Your firm.
Fully automated.
Always compliant.
GRATES builds the complete operations and automation system for your advisory firm. Your workflows run fully automated. Your processes stay compliant. No more manual back-office.
The Problem
You built a great practice.
Your operations haven't kept up.
Most advisors are running $50M to $500M books of business on a combination of manual effort, disconnected software, and tribal knowledge.
Client onboarding is inconsistent. Document collection is chased. Compliance is reactive. Growth activities fall to the bottom of an already-full calendar. The problem isn't you. It's the infrastructure.
Inconsistent Onboarding
Every client has a slightly different experience because the process lives in your head, not a system. Errors and omissions are inevitable.
Reactive Compliance
Deadlines tracked on calendars. Documents chased by email. Audit prep is a scramble. This is not a system. It's a liability.
Administrative Overload
You're doing $20-an-hour work with a $500-an-hour license. Every hour spent on admin is an hour not spent with clients or on growth.
Growth That Won't Scale
Referrals get lost in follow-up. Touchpoints are manual. Client engagement depends on your bandwidth, which means it's always inconsistent.
Who's Behind GRATES
Run by people who've
lived this firsthand.
GRATES isn't outside engineers guessing at advisor pain points. It's two people who've actually felt them: one inside the practice, one inside the build.
Ryan Heidel
Ryan is the architect behind GRATES' systems, turning operational chaos into clean, automated infrastructure. GRATES is his first company, built from a real advisor's real operational gap, not a textbook case study.
Daniel Heidel
Daniel Heidel is a firm owner himself. He partners with GRATES because he has implemented these strategies into his own daily operations, resulting in leaner operations, more growth opportunities, and a stronger client experience.
We didn't start GRATES to sell software. We started it because we watched, and lived through, advisors drowning in admin work that should never have been manual in the first place.
— Ryan Heidel, FounderThe Solution
GRATES is your
operational backbone.
Three integrated systems, built for the compliance realities of the advisory industry.
GRATES Core
Your intake runs. Your onboarding tracks. Your scheduling confirms. Your clients experience consistency from day one, without your manual involvement.
- Automated client intake & CRM pipeline
- Onboarding workflow with status tracking
- Scheduling automation & confirmations
- Internal task routing & team alerts
- Monthly audit & optimization
GRATES Shield
Compliance stops being reactive and starts being systematic. Audit-ready workflows that keep your firm protected, consistently.
- Automated document requests & follow-up
- Compliance calendar & deadline automation
- Client acknowledgment tracking
- Exception alerts & escalation workflows
- Audit trail documentation & reporting
GRATES Grow
Your best clients should hear from you consistently. GRATES Grow creates the engagement infrastructure that drives referrals and retention on autopilot.
- Client lifecycle communication sequences
- Automated review prep & follow-up
- Referral request & tracking automation
- Prospect nurture sequences
- Birthday, anniversary & life-event triggers
“The license should free you to build a real practice, not bury you in the busywork of running one.”
The Operating Philosophy Behind GRATESThe Process
Four steps from
first call to full build.
No discovery pitches. No automated funnels. Just a straightforward process designed around your time and your firm.
Book a Call
A 30-minute conversation. No commitment, no pitch. Ryan learns about your firm, your goals, and whether there's a genuine fit.
Tech Stack Evaluation
If it's a fit, you complete a structured evaluation form covering your full operational picture: CRM, integrations, workflows, and compliance posture.
Receive Your Analysis
Ryan delivers a written PDF analysis of your stack, workflows, and operational gaps, with a prioritized view of your highest-value opportunities.
Strategy Session
A deep-dive meeting to walk through the findings together, prioritize what matters most, and decide on next steps, on your terms.
The Value
Built for advisors.
Designed for compliance.
Delivered white-glove.
GRATES isn't a software tool you configure yourself. It's a managed system delivered by people who understand the advisory industry.
Book a Call with GRATESAnnual cost of a full-time operations hire, which GRATES replaces at a fraction of the cost, with no HR overhead or turnover risk.
Returned to advisors each week. At $500–$1,000/hr in productive capacity, that's $5,000–$20,000 in weekly value creation.
GRATES translates complex automation into tools your team can actually run. No IT department required.
Get Started
Ready to see what your
operations could look like?
Start with a complimentary Tech Stack Evaluation. We'll analyze your current systems, identify gaps, and show you exactly what a GRATES deployment would change for your firm.