Account Maintenance and Registration Change Forms
Account maintenance forms are the paperwork that changes an account after it is open: address and name changes, a change of registration or ownership, banking instructions and standing letters of authorization, trusted contact additions, cost basis elections, and account closure. Each change is its own form at each custodian, and each one has to land in every system that holds the same fact.
- Who handles it
- Client service or operations prepares the change, the client signs where the custodian requires a signature, and the custodian processes it. The firm then has to make the same change in the CRM, the portfolio system, and the document store, which is the part that gets missed.
- Filed through
- Custodian
- Applies to
- SEC-registered RIA, State-registered RIA, Broker-dealer, Dually registered
What the form asks for
- The account and registration being changed
- The field being changed, with the old value and the new one
- Supporting documents for a name, title, or registration change
- Money movement instructions and the authorizations they require
- Trusted contact and interested party additions
- Cost basis method elections
- Account closure instructions and where residual balances go
The work behind the filing
Make the change once, in every system that holds it
An address changes at the custodian and the CRM keeps the old one, so statements go to the right place and the firm's own mailing goes to the wrong one. There is no single write path for a fact that four systems store. Caddi can propagate the change across those systems and hold the evidence that it landed in each.
Keep money movement authorizations evidenced continuously
A third party disbursement rests on an authorization on file and, at most firms, on a verification step performed at the time. Producing that per instruction, on request, is the thing firms reconstruct under pressure because it spans the custodian, the CRM, and email. Caddi can assemble and maintain that record as the instructions are set up.
Reopen the changes that were signed and never processed
The form was completed, sent, and never confirmed, and everyone assumed it went through. Nothing in the workflow closes the loop, so the discovery happens when a check goes to a closed bank account. Caddi can track requested changes against the custodian's confirmation and reopen what is still outstanding.
Questions
What counts as an account maintenance form?
Any form that changes an account after it is open: address and name changes, registration or ownership changes, banking instructions and standing letters of authorization, trusted contact additions, cost basis elections, and account closure.
Why does the same change have to be made in more than one system?
Because the same fact is stored in the custodian's record, the CRM, the portfolio system, and often the document store, and none of them writes to the others. Updating the custodian is the visible step, so the rest quietly falls out of sync.
What is a standing letter of authorization?
A standing letter of authorization is a client's written instruction allowing the firm to move money from their account to a named destination on an ongoing basis, instead of obtaining a fresh instruction each time. It is one of the account level authorizations kept on file at the custodian and evidenced in the firm's own records.
Can account maintenance changes be automated if the custodian still needs a signature?
Yes, because the signature is a small part of it. Producing the right form, populating it from the client record, routing it for signature, submitting it, confirming the custodian applied it, and updating every other system that holds the same fact is the bulk of the work, and none of that requires a person.
Can Caddi handle this paperwork end to end?
Caddi runs the work around it: pulling the client facts out of your CRM, plan, and document systems, producing the populated form, checking it against the client record before it goes out, routing it for signature, and writing the result back into every system that holds the same fact. A person reviews and submits. Caddi is not a custodian or a broker-dealer and does not act as one.
Related forms
The filing is the easy part
Caddi does not file forms. It runs the work around them: pulling the underlying data out of your portfolio, CRM, and document systems, reconciling it against the prior filing, and evidencing delivery. See it run on your own stack.
See the compliance specialistThis page describes what the form is and the work it creates. For requirements, deadlines, and whether any of it applies to your firm, see FINRA Rule 4512: Customer Account Information.