File Note Template for Mortgage Brokers

What a Broker File Note Must Record

A file note template helps you record what the client said and why you recommended a particular loan. Complete it during or soon after the interaction. Add a separate note when later evidence changes your reasoning.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) expects records that explain your inquiries, product assessment and decisions. RG 273, Mortgage brokers: Best interests duty describes those expectations in paragraphs 273.162 to 273.172. Record the options, recommendation, client discussions and reasons for your choice. Document potential conflicts and how you prioritised the client’s interests.

A meeting note connects the discussion to the evidence elsewhere in the file. Keep the assessment, credit guide and comparison records alongside it. A filled prompt cannot determine whether your conduct meets the best interests duty.

Complete the File Note

Enter the meeting facts first, then explain the decision in terms of this client’s needs. “Load example” fills the tool with a fictional refinance discussion. It uses your device’s current date for the meeting. Replace that date and every example fact before saving a real note.

1. Identify the client and loan with the references used in your CRM. Record who attended, the meeting channel and who prepares the note. The example uses “Example client A” and “EXAMPLE-001”. The meeting date records when the conversation happened. “Note prepared” records the device’s current date when the note is built.
2. Describe the objectives and relevant circumstances. In the example, the client wants lower ongoing costs and an offset account. They report stable employment and savings. Their income and expense evidence still needs checking. Separate what the client reports from what documents confirm.
3. List the options you considered. The example compares fictional Loan A with an offset and annual fee, Loan B without an offset and the current loan. Add the actual costs and the location of your saved comparison.
4. State the recommendation and its reasoning separately. The example provisionally favours Loan A because the expected offset balance reduces total cost despite its fee. It also records what needs reassessment if that balance falls. If you have made no recommendation, say why and record the work still needed.
5. Record conflicts and the client’s response. The example records remuneration and the basis for the choice. The client understands the fee trade-off and agrees to supply evidence. Record disagreement or a decision against your recommendation when it happens.
6. Assign follow-up work. Give each action an owner and due date in the real note. The fictional client must supply evidence before the next meeting. The broker must then verify the figures and refresh the comparison.
7. Confirm whether you used an AI transcript. If you did, record its source and your review. The example selects “No”. Selecting “Yes” opens the review prompts.

The prompt list flags missing reasoning as well as missing meeting details. Selecting a prompt takes you to its field. Copying an unfinished record preserves its “Unfinished file note” heading and unanswered prompts. Complete those prompts before relying on the note.

Copy the result into your CRM or Word document. You can also download a text file or use “Print or save PDF”. The file note uses ISO dates so they remain unambiguous when copied between systems. The tool runs on your device, sends no entries for processing and does not save your draft after you leave.

Using AI Transcripts in File Notes

Use an AI transcript or summary as draft material that you check against the interaction. Add the reasoning you actually used. A transcript can record words while omitting the comparison or explanation behind your recommendation.

Confirm the speakers and check amounts against source documents. Correct omissions and distinguish a client’s statement from a verified fact. Preserve disagreement. Identify any reasoning you add after the meeting, with its source, instead of presenting it as something discussed at the time.

Select “Reviewed” only after you finish those checks. Record the transcript location, tool used and corrections in “Transcript source and review”. Record the authority for any recording. Selecting that status records your declaration and does not verify the transcript or establish consent.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says organisations using AI must take reasonable steps to ensure personal information is accurate. Its guidance on commercially available AI products also recommends avoiding personal information in publicly available generative AI tools. Use your brokerage’s approved recording and handling process.

Store and Keep File Notes

Save the reviewed note in the client’s controlled loan file, with access limited to staff who need it. Keep source records findable from that file. Preserve the original note and add a dated correction when you discover an error.

Apply your licensee’s retention schedule and any legal hold. ASIC’s RG 273 links the retention decision to the loan term, interest-only period and refinancing circumstances. It does not prescribe one universal period for every file note. Its guidance favours records made throughout the process.

For the related written assessment, ASIC’s disclosure guidance explains the consumer’s seven-year request window. Credit assistance providers count that window from the quote. That window alone does not settle when you can delete the complete loan file.

Where the Australian Privacy Principles apply, APP 11 requires secure handling and reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify information once no permitted purpose needs it. Legal retention duties and court or tribunal orders can prevent destruction. Record the retention trigger and review date under your data retention policy before removing any copy.