How to write a Suitability Report with Emma AI

Ask any paraplanner what slows down their week, and suitability reports will be near the top of the list. Almost 4–6 hours go into chasing data across systems, tweaking language to match firm standards, and ensuring compliance boxes are ticked. All of this before the adviser even sees a draft.

With the FCA tightening expectations under COBS 9/9A and Consumer Duty, the stakes have never been higher. Given these changing standards, it’s no surprise that ‘how to write a suitability report’ remains one of the most frequent topics advisers and paraplanners seek guidance on. The irony? Most firms don’t lose clients because of poor advice, they lose capacity because of the paperwork burden.

That’s where AI has changed the game. Not vague “AI hype,” but practical, compliance-ready automation. AdvisoryAI’s Emma, your AI report-writing employee, now drafts suitability reports in minutes, with every recommendation traceable back to its source, giving you time back and measurable ROI with every report.

In this guide, we’ll show you what suitability reports are, why they’re such a drain, and exactly how Emma can turn them from a 6-hour slog into a 20-minute workflow.

Suitability reports & why they’re so painful

Suitability reports are where advice becomes official. 

The problem? They’re painfully manual. Paraplanners typically:

• Spend 4–6 hours drafting a single report
  
  

• Pull data from fact finds, illustrations, letters of authority, and CRM
  
  

• Cross-check against firm templates and FCA rules
  
  

• Format into branded, readable outputs
  
  

Paraplanners know the craft of turning advice into compliant, client-ready reports. The traditional process simply can’t keep up with the demand. Without the extra paraplanners, every new client stretches resources thinner.

With Emma on board, these are no longer an obstacle.

Step-by-step: How to write a Suitability Report with Emma

Emma isn’t about spitting out generic drafts. She’s trained on FCA rules and your firm’s templates, and she cites every line back to its source: fact find, illustration, LOA, or CRM note.

That’s not “saving a few minutes.” It’s multiplying bandwidth with no new hires.

And when you hire Emma, this is how she makes a difference:

Explore Emma in detail here.

See how reduced admin hours and easier workflows with Emma drove real impact in AdvisoryAI’s partnership with Bluecoat Wealth Management here.

Built-in data security & compliance

The first question compliance managers ask: “But is it safe?”

With Emma, the answer is yes, because security and compliance are built into the core workflow, not bolted on later.

• Data residency → Client data stored securely on AWS servers within the UK, with back-up in Ireland.
  
  

• Model training → Firm documents create a bespoke configuration only; client data isn’t used to train the shared base model.
  
  

• Encryption → All client and report data is protected with end-to-end encryption in transit and at rest.
  
  

• Audit trail → Every figure and recommendation linked back to the originating document.
  
  

• Consumer Duty checker → Built-in engine flags any missing reasoning or disclosures, aligned to FCA rules.
  
  

• Retention compliance → Exports structured for easy archiving, meeting MiFID II retention standards (5+ years).
  
  

This isn’t ‘generic AI’ trying to act as a paraplanner. It’s an AI employee designed for financial advice workflows and built to write FCA suitability reports with the consistency, traceability, and regulatory detail advisers need.

Getting the best reports with AI

Like any employee, Emma gets sharper the more you work with her. Refine a section once, be specific about inputs, and she’ll forever implement those changes into every report in the future.

And here’s what the quick initial training will mean for your reports:

• More Detailed Reports: Emma intelligently synthesises the richness of your entire client context—from fact finds, illustrations, provider documents, to meeting notes—to craft comprehensive and nuanced reports.
  
  

• Truly Personalised Outputs: By learning your firm’s unique style, tone of voice, and template preferences, Emma creates reports that don’t just relay information; they resonate with your brand personality and client communication style. The outputs are trained to match your firm template.
  
  

• Compliance-Ready Precision: Every report Emma drafts undergoes real-time compliance validation by Colin, AdvisoryAI’s compliance-checking AI employee. Colin cross-references the output against FCA rules and Consumer Duty requirements, providing clear pass/fail alerts and audit trails. 

Choose the fastest way to write a compliance-ready Suitability Report

"I'm really pleased as it's the first real-world proof of concept we've seen for AI for a bespoke business use case. Exciting times!"

— Jonathan Stubbs, LIFT-Financial Group
~ on using Emma for Suitability Reports

When reports are fast, consistent, and fully traceable, client conversations shift; they become clearer, quicker, and focused on outcomes rather than paperwork. Emma makes that possible by producing AI-powered, audit-ready Suitability Reports in minutes, built on your firm’s templates and FCA-aware compliance, so every advice recommendation stands on solid ground.

Book a demo to see Emma in action.