Executive Summary
Document generation creates advice documents (statements of advice, records of advice, suitability reports, annual reviews) by combining your template, client context, and instructions.
Available on Pro plans. Two-week free trial available.
You need a template, a client with some context, and a set of instructions.
Generation takes 5-15 minutes depending on document length.
What is Document Generation?
Marloo's document generation lets you create statements of advice, records of advice, suitability reports, annual review letters, and other advice documents from within the platform. You give Marloo a template, point it at your client's information, and write a brief set of instructions - like briefing a junior paraplanner. Marloo synthesises everything and produces a ready-to-edit first draft.
What You Need
At least one client with some context in their profile (meetings, notes, or uploaded files)
A document template - your firm's SOA or similar Word document. If you don't have one yet, Marloo includes pre-built default templates that are ready to use. You'll find them when you open the document template view. If your firm operates under a licensee, compliance-approved templates for SOAs and ROAs may also be available (see Creating and Uploading Templates).
The 3 Ingredients
Every document generation combines three things:
Ingredient | What it is | Example |
Template | The structure and rules for your document. Controls how every section is handled. | Your firm's statement of advice template |
Context | The client data Marloo reads to populate the document. | Meeting transcripts, uploaded fact-finds, notes, emails, company context |
Instructions | Your specific brief for this client - what to recommend and where to find key info. | "Recommend they consolidate super into one fund. The fact-find is in Uploads." |
Step 1: Choose a Template
Option A: Use a default template
Go to Templates > Documents, click + Add document template, select Start from an existing template and choose one of Marloo's pre-built templates. These are ready to use and fully editable.
Option B: Upload your own template
Go to Templates > Documents, click + Add document template, select Upload a file, choose your Word document.
Marloo will analyse and process your document. This takes roughly 15 minutes. Once complete, you'll see your template with fixed text and AI instruction sections ready to go.
Common mistake: Make sure you upload under Templates > Documents, not Templates > Meetings. Meeting templates are for meeting summaries - document templates are for document generation. This is an easy mix-up.
Step 2: Add Client Context
The better the context, the better your document. Go to Clients in the left sidebar, select your client, and check these tabs:
Meetings - Make sure relevant meetings are tagged to the client. Open a meeting and use the + Add client panel to tag it. If you recorded a meeting on the mobile app, you must manually add the client as an attendee - otherwise the meeting won't appear in their profile.
Uploads - Upload fact-finds, Morningstar reports, product disclosure statements, previous statements of advice, budgets, or any reference material. Supports PDF, Word, and Excel files. A good rule of thumb: upload anything you would give a paraplanner.
Notes - Add anything that isn't captured elsewhere. You can paste tables (formatting is preserved), type free-text notes, or record a quick voice note.
Emails - If your email integration is connected, emails with the client are automatically pulled through to their profile, including any attachments. This gives Marloo access to correspondence and attached documents without manual uploading.
You don't need everything perfect before your first generation. Start with what you have - you can always add more context and regenerate.
Set Up Company Context
One of the most impactful things you can do for document quality is upload company context. Go to Settings > Company Settings > Context and upload your firm's standard wordings, fee schedules, compliance language, and any other material that should be consistent across all generated documents.
When you upload these files once, they become available in the Company tab during every document generation. This ensures Marloo uses your approved language and figures rather than generating generic text. If you only do one thing before your first generation, do this.
Step 3: Generate a Document
Go to your client's profile and click the Documents tab.
Click + New document.
Choose a template - select the document template you uploaded.
Add context - tick the relevant items across the six tabs:
Meetings - relevant transcripts
Uploads - relevant files (fact-finds, reports, PDSs). You can upload these directly here, and these will automatically save against the client.
Company - any company-wide context files (fee schedules, standard wordings). You can upload these directly here, and these will automatically save against the client. See Company Context and Global Instructions for setup.
Notes - relevant client notes
Emails - relevant email threads (available if your email integration is connected). Attachments will pull through with an email.
Documents - any previously generated Marloo documents for this client that you want Marloo to reference
Click Next.
Write your instructions - tell Marloo what you want it to create (see below).
Click Generate document.
