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AI Data Payout

Updated October 2026

Financial adviser book of business: is the work record licensable?

Independent and sourced. We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn

When you sell a book, the successor pays for households, assets and the relationships behind them. Your practice also holds years of review agendas, planning notes, onboarding checklists and CRM history, and AI companies now pay to license a copy of records like these, with client details stripped out. Financial services appears on several buyers' lists of the fields they take.1,2

Match my companyWhat is it worth?

What they want

How your practice does the work

An RIA's written trail includes review meeting agendas, planning notes, investment committee minutes, service requests to the custodian, onboarding checklists and the compliance manual, plus the activity history in Redtail, Wealthbox or Salesforce. Buyers ask for much the same: SOPs, playbooks, knowledge bases and templates, along with email, documents, calls, CRM and billing records.3,4

The pieces that carry the most of your own thinking are usually the review meeting template, the onboarding checklist for a new household and the investment committee's written rationale. Pull a clean example of each, with names and account numbers removed, and a buyer can tell quickly whether the practice fits.

Who fits

Is my practice big enough?

Most buyers want 20 to 30 or more people, and a few state no minimum. A solo adviser handing households to a successor rarely fits, while an ensemble RIA being bought by an aggregator often does. The quiz asks your size and setup and introduces you to the buyers that take a practice like yours.5,6,7,8,9

Is my practice big enough?
FactValue and source
Industries micro1 names

Technology; BPOs and recruiting firms; financial services; consulting; professional services; legal and compliance; healthcare administration; logistics and operations

[1] micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page · company's own claim ·

Industries Polyshares names

Software, logistics, manufacturing, professional services, healthcare administration, financial services, retail, hospitality, construction and more

[2] Polyshares website · company's own claim ·

Who Mode takes

Most businesses or nonprofits need 20+ full-time US office employees; accounting firms 10+ and law firms 6+; several years of records they own

Its launch release says AI labs are prioritizing legal and accounting data.

[5] Mode company data site · company's own claim ·

What stays out

Client accounts are the line

Account numbers, balances, tax details and personal circumstances are client information, and buyers say they keep that kind of material out, by excluding data held for clients, scrubbing personal details and letting you leave out whole systems or record types. Adviser rules on client records are not something we interpret; they are in the questions below.10,11,12,13

No adviser-specific license has been published. Published ranges mostly run from $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims.14,15,16

Timing matters if you are in transition. A practice moving to a successor over a year or two often keeps its own CRM and email until the last households move, and offers usually come within a few days to two weeks, so ask while the records are still in one place.17

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • Book prices are set with the successor. A license is quoted separately, and published ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims.14,15,16

  • Yes. Financial services, finance and insurance appear on several buyers' industry lists. No adviser-specific deal has been published yet.1,2,18

  • Most buyers want 20 to 30 or more people, and a few state no minimum. An ensemble RIA is likelier to fit than a solo practice.5,6,8,9

  • No. Buyers say they exclude data held for clients and scrub personal details, often through a partner.10,11

  • Not much: mostly an export, about 1-3 hours by the buyers' own count. Most of that is approving the scope and signing in to the systems you choose.19,20

  • Usually not. Most buyers charge nothing, and brokers and marketplaces can take 8-30%.21,22,23,24,25

  • Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

Questions to talk through with your buyer

Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.

Questions for this kind of business

  • How do Reg S-P and our books-and-records obligations apply to licensing practice records?
  • Does our broker-dealer or custodian agreement limit using CRM notes?
  • How do CCPA, GDPR, UK GDPR and state privacy laws apply, and is de-identified data still personal information?
  • Do professional rules apply (AICPA, IRC 7216, HIPAA, ABA Model Rule 1.17, insurance agency contracts, adviser rules, state boards)?

Questions for any buyer

  • Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
  • Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
  • Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
  • How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
  • What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
  • Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
  • Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?

How this page was made

Figures come from the published sources listed below, and what a buyer says about itself is its own claim. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote. Drafted with AI help from our research, then checked against each source. Updated October 2026.

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. See how we earn and how we rank. This site does not give legal, tax or financial advice.

Sources (25)

  1. 1.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.Cognor Labs partners page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Nyne sell-company-data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Grepped business page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.Grepped security page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  20. 20.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  21. 21.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  22. 22.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  23. 23.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  24. 24.FileYield data buyers page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  25. 25.Jottings how we get paid page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.