Emma | FAQ: other questions

Last updated: October 12, 2026

This article answers the questions about Emma that do not fit the main how-to articles: unexpected recommendations, errors at report creation, wording and tax updates, and which templates exist.

Emma is the paraplanning agent in AdvisoryAI. It drafts suitability reports, annual reviews and LOA pack summaries from the documents you upload, using templates built for your firm or the standard templates included in your licence.

Before you begin

Recommendations and output

Why did the report recommend something different from what I advised?

Emma writes the rationale for the recommendation it finds in your uploaded documents, so the recommendation itself has to be stated in one of them. If the meeting note says a switch within the existing policy is possible and nothing states the move to a new provider, the report follows the note. Put the recommendation, the destination and the costs in the meeting note's next steps, or upload a one-page Word document or a short voice note that states them. Uploading too many documents can also pull the report off course, so remove anything the case does not need. If you would like to walk through a specific case, email support@advisoryai.com with the report ID.

I get "select at least one document" when I create a report, but there is nothing to select. Why?

The report only reads documents you select at the upload step, so the error means no document is attached to the report yet. If the notetaker failed to join the meeting, there is no transcript to pick, and the list stays empty. Upload the meeting note, fact find or other inputs from your device, or record an ad-hoc note first and come back. If the meeting did record but nothing appears, email support@advisoryai.com with the meeting date and client.

Why does the withdrawal report sometimes switch to third person halfway through?

Keep the tone settings the same for every user who generates reports, then report any report that still drifts. Use the suggested set unless your firm agreed its own at setup: formal, short sentences, always written directly to the client, never third person. If you are not sure which settings your firm agreed, email support@advisoryai.com with your firm name and the team sends the agreed set. A fix for person drift was made in March 2026 and the issue was reported again in August 2026, so if it persists after the settings match, send the report ID to support@advisoryai.com and it is raised for a fix.

Why has an issue we fixed before come back?

A fix can resurface after other changes are made to the same template. Report it again with the template name and a generated example, and the template engineer applies the fix. Template changes take three to five working days.

Templates

Does the master suitability template cover pension withdrawals into flexi-access drawdown?

Yes. Pensions, ISAs, GIAs, bonds and trusts are consolidated into the master suitability template, including withdrawals into drawdown. It leaves out the sections that do not apply to the uploaded case. See Reuse last year's report, and what the master template puts in each section.

Do you have an annuity template?

No. The standard templates are the master suitability template, the withdrawal, top-up and fund switch templates, investment, bond, protection and mortgage suitability reports, an annual review, a fact find and five LOA packs. Annuity is not among them, so annuity reports are a custom build from your own example reports. Email support@advisoryai.com with two or three completed annuity reports and the inputs behind them, and see Custom report templates: what to send, how changes work, and giving feedback.

Can we have a shorter letter for existing clients, or do we just delete what is irrelevant?

A shorter letter is a second template rather than a trimmed version of the first. Any letter format can be built. Ask your account manager about adding a template, then send the build team a marked-up example of the short letter.

Our network has its own required report structure. Can Emma follow it?

Yes. Templates are built into the platform to match the structure your firm or network requires, including its section order and standing wording. The build process is the same as for any custom template. Emma is the paraplanning module and is in daily use for suitability reports and annual reviews at firms on different networks; each firm's template carries its own network's required structure, so the differences between networks are handled at template level rather than by the person generating the report.

Can I have a copy of a template and its logic tree to compare with ours?

Yes, for the standard templates. Ask support for the logic tree and an example report, for instance an annual review that includes a pension consolidation and an ISA top-up. Other firms' templates are their intellectual property, so those are only ever shown anonymised and under NDA.

Wording, tax rates and compliance

Do you update the wording and tax rates yourselves?

Yes. Tax data built into reports is updated across the platform around 6 April for the new tax year, and prior years are kept because reports need them. Standard wording that appears across templates is updated in one pass across all templates, which takes a few days. Updates specific to your template, such as a changed fee disclosure, need you to tell us what changed.

Please note: figures that your firm maintains itself, such as a compensation limit written into your own wording, are only as current as your template. Send a change request when they move.

Why do the standard templates not include the health warnings and our compliance service's wording?

Standard compliance wording such as risk and health warnings is hard-coded into templates, and your compliance service's wording is added during setup. Other firms on the same compliance service have had it added through implementation. Ask your account manager to include it in your setup, and the wording is then maintained for the life of the relationship.

Also asked

How does the system work on your end, and what is the AI actually doing with our template?

Your firm's Word template is the base. Each section Emma writes is marked with triple brackets and linked to a section prompt, which sits under a master prompt and Emma's own knowledge of suitability reports, plus the document types that section is allowed to read. Fixed text outside the brackets goes into every report as written. A PDF of instructions or prompts uploaded alongside the client documents is categorised as a document, most likely a meeting note, and ignored, so instructions belong in the template rather than in the upload.

Can I create a template so I drop in my financial plan data and generate a planning proposal document?

Almost certainly. Custom templates are built for most firms, and a planning proposal is a document like any other. Email the template to support@advisoryai.com; the developers confirm it can be built as it stands, the build usually takes a few days, and from then on Emma populates it from the files you drop in. Whether it needs an Emma licence or runs on your existing one depends on the document's length, so ask your account manager about licensing and cost at the same time.

Can we load our standard investment approach in the settings so reports describe it correctly?

There is no setting for it. Two routes work: upload a document explaining the approach with every report, selected alongside the client documents, or have it added as standing text in a custom firm template so it appears in every report without an upload. The template route is the reliable one for wording that never changes; send the text to support@advisoryai.com with the template name and the section it belongs in.

How often do you tweak the underlying model?

Every few months rather than weekly. Emma Express was in build for several months, and the underlying model is moved to a newer frontier model on a similar cadence after heavy testing, deliberately some way behind the newest release so that output stays consistent between reports. Template and prompt changes for your firm are separate from model changes and happen when you request them.

Next steps

Related articles

Still stuck? Open AdvisoryAI to find the report ID, then email support@advisoryai.com with it.