals, data spread across twenty spreadsheets and contradicting each other, a team without time alongside day-to-day business, and a go-live without acceptance. Planning for these risks from the outset brings even a mid-sized family office onto a new platform in a manageable time.
The phases
- Initiation: set goals, scope, budget, project lead, decision body and risks.
- Concept: describe requirements, inventory the data, design the target structure of mandates and roles, draw up the migration concept.
- Implementation: capture structures and persons, set up bank feeds, take over historical holdings and valuations, configure reports and rights.
- Deployment: parallel run, reconciliation against the old system, training, acceptance, switch-over and decommissioning of the old files.
Data inventory: the critical path
Before anything is migrated, everything goes on the table: structures with ownership percentages and validity, persons with roles and identity data, accounts and portfolios per bank, holdings at a reporting date, valuations of illiquid assets, documents with expiry dates and open deadlines. For each type of data it is decided which source is authoritative, who cleans it up and by when. A clear cut-off date for the migration – such as month-end or quarter-end – makes reconciliation easier.
Historical data is deliberately limited: for performance time series three to five years are often sensible; for the KYC file, the complete evidence of the current relationships.
Roles in the project
| Role | Task | Typical holder |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | Goals, budget, decisions on conflicting goals | Head of the family office or a family representative |
| Project lead | Planning, steering, risks, reporting | Internal person with a time budget or an external project lead |
| Business owners | Requirements, data clean-up, acceptance per area | CFO, compliance, reporting |
| Provider | Configuration, interfaces, migration, training | The software provider's project team |
| Data protection and security | Data processing agreement, access rights concept, data location | Compliance or external advisers |
Acceptance and parallel run
Acceptance checks whether the new platform delivers the agreed results: holdings per account match the bank statements, the consolidated net worth matches the previous calculation or the difference is explained, beneficial owners are correct for each structure, reports contain the agreed modules and rights follow the access rights concept. A parallel run over one or two month-end closings creates certainty; it should not last longer, because duplicate work lowers acceptance.
Worked example (simplified)
A single family office with 28 structures in three countries introduces a new platform. During initiation three goals are set: a consolidated monthly overview, a complete KYC file per structure and a compliance calendar. In the concept phase, the inventory shows that ownership percentages differ between two spreadsheets – cleaning this up takes longer than any technical work. After two month-end closings in parallel, the holdings match; acceptance is recorded in minutes and the old spreadsheets are archived read-only.
Data protection and contract
Before personal data is migrated, a data processing agreement, the list of sub-processors and the data location must be settled. The Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection and the GDPR require appropriate technical and organisational measures; the family office remains responsible. Exportability is just as important: on a later change of provider, the data must be returned completely and in readable form.
Risks and countermeasures
The typical risks of an implementation are well known – and can be reduced with simple means:
- Too little time in the team: partly release business owners for the duration of the project and redistribute day-to-day tasks.
- Unclear data quality: inventory and clean-up before migration, with a responsible person per data type.
- Growing scope: prioritise requirements and deliberately move extensions to a second phase.
- Lack of acceptance: involve users early, train on the family office's own data, introduce noticeable relief first.
- Dependence on the provider: settle data export, documentation and contractual exit rules in advance.
- Go-live without acceptance: set acceptance criteria in advance and confirm them in writing.
In FLIORE
FLIORE supports the implementation with imports for structures, persons and bank statements (CAMT.053, MT940), a manual for each module, role-based rights and complete data export. Data is stored in Switzerland (Zurich region); a data processing agreement and the list of sub-processors are available.
At a glance
| Phases | Initiation, concept, implementation, deployment (based on HERMES) |
|---|---|
| Critical path | Data: structures, persons, holdings, history |
| Acceptance | Holdings, net worth, beneficial owners, reports, rights |
Terms on this page
- Beneficial owner
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company, foundation or trust, or on whose behalf a transaction is carried out.
- 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 long does an implementation take?
That depends on the number of structures, banks and the quality of the data. The deciding factor is almost always the data clean-up, not the configuration.
How much history should be migrated?
As much as performance, tax and compliance require. Three to five years of time series are often enough; the KYC evidence of current relationships is migrated in full.
Is an external project lead needed?
Not necessarily. What matters is a person with a time budget and a mandate. A project lead without released time alongside day-to-day business often fails.
How long should the parallel run last?
One or two month-end closings are usually enough to recognise and explain differences. A longer parallel run ties up capacity and lowers acceptance.
What belongs in the acceptance?
Reconciled holdings per account, explained differences in net worth, correct beneficial owners, complete reports and an implemented access rights concept.
What happens to the old spreadsheets?
They are archived read-only and remain available for the retention periods, but are no longer edited.
What does an implementation cost?
Besides licences, there is internal time and, where applicable, an external project lead and data clean-up. The internal effort is the most frequently underestimated item; it should appear explicitly in the budget.
How is the family involved?
Through the goals at the start and through access to the portal at the end. In between, a short update on progress and dates is usually enough; the specialist work lies with the team.
How is training organised?
On the family office's own data and by role: accounting, compliance, management and family each learn what they need. Short sessions just before go-live work better than a long training weeks earlier; a manual per module helps in everyday use afterwards.
Sources
- HERMES – project management method of the Swiss federal administration
- Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, SR 235.1) – Fedlex
- General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – EUR-Lex
- ISO/IEC 27001 – information security management systems
- ISO 20022 – message standard (CAMT.053)
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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