Tenet has fixed a software issue that trapped 16,000 adviser payments in its system, the network has said.
FTAdviser reported this week that Tenet's efforts to move all its advisers to the Intelligent Office back office system administered by Intelliflo had caused problems for advisers who were asked to switch from their previous system.
In particular, advisers experienced problems with payments from providers, which were either not processed or not allocated properly.
FTAdviser understands the issue concerned data-matching and did not affect advisers who had already ran the software.
Tenet said the majority of the 16,000 unallocated payments on its system have now been processed, and advisers should be able to see where those payments came from.
A representative of Tenet said the issue was fixed last night (November 6), which “will see the majority of these records released for payment and we will repeat this exercise if we find it necessary”.
She added the firm had been "careful" not to "interrupt members' cashflow" in fixing the bug.
Tenet switched to back office system Intelligent Office at the start of October as part of a long-term contract with Intelliflo.
Advisers claimed the switch had interfered with their daily operation, as some of the income they received from commission arrived into their accounts with no indication as to which provider it came from, which meant they had to reallocate staff to sort out the chaos.
One adviser, who wished to remain anonymous, told FTAdviser he had not been able to see any of his clients for the whole month of October as all of his company’s resources were being deployed to clear up problems caused by the change.
In an email yesterday (6 November), seen by FTAdviser, Tenet told advisers in its network that 16,000 payments were stuck within its system, but that it expected to process payments and prevent future delays “in the coming weeks.”
Another Tenet adviser, who also wanted to remain anonymous, told FTAdviser the average amount owed per transaction in his firm was £500.
He suggested this meant smaller advice businesses could be struggling for cashflow as a result of the delays, that have so far lasted weeks.
Michael Dougan, who runs Professional Mortgage Solutions in Lisburn, said: “I am a one-man-band and trying to get my head around this ludicrous system. [It] has literally stopped me trading since 25 September - in 17 years, nothing has ever had such a negative effect on my business.”
david.thorpe@ft.com
