To create a Guide from scratch, open a client, go to the Overview page in the sidebar, and click Add Guide. You'll name it, then start adding components to build out the page your client will see. The whole process takes just a few minutes once you know the steps.
Step 1: Navigate to the Overview Page
Open the client you want to create a Guide for. In the left sidebar, click Overview. This is where all of a client's Guides live — you'll see any existing Guides listed here, along with the option to create a new one.
Step 2: Create a New Guide
Click the Add Guide button. You'll be prompted to give your Guide a name — something like "Initial Financial Plan," "Annual Review 2026," or whatever fits the purpose. Type in a name and confirm.
Your new Guide will appear in the sidebar under Overview, and you'll land on a blank Guide page ready to build.
Step 3: Add Components
A Guide is made up of components — individual sections that pull in data, text, or planning summaries. Click Add component to see what's available. Here are the types of components you can add:
Text — Free-form text where you can write notes, explanations, or personalized commentary for the client.
Goals — Displays the client's goal summaries (Retirement, Education, Liquidity) with key numbers and status indicators.
Changes to Be Made — Shows the action items you've identified for the client, organized by category.
Investments — Portfolio-level data like asset class breakdown, expense ratios, and allocation summaries.
Insurance — Coverage summaries from the Insurance planning module.
Estate — The document completeness checklist from Estate Planning.
Taxes — Tax scenario results from the Taxes module.
Accounts — A summary of the client's accounts and balances.
Cashflow — Income, savings, spending, and debt payment summaries.
Household — Information about the household members (adults, children, etc.).
You can add as many components as you want, and reorder them by dragging to arrange the Guide the way you'd like your client to read it.
Step 4: Customize Each Component
After adding a component, you can adjust what it shows. For example, with a Text component, you write directly in the block. With data-driven components like Goals or Investments, the data pulls automatically from what you've already entered in the client's profile and planning tabs — there's nothing extra to configure.
Step 5: Reorder and Organize
Drag components up or down to control the flow of the Guide. Most advisors put a text introduction at the top, followed by the planning summaries that matter most for that particular client, and finish with Changes to Be Made so the client knows their next steps.
Step 6: Make It Visible to the Client
Guides aren't automatically visible to clients. To share a Guide, toggle its visibility so the client can see it when they log into the Client Portal. You control which Guides a client can access — you might have a draft Guide you're still working on and a polished one the client can view.
Starting from Scratch vs. Using a Template
This article covers building a Guide from a blank slate. If you've already set up Guide templates (reusable Guide structures with pre-configured components), you can create a new Guide from a template instead — it pre-fills the components so you don't have to add them one by one.
Templates are great once you've settled on a standard Guide format. But if you're just getting started or want to build something custom for a specific client, starting from scratch gives you full control.
Tip: Once you've created a Guide from scratch that you're happy with, consider turning that structure into a template so you can reuse it for future clients.