Retirement Platforms and the Myth of the ‘Safe’ Manual Process
“We still do that manually—just to be safe.”
Sound familiar? In the retirement recordkeeping world, manual processes are everywhere:
Reprocessing contribution files.
Manually uploading year-end testing data.
Tracking fee disclosures in spreadsheets.
These steps are often framed as the “safe” option. But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Manual doesn’t mean safe.
It means unscalable, undocumented, and often invisible. At Convergent, we’ve worked with clients who:
Manually rekey plan rule changes from intake forms into three different systems, introducing silent errors each time
Approve investment mapping via email chains, with zero audit trail
Manage reconciliation exceptions via institutional memory—until someone goes on PTO
These processes feel safe because they’re familiar and human-powered. But in a highly regulated industry, familiar doesn’t mean compliant.
Proper safety comes from:
Visibility — so you know what’s happening
Traceability — so you can prove it
Validation — so you trust the results
That doesn’t happen with spreadsheets or email chains. It happens with intelligent automation and workflow integration.
At Convergent, we approach it differently.
We don’t bring a wrecking ball. We sit with your teams, map the manual processes, and identify:
What can be safely automated
What requires checks or human input
How to embed it all in a secure, testable workflow
You don’t need to fear automation. You need to fear the spreadsheet nobody else knows exists.
Let’s shine a light on the “safe” processes before they become your next risk event. Talk to Us About Risk-Proofing Manual Work