Generation takes 5-15 minutes depending on document length. You'll see a "Generating..." status next to the document. Once complete, click to open and review.
Writing Good Instructions
Imagine you're briefing a junior paraplanner. Be specific about:
What you're recommending and why
Who the advice is for (individual, couple, entity)
Where to find key information in the context you selected ("the needs analysis is in the Notes section", "the fact-find is in Uploads")
What's in scope and out of scope
Example prompt:
Generate the SOA for John and Sarah. I am recommending they consolidate their super into a single fund, maintain their current investment portfolio, and update their insurance to reflect recent life changes. The fact-find is in Uploads (up to date), you'll find the insurance needs analysis in the Notes section, and the previous SOA is also in Uploads for reference.
Helpful features:
Click the microphone icon to dictate your instructions instead of typing. Many advisers find this quicker for detailed prompts.
After generating, your prompt appears under Your prompts below the prompt box. Click the three dots to favourite a prompt you want to reuse - it'll be available with one click next time.
Step 4: Review and Export
Your generated document opens in an in-app editor. You can:
Use Review Mode - click the Review Mode button in the floating toolbar to verify your document before editing. Highlights show citations, inferences, gaps, and conflicts so you can quickly focus your review. See Review Mode for details.
Edit directly - click into the text and make changes using the formatting toolbar.
Find and replace - Marloo can now find and replace across the entire document in one step. Type your find-and-replace request in the chat panel.
Refine with Marloo AI - use the chat panel on the right to ask Marloo to rework specific sections of your document. This works section by section - be specific about which section you want changed by using its exact name.
What you can ask:
Rewrite a section: "Make the Reasons for Seeking Advice section more detailed" Change formatting: "Turn the Current Insurance section into a table"
Add or remove content: "Remove all TBC tags" or "Add a paragraph about the tax implications in the Basis of Advice section"
Change tone or length: "Make the Executive Summary shorter and more direct" Reference context: "In the Client Needs section, include the specific goals discussed in the meeting on 5 March" (Marloo can reference any context you selected during generation)
Key limitation: The chat works on one section at a time. If you ask it to change multiple sections in a single message, it may miss some. Make one request per message for best results.
If the chat isn't responding well: Press the trash icon at the top of the chat panel to clear the conversation and start fresh. Long chat histories can cause context overload - the AI has to process the full conversation each time, and too much back-and-forth can reduce the quality of its responses. Clearing and starting with a single clear instruction often works better than continued troubleshooting.
Add images - click the Image icon in the toolbar to upload charts or graphs from your modelling software.
Check your document styling - before exporting, make sure your company's document styling is set up (fonts, colours, cover page, headers and footers). Go to Settings > Company settings > Customise document styles. See Custom Document Styling for details. Styling applies automatically to all exports.
Export - click Export to download as a Word document or PDF.
After exporting, do a detailed line-by-line review. Note anything that isn't right - this feedback is valuable for refining your template.
Troubleshooting
Problem | Solution |
Can't see the Documents section | Click Documents in the sidebar and select "Unlock document generation" to start your free trial. |
Template uploaded to wrong section | Make sure you're uploading under Templates > Documents, not Templates > Meetings. |
Document has blank or irrelevant sections | Add a Global Instruction to your template: "Omit any section from the final document if there is no relevant content for that section." |
Output doesn't match expectations | Refine your template instructions - most issues can be traced back to templating. See the Template Refinement article. |
TBC tags in the document | Type "remove all TBC tags" in the Marloo AI chat. Or keep them as placeholders if you prefer to fill them in manually. |
Generated document doesn't have my branding | |
Excel files not fully interpreted | Marloo can read data from Excel files but won't execute formulas or understand relationships between sheets. For complex spreadsheets, consider exporting key data as a simpler format. |
Inaccuracies in the document | Check that you've provided the correct inputs and review your template instructions to see what information is being pulled in. |
Document stuck generating | If a document has been generating for more than 20 minutes, contact support. |
FAQs
Can I create a PowerPoint?
You will be able to export documents as PowerPoints soon.
Related Articles
Creating and Uploading Templates - How to upload or create document templates
Template Refinement - Iterative workflow for improving template output
Tips and Tricks - Best practices for document generation