For financial administrators, being reachable is a legal requirement. Here’s how to keep it up.

Monday morning.
Three missed calls, twelve WhatsApp messages on your own phone and an email from Friday still waiting for a reply.
For most businesses, that’s a busy start to the week.
For a financial administrator, it’s more than that. Being reachable is written into law.

The most common question is: “Can I have some extra money?”

What the law asks of you

The Besluit kwaliteitseisen curatoren, beschermingsbewindvoerders en mentoren, the Dutch decree on quality requirements for guardians, financial administrators and mentors, sets out exactly what is expected of you.
Article 5(3) also applies to financial administrators through Article 5(7). It comes down to three things.

1. You are reachable by phone for your client at least four working days a week. In the law, your client is called the rechthebbende.
2. For the rest, you are reachable in such a way that your client has a reply within two working days.
3. Your plan of action states who your client’s permanent contact person is and who the stand-in is. If that changes, you tell your client straight away.

These rules apply to anyone who acts as administrator for three or more people.
An accountant checks whether you meet the quality requirements.

What the court says

It isn’t just a rule on paper.

In 2022, the District Court of Gelderland issued several rulings in which a financial administrator was dismissed for not meeting the quality requirements.

In one of those cases, the administrator turned out to be very difficult to reach by phone and by email [ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2022:6497].

Why it’s tricky in practice

Every financial administrator wants to be reachable. And has to be.
The problem lies in how the questions come in.

The most common question is: “Can I have some extra money?”

It comes in all day long. By phone, by message and by email.
Every single time.

Many clients would rather send a message than call.
Those messages then land on an employee’s own phone.
If that employee is off or ill, the stand-in knows nothing.

What was agreed by message isn’t in the file…
If that employee leaves, the conversation leaves with them…

I get everything neatly in my email inbox. Either I pick it up, or my colleagues do.

How to keep it up

One number for the whole office.
Your client calls and messages the same number.
Nobody uses their own phone for work any more.

Fixed steps for common questions.
A money request always goes the same way: how much and what for.
Your client knows straight away where they stand.
You get the request complete.

Everything in one place.
Messages and emails arrive in your own mailbox and stay in the file.
Even if your client clears their phone.

Your stand-in can carry on straight away.
If the permanent contact person is off, the stand-in can read back the whole conversation.
Exactly as your plan of action promises.

The phone stays.
A message doesn’t replace being reachable by phone; the law still requires that.
It does get quieter on the line, because the routine questions take a different route.

How Profez does it

Profez Bewindvoering works this way.
Daan Vaneker: “I get everything neatly in my email inbox. Either I pick it up, or my colleagues do. With RippleCom I have peace of mind and a clear overview.”

This is how RippleCom works for financial administrators: calls, WhatsApp and SMS on your office number.
Everything in your own mailbox.

How does your office score? Take the free Communication Scan for financial administrators. In one minute you see where you can gain in reachability, requests and record keeping. Your result arrives straight in WhatsApp.

Further reading

• What is a financial administrator (bewindvoerder)? Explained in plain language
• Financial administrator on holiday: how to stay reachable
• A complaint from a client: what the law asks of you as a financial administrator
• A good financial administrator: what the quality requirements ask of you
• Money requests from clients: how to assess them in one go
• WhatsApp and email in debt guardianship
• WhatsApp and GDPR / UK GDPR
• Why your customer hangs up and never calls back
• RippleCom for financial administrators

Frequently asked questions

How often must a financial administrator be reachable by phone?

At least four working days a week. This is set out in Article 5 of the Besluit kwaliteitseisen.

How quickly must a financial administrator reply?

Within two working days. This applies to everything that doesn’t come in by phone, such as an email or a message.

Does a message count as being reachable?

The law doesn’t name channels for the rest of your reachability. What counts is that your client has a reply within two working days. A message doesn’t replace being reachable by phone.

Do I have to appoint a stand-in?

Yes. Your plan of action states who the permanent contact person is and who the stand-in is.

Who checks whether I’m reachable enough?

An accountant checks whether you meet the quality requirements. And the subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter) can dismiss an administrator who doesn’t.

Want to see how this works in your office?

View RippleCom for financial administrators or book a demo.