Industry guide
Planning checklists and IC minutes: licensable records for advisory firms
Advisory firms document how they plan, invest and serve: planning checklists, IPS templates, investment committee minutes, quarterly letters and service procedures.
Most of it already sits in a CRM such as Redtail or Wealthbox, planning software, portfolio systems and email. Buyers want the written trail of how your team actually does the work, so most owners lead with SOPs and training material, then add day-to-day records once personal details are dealt with.
- Key figure
- 1,296
- Buyers' published range
- $100K to $2M+
- Time to a written offer
- Days to 2 weeks
- Owner time, per buyers
- 1 to 3 hours
01 / What buyers value
Records a buyer will look for at a advisory firm
Planning checklists and IPS templates
Where it lives
Docs
Why a buyer wants it
Advice process
Raise first
Usually nothing
Investment committee minutes
Where it lives
Docs
Why a buyer wants it
Investment judgment
Raise first
Holdings
Quarterly letters and commentary
Where it lives
Docs
Why a buyer wants it
Client communication
Raise first
Usually nothing
Meeting prep and CRM notes
Where it lives
CRM
Why a buyer wants it
Client service
Raise first
Client finances
Supervision and service SOPs
Where it lives
Docs
Why a buyer wants it
Compliance in practice
Raise first
Usually nothing
| Record | Where it lives | Why a buyer wants it | Raise first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning checklists and IPS templates | Docs | Advice process | Usually nothing |
| Investment committee minutes | Docs | Investment judgment | Holdings |
| Quarterly letters and commentary | Docs | Client communication | Usually nothing |
| Meeting prep and CRM notes | CRM | Client service | Client finances |
| Supervision and service SOPs | Docs | Compliance in practice | Usually nothing |
02 / Value
Putting a number on a advisory firm's data
No buyer publishes a price list by industry. What they do publish is a range for a whole company: micro1, Polyshares and Ventra each advertise deals from roughly $100K to $2M or more, and Pewter's licensing partner cites examples between $350K and $650K. Read those as the buyers' own marketing figures, not offers.
For a advisory firm of about 25 people, three things move the number most: how many years of history you have, how much of the work is written down in one place, and how cleanly client and employee details can be removed. Try the worth estimator for a range based on your size.
03 / Buyers
Which buyers take financial advisory firms
On Troveo's intake form, the closest category ("financial services, banking or fintech") sits in the top of its four demand tiers, the group it says buyers pay a premium for. Polyshares lists investment management as one of its premium industries.
Published size rule
Asks for at least 30 staff, with no upper limit
A 25-person advisory firm
Too small at 25
Published size rule
At least 20 full-time US office employees, or 10 for accounting and 6 for law
A 25-person advisory firm
Fits at 25
Published size rule
At least 20 W-2 staff in the US and three years of history
A 25-person advisory firm
Fits at 25
Published size rule
At least 20 people and three years, with a higher bar in some sectors
A 25-person advisory firm
Fits at 25
Published size rule
At least 30 US staff and three years of data
A 25-person advisory firm
Too small at 25
Published size rule
Around 30 people or more
A 25-person advisory firm
Too small at 25
Published size rule
No headcount floor; it weighs how deep the record goes
A 25-person advisory firm
No size floor
Published size rule
Publishes no minimum
A 25-person advisory firm
No size floor
Published size rule
Publishes no minimum (its calculator begins at 20)
A 25-person advisory firm
No size floor
| Buyer | Published size rule | A 25-person advisory firm |
|---|---|---|
| micro1 | Asks for at least 30 staff, with no upper limit | Too small at 25 |
| Mode | At least 20 full-time US office employees, or 10 for accounting and 6 for law | Fits at 25 |
| Nyne | At least 20 W-2 staff in the US and three years of history | Fits at 25 |
| Pewter | At least 20 people and three years, with a higher bar in some sectors | Fits at 25 |
| Ventra | At least 30 US staff and three years of data | Too small at 25 |
| Endless | Around 30 people or more | Too small at 25 |
| Polyshares | No headcount floor; it weighs how deep the record goes | No size floor |
| Mercor | Publishes no minimum | No size floor |
| Troveo | Publishes no minimum (its calculator begins at 20) | No size floor |
Some buyers pay us a referral fee. It never changes your price, and it never changes the order of our rankings.
04 / Typical week
What one ordinary week produces
- Monday: investment committee meets.
- Tuesday: review meetings prepped.
