Creating Plans & Data Entry - RightCapital Help Center

The foundation of any plan within RightCapital starts with the initial data entry process. Getting comfortable inputting a client's income, savings, assets & liabilities, expenses, and goals is a pivotal step in using RightCapital to its fullest potential. In this article, we'll guide you through the process of creating a new client household, and entering all of a client's information.

Want hands-on experience? Follow along with us!

We find that the best way to learn RightCapital is to use it! If possible, we recommend following along with this article using your own RightCapital account for some valuable hands-on experience.

Creating a Client Plan

Once you're logged into your RightCapital account, creating a new client plan is quick and easy. In the Clients tab of your Advisor Portal, click the blue + Add a New Client button in the upper left corner:

Within the window that appears, enter the first and last name of the client, and then click Input Client's Information Now. This will generate a new client household, and take you directly to the first step of the initial data entry process. Going forward, you'll be able to find that client and open their plan from the Clients tab.

Invite Client to Input Information

When creating a new household, you can optionally choose to enter that client's email address, and then click Invite Client to Input Information. This will generate the new household, and send the client an email invitation at the same time. This can be a great option if you plan for clients to enter some of their own information remotely into their client plan:

While inviting clients in RightCapital is always optional, many successful advisors find that it helps bolster client engagement and strengthen relationships in the long term. For more information, feel free to take a look over the Client Experience section of our Help Center.

Planning to invite clients in RightCapital?

Try creating a sample plan for yourself, and then inviting yourself as a client during this step. This provides valuable insight into what your clients will experience when invited to access to their financial plan. Do note that you'll need to invite yourself using a separate email address from the one you use for your RightCapital account.

Initial Data Entry Process

With the client plan created, the next step is to complete the initial data entry by entering the client's information. RightCapital's intuitive step-by-step data entry process will walk you through the process of entering each client's income, expenses, savings, financial goals, and more:

The initial data entry phase consists of six steps in the following order: Family, Income, Savings, Net Worth, Expenses, and Goals. Below you'll find a brief overview of each step, followed by a link to more detailed information in our Help Center. If you'd prefer to watch, you'll also find a training video for each step. Remember that if you ever have any questions while entering client data, you can always reach out to the RightCapital Support Team for assistance!

Family

The first step of the data entry process is the Family Profile. This area is where the members of the household are entered, along with names, birthdays, planning horizons, and the resident state.

Click into the Client and Co-Client cards to update names, birthdays, and planning horizons (the assumed date of death for each client). For plans without a co-client, this card can be removed.
Enter the resident state (where the clients live) within the Client card. This input is used for state tax calculations.
Add additional family members, like children and grandchildren, via the Add Participant button in the upper right.

For more detailed information on the Family step of the initial data entry, please feel free to reference the following article:

Family Profile - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Family Profile below:

Family (4:44)

Income

The Income step of the data entry is where the household's primary income sources are entered. This includes client salaries and social security benefits, as well as other income streams such as self-employment income, pension income, and more.

For clients with W2 income, click into the pre-populated Salary cards to enter the annual amount and duration of each salary. For clients without W2 income, these cards can be removed.
Click on the Social Security cards to enter each client's current or future retirement benefits. For more on entering Social Security, click here.
Add additional income streams (self-employment, pension, bonus, etc.) by clicking the Add Income button in the upper right.

For more detailed information on the Income step of the initial data entry, please feel free to reference the following article:

Income - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Income section below:

Income (5:52)

Savings

The Savings step of the data entry is where you will enter prospective annual contributions to a client's various investments. This includes contributions to 401(k) and IRAs, taxable brokerage accounts, Roth accounts, 529s, and much more.

For clients with 401(k) accounts, you can use the pre-populated 401(k) savings cards to reflect employee and employer contributions. For clients without 401(k) accounts, these cards can be removed.
You may also see a Taxable savings card pre-populated in the Savings area. Use this card to reflect after-tax contributions into a taxable investment / brokerage account.
Add additional savings (Traditional or Roth IRA, HSA, 529, etc.) by clicking the blue 'Add Saving' button in the upper right.

For more detailed information on the Savings step of the initial data entry, please feel free to reference the following article:

Savings - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Savings section below:

Savings (6:32)

Net Worth

The Net Worth section of the Profile is where all of a client's assets and liabilities are entered, along with their current balances. This area is where you will enter bank accounts, credits cards, investment accounts, stock plans, loans, properties, insurance policies, and other assets.

If you are a premium or platinum subscriber, your clients can link their accounts directly to RightCapital via Account Aggregation. This will automatically pull in current balances and position-level account data.
If you have one or more advisor-level Integrations set up, you can link a client's accounts directly to their RightCapital financial plan. This will automatically pull in current balances and position-level account data.
Accounts can always be added manually to a client's Net Worth by clicking the Add Account button, and selecting an account type.

For more detailed information on the Net Worth step of the initial data entry, please feel free to utilize the resources below:

Net Worth - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Net Worth section below:

Net Worth (13:48)

Expenses

The Expenses section of the Profile is where you'll input pre-retirement living expenses, medical expenses, extra debt payments, and AUM fees. This is also where you'll determine the household's tax filing status and specify any local taxes.

For clients that have yet to retire, the pre-retirement living expenses card can be utilized to capture the household's monthly expenses within the projections. This card be be skipped or deleted for retired clients.
Specify the household's tax filing status within the Tax and Fees card. You can also enter any local taxes, as well as average AUM fees.
Add additional expenses (medical, alimony, extra debt payment, etc.) by clicking the blue 'Add Expense' button in the upper right.

For more detailed information on the Expenses step of the initial data entry, please feel free to utilize the resources below:

Expenses - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Expenses section below:

Expenses (5:38)

Goals

The Goals section of the Profile is where you will identify and enter a client's goals into their financial plan. This includes retirement ages, retirement living expenses, and retirement health care & long-term care costs. It can also include any number of additional goals, such as college goals, travel goals, primary home relocations, asset purchases, and much more.

Use the Retirement Age card to specify the target age of retirement for each client. For retired clients, enter the age that they retired.
The Retirement Expense card can be utilized to capture the household's monthly retirement expenses within the projections.
The Retirement Health Care Cost goal card allows you to reflect a client's healthcare costs in retirement. Similarly, the LTC Cost card allows you to input expected LTC costs.
Add additional goals (education, vacation, asset purchase, etc.) by clicking the blue 'Add Goal' button in the upper right.

For more detailed information on the Goals step of the initial data entry, please feel free to utilize the resources below:

Goals - Data Entry

You can also watch our training video on the Goals section below:

Goals (7:57)

Completing the Data Entry

After entering all of a client's information, the final step of this process is to click the Complete button in the lower right corner of the Goals step. This will complete the initial data entry process, and take you directly to that client's financial plan. From this point on, you will have full access to all of the planning modules within the plan.

Next Step: Overview of the Planning Modules

Great work! You've completed the second step in our Getting Started Roadmap. To move on to the next step and start reviewing the planning modules in RightCapital, click the link below!

Introducing the Planning Modules

If you need to navigate back to our Getting Started Roadmap, click here.