Reviewing client cash in the annual review: questions and evidence
Cash is often the part of a client's wealth the annual review skips. A practical guide to reviewing client cash: what to ask, what to check, what to record, and how to keep it proportionate.
On this page
- Why reviewing client cash belongs in the review
- Be clear about scope
- Questions to ask at the review
- What and where
- Purpose and timing
- Preferences
- Checks to run before and after the meeting
- What to record on file
- Keeping it proportionate
- Frequently asked questions
- Should cash be covered in every annual review?
- What cash issues tend to come up at review?
- Does every cash change need a full recommendation report?
Most annual reviews are built around the portfolio: valuations, performance, charges and whether the investments still suit the client. Cash often gets a single line, if that. Yet for many clients it is a large share of their wealth, sitting in accounts nobody has looked at since the last review, or ever. Reviewing client cash takes a few minutes of the meeting and a short note on file, and it is one of the most visible ways to show a client that the review covered their whole picture.
This guide sets out how to bring cash into the regular review: the questions to ask, the checks to run, what to record, and how to keep the work proportionate.
Why reviewing client cash belongs in the review
Clients hold a lot in cash. The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found "61% of adults with £10,000+ in investible assets held all or at least three-quarters of these assets in cash (58% in 2022)" (Financial Lives 2024). AJ Bell, using Bank of England Bankstats, reported almost "£306 billion" sitting in accounts paying no interest (AJ Bell, September 2026).
The FCA has also asked deposit-takers to "prompt their customers in lower paying savings accounts or non-interest bearing accounts to consider alternatives" (FCA cash savings action plan). That request was aimed at providers, but the same logic applies in an advice relationship. The review is the natural point to ask whether the client's cash is still doing the job they need.
It also connects to the Consumer Duty. PRIN 2A.2.14R says "A firm must enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives" (PRIN 2A.2). An emergency fund in the wrong place, or a large balance earning little while the client worries about income, is part of whether those objectives are being met.
Be clear about scope
Whether cash advice sits inside the firm's ongoing service, and on what terms, is for the firm to decide and set out in its client agreement and scope of work. The FCA expects ongoing advice contracts to "be clear on the type and frequency of services to be provided" (FCA ongoing advice review). If cash is in scope, review it. If it is not, the review can still note the balance and record whether the client would like a separate recommendation.
Questions to ask at the review
Keep it short and practical. These questions usually surface everything that matters.
What and where
- What cash do you hold now, and with which banks or building societies?
- Has anything been opened, closed or matured since we last spoke?
- Do any of your accounts have bonus rates that have ended, or fixed terms that have matured?
Purpose and timing
- What is each sum for: emergencies, known spending, a future decision, or long-term cash?
- Do you expect any large payments in or out over the next year or two?
- Has anything changed in your health, work or family that affects how much cash you want to keep?
Preferences
- Do you still want branch access, or are you comfortable managing accounts online?
- How quickly would you need to reach each part of the money?
- How important is it to you that every balance sits within FSCS protection?
The answers to the third group change more often than advisers expect. A client who was happy with app-only banking may now prefer a branch, or the reverse. Changes in circumstances can also point to characteristics of vulnerability, which may change what is suitable and how you communicate.
Checks to run before and after the meeting
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Emergency fund | Is enough cash reachable quickly for the client's needs, as they have described them? |
| Idle balances | Large sums in current accounts or accounts paying little or nothing |
| Ended bonuses and maturities | Accounts that have moved to a different rate since the last review |
| FSCS totals | The total with each institution against £120,000, counting brands that share a banking licence as one bank |
| Fit with the wider plan | Cash needed for income, tax or planned spending, and whether any cash is waiting to be invested |
The FSCS check deserves care. The FSCS protects "up to £120,000 per eligible person, per bank, building society or credit union", and brands sharing a banking licence are treated as one bank (FSCS). A client's total with one group can creep over the limit through interest, new deposits or a newly opened account with a sister brand. Our guide to the FSCS limit of £120,000 sets out the full check.
What to record on file
A cash note in the review file does not need to be long. It should allow someone reading it later to see what was discussed and why any decision was made.
- The cash position, by institution, with the date it was confirmed and where the figures came from.
- The client's purposes and timing for each sum, in their own words where possible.
- Any change in preferences since the last review, such as branch access or digital comfort.
- The FSCS position by institution, including any shared licence.
- The outcome: no change needed and why, a recommendation made, or a separate recommendation offered and the client's response.
- A next date, such as a maturity or the next review, if something needs watching.
Record decisions not to act as carefully as decisions to act. "Client prefers to keep this balance with their current bank for convenience, aware of the rate and FSCS position" is a perfectly good outcome when it is the client's informed choice.
Keeping it proportionate
Not every client needs a full cash recommendation every year. A sensible approach is to triage.
- Light touch: a modest emergency fund, nothing changed. Confirm the position and note it.
- Closer look: a large idle balance, an ended bonus, a maturity, or a total near the FSCS limit. Discuss options and offer a recommendation.
- Full recommendation: a large sum to place, a change in needs, or a balance above the limit with one institution. Compare the market on the day, rank against the client's priorities, and write it up with a date.
By our estimate, evidencing one savings recommendation by hand takes about three hours, which is why cash so often gets left out of busy review seasons. With Reckoner, by our estimate, it takes about twenty minutes. For the full process, see cash savings advice for advisers.
Frequently asked questions
Should cash be covered in every annual review?
Where cash is within the firm's ongoing service, yes, at least briefly. Even where it is not, noting the balance and asking whether the client wants a recommendation helps show the review considered the whole picture. The firm's scope of work should make the position clear.
What cash issues tend to come up at review?
The checks above tend to surface the same themes: idle balances, ended bonuses, matured fixed terms and totals with one banking group creeping towards or over the FSCS limit.
Does every cash change need a full recommendation report?
Not always. Triage by size and change. A full, dated recommendation suits larger sums or changed needs; a short file note can be enough where nothing has changed.
When a client needs a full recommendation, Reckoner builds a dated, adviser-signed report with rates, terms and FSCS status checked against the live market. To see it, book a twenty-minute demo on Microsoft Teams with Adam Booth, run on a demo firm with nothing to prepare.
