Every agreement,
signed and findable

Advisors work with households, not single documents, so the household is the right top-level folder. Name it after the family, like Delgado-Household. A joint or trust-owned account usually needs its own agreement, so give each one its own subfolder rather than folding it into an individual client’s file.

Inside, keep Signed, Drafts and Archive. Amendments and superseded fee schedules go to Archive with their dates, never deleted, so you can show which terms applied when. The privacy notice and Form CRS delivery acknowledgement are separate items: file them beside the agreement, not inside it.

Start with the date, then the document, then the status: 2026-03-12-Advisory-Agreement-Signed.pdf. The date sorts files correctly, and the status at the end means a draft and its signed copy never look the same in a list.

Use the date the document was signed where there is one, and the draft date for drafts. Avoid words like final, new or v3 on their own. They feel clear on the day and mean nothing a year later.

Look for evidence written in text, not for a mark you have to squint at. A “Date signed” line that is filled in, a status in the file name, or an e-signature completion certificate attached to the PDF all count. A faint scribble on a phone scan does not settle anything either way.

Keep the e-signature certificate with the signed PDF, in the same folder, so the audit trail travels with the agreement. A partly signed set, with one spouse missing, is easy to file as complete. When a signed copy arrives, move the draft it replaces the same day. If you cannot tell, treat the file as a draft until you have checked.

Most small RIAs rely on three places. The e-signature service holds a completed envelope: the signed PDF plus a certificate of completion. The CRM has a documents tab, and a shared drive holds everything else. Because each is updated by a different person, the CRM tab drifts from the drive over time.

The usual gap is ownership. In a small firm nobody is told that filing is theirs, so scanned wet-ink pages and emailed attachments stay in an inbox. Filex works from whatever you upload and your plain-words rule, and sits beside your CRM rather than replacing it.

It files documents. It does not verify that a signature is genuine, decide whether an advisory agreement is valid or properly executed, or give compliance guidance, including what you must keep or for how long. Follow your compliance manual for that.

It reads text, so a blank Date signed line or a missing certificate is a hint, and a faint handwritten mark on a phone scan may be missed. It also does not send agreements out for signature or contact clients. It works on documents from the day you turn it on, and tidying older households is a separate job.