- Wednesday: a financial plan updated.
- Thursday: quarterly letter drafted.
- Friday: trading procedures reviewed.
Illustrative. Multiply one week by every year you have kept, and that is the record a buyer is looking at. The written decisions matter more than the totals.
05 / Process
How a deal works
- 1
Check the fit
Answer a few questions about headcount, years of records and the systems you use. No files change hands.
- 2
Inventory call
A buyer walks through what you hold and what it wants. Most say the owner spends one to three hours in total.
- 3
Written offer
Buyers usually send terms within days to two weeks: price, scope, term and whether the deal is exclusive.
- 4
Clean and deliver
Personal details are removed under the agreed method, then a copy is exported. Your originals stay where they are.
micro1
What it asks for
Procedures, internal wikis, project and task history, CRM activity
Offer and payment
Up to 30 days to review, then paid within 30 days of invoice
Ask about
Its master terms describe a perpetual license. It says it strips personal details "when relevant", so ask exactly how.
Ventra
What it asks for
Mainly inboxes, recorded calls and helpdesk tickets
Offer and payment
Offer in 3 to 7 days, then net 30 or 60
Ask about
Its terms warn it may be unable to erase data after delivery.
Polyshares
What it asks for
Inboxes, recorded calls, helpdesk tickets and ERP extracts
Offer and payment
Offer in 1 to 2 weeks, paid in 30 to 60 days
Ask about
Licenses are exclusive by default.
Pewter
What it asks for
Operating records for the industries on its list
Offer and payment
No fee to the owner, it says
Ask about
Launched October 2026 by a Florida sales agency. Its licensing partner, not Pewter, signs and pays.
| Buyer | What it asks for | Offer and payment | Ask about |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro1 | Procedures, internal wikis, project and task history, CRM activity | Up to 30 days to review, then paid within 30 days of invoice | Its master terms describe a perpetual license. It says it strips personal details "when relevant", so ask exactly how. |
| Ventra | Mainly inboxes, recorded calls and helpdesk tickets | Offer in 3 to 7 days, then net 30 or 60 | Its terms warn it may be unable to erase data after delivery. |
| Polyshares | Inboxes, recorded calls, helpdesk tickets and ERP extracts | Offer in 1 to 2 weeks, paid in 30 to 60 days | Licenses are exclusive by default. |
| Pewter | Operating records for the industries on its list | No fee to the owner, it says | Launched October 2026 by a Florida sales agency. Its licensing partner, not Pewter, signs and pays. |
06 / Timing
If you are selling or winding down
A data license can sit alongside a sale or a wind-down. If you are selling the business, agree with the acquirer who keeps the right to license the archive. If you are closing down, keep the workspace and inboxes alive until a buyer has seen them. A closed company is not out of options: SimpleClosure reports more than 150 completed sales of shut-down startups' archives.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Is advisory data in demand?
Financial services sit in Troveo's top tier, and Polyshares marks finance as premium.
Is a 25-person advisory firm big enough?
6 of the 9 buyers in our size check take a advisory firm that size, going by their own published rules. Below 20 people your options narrow to the buyers with no stated minimum.
Do we lose our records if we license them?
No. A license gives the buyer a copy for agreed uses and your originals stay put. Read the term and deletion clauses closely: micro1's master terms describe a perpetual license, and Ventra warns it may be unable to erase data after delivery.
Find the buyers that fit your company
Answer a few questions about your size, tools and history. We show which buyers want a company like yours. Free, no files.
Keep reading
Sources
Every number on this page links back to one of these.
- 1arxiv.org: 2510.04374v1arxiv.org
- 2finance.yahoo.com: Mode inc launches 5 billion 151600765finance.yahoo.com
- 3mode.incmode.inc
- 4onetonline.org: 4.C.1.a.2.honetonline.org
- 5troveo.ai: Financial firm data licensingtroveo.ai
- 6Troveo: Business data programtroveo.ai
- 7Polyshares: Sell company datapolyshares.com
- 8micro1: Company referral programmicro1.ai
- 9Beri: micro1 enterprise data partnerships, terms and risksberi.net
- 10Mode: Data program requirementsdata.mode.inc
- 11Nyne: Sell company datanyne.ai
- 12Pewter: Company data licensingpewterdata.com
- 13Pewter: Partner examplespewterdata.com
- 14Ventra: Company datajoinventra.com
- 15US Census Bureau: Statistics of US Businesses, 2022www2.census.gov
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