Advorra blog

The RIA complaints and incidents log: what to record, and when

By the team at The CollabHub · Co-written with Mohammad Aamish Aaftab
Published 26 Sep 2026 · Updated 17 Oct 2026

A complaints and incidents log is a dated record of client complaints and operational incidents (errors, missed steps, data issues) and what the firm did about each. A useful entry is short and written on the day: what happened, who raised it, when, what you did, and when it was closed. An empty log that is reviewed and dated on schedule shows a firm paying attention; an empty log nobody opened shows the opposite.

Nobody likes opening the complaints log. In a small firm, a frustrated client usually gets a phone call, the problem gets fixed, and everyone moves on. Weeks later, if anyone thinks of the log at all, the entry is written from memory, or not at all. The log isn't an admission that the firm failed. It's evidence that the firm notices problems and deals with them.

What counts as a complaint, and what counts as an incident?

A complaint is whatever your written procedures define it as, and a broad definition works best: any expression of dissatisfaction with the firm's services, written or verbal. An incident is an operational event worth recording even if no one complained, such as a trade error, a billing mistake, a missed step in a process or a data issue. Your compliance consultant can help set both definitions for your firm.

Illustrative; your procedures set the definitions.

What should each entry contain?

Seven short fields, most of them one line. The entry should let someone who wasn't involved understand what happened and how it ended.

Illustrative fields; your procedures set the definitive list.

Why is a short entry on the day better than a full one later?

Because the dates are right and the facts are fresh. Reconstructed dates rarely are accurate, and who said what is clear on the day and fuzzy a month later. A same-day entry also shows the procedure is real: the firm wrote it down when it happened, not when someone asked. Two lines written today beat a page written in March.

Why log incidents nobody complained about?

Because they show the firm finding its own mistakes, which is often more telling than the complaints. A trade placed in the wrong account and reversed, a billing error caught before it went out, a missed brochure delivery: recording these, and what you changed as a result, is how a procedure gets better. It also means that if a client later raises the same issue, the record of the fix already exists.

A worked example

Take a two-person RIA with about 120 households. In one quarter, the log gets three entries.

In the first week, a client calls to say their quarterly bill looks higher than usual. The adviser checks while on the phone and finds the household was billed at its old fee rate after a schedule change. The entry that afternoon: date, complaint and incident, raised by client, wrong fee rate applied, corrected bill issued and the difference credited on the same day, closed. Follow-up: the billing procedure gets an extra check that fee schedule changes are in place before each run.

In week six, the operations person notices that a rebalance trade went to an account that had moved to held away the week before. The trade is cancelled before settlement. Entry: incident, raised by staff, cancelled, closed the same day. Follow-up: account status changes now trigger removal from the model the same day.

In week ten, a client emails unhappy about a two-day wait for a call back. Entry: complaint, raised by client, adviser called the next morning and apologised, closed. No procedure change.

At the quarterly review of the log, the firm notices that two of the three entries trace back to account or billing data being out of step. That's the kind of pattern a log only shows if the entries exist.

What does a simple routine look like?

1. Write the entry the same day, even if it's two lines.
2. Close it with a date when it's resolved.
3. If a procedure changed as a result, note it and update the procedure.
4. Review the log on a set schedule, and date the review, even when the log is empty.

The routine is the same for a one-person firm. What changes is volume. A solo adviser may go a whole year with nothing to log, and that's fine, as long as the dated reviews show the log was checked.

How Advorra keeps the log

In Advorra, incidents and complaints sit in their own log next to the firm's policies and procedures, each entry dated and kept, and the log is included in the records production pack. If your log is a document that only gets opened when something goes badly wrong, see how it sits alongside your procedures on the product page, or read what audit-ready means.

General information, not legal or compliance advice. Your written procedures and compliance consultant define what your firm must record.