Insights
Referral guides for professional firms - spotting the moment, referring clients compliantly, and earning a share.
Redundancy and a lump sum: the referral a professional should make
A redundancy payout lands amid upheaval and rarely comes with a plan. Here is how to recognise the moment and make the introducti…
Red flags in a referral arrangement, and how to avoid them
A bad referral arrangement rarely announces itself, but it does leave clues. Here are the red flags worth watching for and the si…
Recurring vs one-off referral income: what to expect
Referral income comes in two broad shapes, one-off and recurring, and knowing which is which changes how you think about the valu…
RAO Article 33, explained for professionals who refer
Article 33 of the RAO carves out a narrow, sensible space in which introducing a client is not itself a regulated activity. This …
Specialise, then refer the rest: the referral case for niching
Specialising makes a firm memorable and referable, but it also raises more out-of-scope questions. A referral network is what mak…
A vulnerable beneficiary and the trust conversation
When a client has a disabled, dependent, or otherwise vulnerable relative, a straightforward inheritance can create real problems…
Profit extraction that stopped making sense: the advice handover
Profit extraction planning is core tax adviser work, but the most efficient answer increasingly points to pensions and personal f…
Measuring referral income: the metric hiding in plain sight
Professional firms track chargeable hours obsessively and referral income not at all. Measuring what your introductions are worth…
PCRT and referral arrangements: staying inside the code
CIOT and ATT members work to the Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation standards. Referral arrangements are not banned by …
The non-dom or expat client and the specialist referral
Internationally mobile clients generate some of the most complex triggers a tax adviser sees. You analyse the UK tax position; th…
The client with no will: the commonest referral you're missing
The single most common estate-planning trigger is also the easiest to overlook: a client who has simply never got round to making…
Mortgage completion: the protection and advice moment you're standing in
The moment a client takes on a large mortgage is a textbook trigger for protection and wider advice. Here is how to spot it and r…
How marketing agencies can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
Marketing agencies hear founders' real financial ambitions before almost anyone else. Here is how to refer those moments to regul…
Introducing is not advising: the line tax advisers must hold
The whole model rests on one line: you introduce, you do not advise on the regulated work. Understanding exactly what that means,…
How IT consultants can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
IT consultants become accidental confidants to owner-managers. Here is how to turn the money questions you cannot answer into com…
How insurance brokers can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
Insurance brokers are regulated — for insurance. Pensions and investment questions sit outside most brokers' permissions. Here is…
An inheritance just landed: why it's a referral, not a windfall
When a client inherits, a large sum lands amid grief and uncertainty. Here is how to recognise the moment and hand it over with c…
How HR consultants can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
HR consultants hear financial questions from exiting employees, anxious managers and owner-clients alike. Here is how to refer th…
The IHT computation that becomes an estate-planning referral
Tax advisers see the inheritance tax exposure before anyone else does, usually while preparing something else entirely. Here is h…
Idle cash: when a client's balance is a referral waiting to happen
Cash that sits still for years is often a sign that no one has looked at the bigger picture. Here is how to spot it and pass it o…
How to choose a referral network you can trust
Not all referral networks are equal, and the wrong one can put your reputation and your clients at risk. These are the things wor…
How referral tracking works — and why it protects you
When you make an introduction, something has to record that it happened, tie it to any eventual fee, and stand up to scrutiny lat…
Divorce and a financial plan torn in two: your cue to refer
A separation rearranges a client's entire financial life. Here is how to recognise the moment, handle it with care, and refer.
How to disclose a referral fee to a client, properly
Disclosing that you earn a share when you refer a client is not an awkward admission to be buried; it is a professional obligatio…