Easy-to-use and more intuitive: the popular NaviPlan software just got better

Reviewed by Joel Bruckenstein for Morningstar.com; NaviPlan Central receives accolades for its easy-to-use interface and planning features, which are meeting the needs of both advisors and supervisors.

"The interface, which is highly customizable to the engagement and the knowledge level of the user, is the big news here," he says.

NaviPlan Central is EISI's web-hosted service (an ASP platform) that delivers important business and compliance tools, a centralized database, and both online and offline formats of the popular NaviPlan financial planning software that enable advisors to work on their plans regardless of a connection to the NaviPlan Central server.

Says Bruckenstein: "During its conversion to the Web, EISI reworked NaviPlan's interface, and clearly, a great deal of thought was dedicated to improving the user's experience."

With four levels of planning including a Financial Assessment, the NaviPlan Standard software that NaviPlan Central delivers allows advisors to tailor the use of the software.

"Within each level," says Bruckenstein, "the advisor has considerable control over which aspects of the client's situation are to be analyzed." For example, Bruckenstein successfully generated a retirement report in just a few minutes using the Financial Assessment tool. The Financial Assessment can also be used to assess education, major purchase, and insurance. In a few clicks, advisors can "generate a very professional looking 10-page report complete with assumptions, graphics, and disclaimers," he says.

For firms, Bruckenstein relates how NaviPlan Central's well-designed file structure allows supervisors to oversee the planning process and limit employees’ access to the functionality that suits their areas of competency.

"At each level of the filing hierarchy (client, engagement, plan), various permissions can be granted or operations performed. At the client level, other advisors can be granted access to read, write, or control access to a third party. A client can also be assigned to another advisor.

Because NaviPlan Central is hosted on a central server, it offers a number of technical advantages over the old desktop formats. For example, advisors don't have to maintain a server, upgrade the software, or back up their data—it's all part of the service.

Read the full review, called "NaviPlan Online Packed with Promise".