Sourcing a report-writing tool – the eight questions to ask providers

Report writing for clients can be a time-consuming task for advice practitioners. Thankfully, there are numerous tools on the market, often using Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, which can help streamline the process.

The last couple of years has seen a big increase in the number of tools available that can help advice firms increase efficiencies in this area. Given the choice available, deciding on which one to use can seem quite daunting. Therefore, to help you select the right report-writing tool for your business, we’ve grilled some of the providers – such as AdvisoryAI, Avenir, PlannerPal and Saturn – on what questions you should be asking them when going through your due diligence process.

Understanding where you are currently

Firstly though, before you make enquiries to any new tech provider, it’s important to ask yourself some questions. The answers to these will help you understand what it is you are looking for and how much of an impact the tool will have:

• What are the main challenges you have as a business and what issues are you looking to address?
• What is the current cost to your firm – in financial terms and time spent – of your current processes?
• What are your future plans as a business?
• How do you currently hold client data and how easily can you access it?

By better understanding your current processes and pain points, you should be in a better position to objectively evaluate if a new tool will actually bring value to your business.

Areas to think about

In our discussions with tool providers, it’s clear there are a number of areas to be considered within any due diligence process.

1. Integration

It’s very important to check whether a tool integrates with your existing tech stack, such as your CRM and other parts of your work flow (for example, meeting notes and transcripts). It’s also worth checking how the tool will validate the data before it uses it.

2. Compliance

It’s an obvious point to make but it’s vital to ensure the outputs from the tool comply with FCA regulations, including the Consumer Duty, and to check what level of audit is provided. Don’t forget to check how quickly the provider is able to update the tool so that it complies with any future regulatory changes.

3. Customisation

Check what level of customisation is available. Beyond simple branding, can the tool support your firm’s specific requirements, especially with respect to your compliance standards? As one provider said, “No two firms are the same, so the ability to tailor content, workflows, and templates is essential.”

4. Quality and consistency of output

Beyond the compliance aspect and ability to customise the output, it’s also key to assess the quality of the output. How consistent is the logic and language used so that all reports are of the same high standard? Can the tool support more complex cases such as DB transfers or estate planning? And what level of human oversight is required to verify and amend the output if needed?

5. Support

Bringing on any new tool can be tricky and, no matter how well designed it is, you may find yourself needing some support or training to get the most out of it. Therefore, it’s important to understand the availability and quality of any initial training and ongoing support from the provider.

6. Cost

How much does the tool cost? And, of equal importance, how much will it save you? Providers have very different costs and charging structures and it’s crucial to understand if there are any extra charges for additional features or customisation. When analysing the cost savings to your business, it’s important to have a good understanding of your current processes and challenges to help translate efficiency gains into savings.

7. The wider package

For some providers, report writing is just one part of their overall offering. Therefore, it’s worthwhile asking what else is included or available within their suite and what plans they have for additional features in the future. Again, this is where it’s really important to have a good understanding of your current processes and the issues you face as a business; if a tool can help provide a solution to a number of these challenges, it may help justify additional expense and drive further efficiencies by having a joined-up workflow.

8. Cyber security

As with any technology you use, cyber security should always be considered as part of your due diligence process. If the provider utilises AI within their offering, you may have additional questions regarding their AI governance and data protection procedures.

9. The role of AI

AI has been an incredibly hot topic over the last few years and this is no different in the fintech space. An increasing number of tools incorporate AI within their offering. However, not all AI is the same. If you are evaluating a tool that uses AI, you should seek to understand the role AI plays within the tool and if it’s AI-powered or AI-assisted. AI could be used for data extraction, content generation, data checking, compliance checking and automation, so understanding the role it plays within the tool can be crucial.

So, given all of the above, what are the questions you should be asking a perspective report-writing tool provider? Of course, this will depend to a large degree on your exact requirements. However, we think the eight questions shown in the box below provide a good starting point.