The short version: the established South African options are strong at administration, projections and product data, and weak at the two things that consume a practice's week, which are writing the advice documents and watching the book between meetings. That is the gap Tallify was built for, and it is designed to be added to an existing stack rather than to replace it.
The categories
It helps to separate what each tool is for, because "financial planning software" is used to describe four different jobs.
| Job | Typical tools | What they do well | What they leave to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice management and CRM | Xplan (Iress), atWork, Elite, generic CRMs | Client records, tasks, workflows, document storage, compliance checklists | Turning the data into advice; noticing what changed since the last meeting |
| Planning and projections | Xplan modules, standalone calculators, Excel | Retirement and cash-flow projections, scenario modelling | Writing the Record of Advice; keeping assumptions consistent across clients |
| Product and client data | Astute FSE, insurer portals, ProfileData and other price feeds | Verified policy and investment data with consent; daily fund prices | Interpretation: which clients are exposed, who has a gap, who needs a call |
| Documents | Word templates, practice-built RoA templates, PDF fillers | A consistent house format | All of the writing, every time |
The options, fairly
Xplan (Iress)
The most widely used integrated system among larger South African practices and networks. Broad: CRM, workflows, planning modules, document generation from templates, and integrations with product providers. The trade-offs practices describe are cost, configuration effort, and that the advice documents it produces are template merges rather than written analysis. Practices that run Xplan well tend to have a dedicated administrator.
atWork, Elite and similar practice systems
Practice management systems oriented to South African intermediaries, typically with commission tracking, client records and compliance documents. Strong on the administrative record. As with Xplan, the analysis and the writing remain the adviser's or paraplanner's.
Astute Financial Services Exchange
Not planning software, but the data layer many practices rely on: with a signed client consent it returns a consolidated view of the client's policies and investments from participating insurers and platforms, plus medical scheme and employee benefit data. Priced per request. Its value is accuracy: clients disclose what they remember, Astute returns what exists.
Spreadsheets and Word
Still the real system of record in many small practices, and not to be dismissed: flexible, understood, and free. The costs are consistency (every adviser's needs analysis is different), time (every RoA is written from scratch), and monitoring (nothing looks at the book unless someone opens the file).
Overseas planning platforms
The large United States and United Kingdom platforms are excellent at projections and client portals but are built for their own regulatory documents, price in foreign currency, and hold client data outside South Africa. They rarely fit a FAIS practice without heavy adaptation.
Tallify
A practice intelligence layer rather than a CRM or a projection engine. It does three jobs: drafts the Record of Advice and needs analysis from meeting notes, structured to the FAIS Code; watches every client every day for cover gaps and fund movements; and holds every client communication in an approval queue until an adviser sends it. It keeps its own registers so that it can monitor the book, imports from existing systems, and is built to consume Astute and daily price data. It runs on a server the practice controls in South Africa, and only de-identified facts are sent to the drafting model. It does not do cash-flow projections or replace a CRM, and it does not send advice to clients.
How to choose
- Start from the hours. Time how long a Record of Advice takes from meeting to signature, and how often you find out about a lapse or a fund fall from the client rather than before them. Those two numbers decide which category to fix first.
- Keep the system of record. Whatever holds your client data today has years of history in it. Prefer tools that import from it over tools that ask you to migrate.
- Ask where the data goes. For any AI feature, ask what leaves the practice and in what form. "De-identified" should mean names, identity numbers and contact details are removed before anything is sent, not after.
- Ask who signs. Software that sends anything to a client on its own is a compliance risk. The adviser should approve every communication and sign every record.
- Pilot on your own book. A demo on fictional data proves the software works; a pilot on your clients proves it works for you.
Descriptions of other products are based on their public material as at September 2026 and are offered in good faith; check with the vendors for current features and pricing.
Questions
Do I need to replace Xplan or my CRM to use Tallify?
No. Tallify is designed to sit beside the tools a practice already runs. It keeps its own registers so it can monitor the book daily, imports what other systems hold, and never asks the practice to migrate.
What is the difference between Astute and financial planning software?
Astute is a data exchange: with the client's consent it returns the policies and investments a client holds at insurers and platforms. Planning software uses that data to analyse needs and produce advice. The two are complementary, and Tallify is built to consume Astute data.
Is cloud software a problem under POPIA?
Not in itself. POPIA requires appropriate safeguards and, for transfers outside South Africa, an adequate basis under section 72. A practice using overseas cloud tools should record that in its processing records. Tallify keeps identifiable client data on a server the practice controls in South Africa, which removes the question for the AI layer.