Salesforce Document Generation | The Ultimate Guide for Financial Service Organizations
Document generation underpins almost every major financial service process, whether it is proposals vs. quotes, contracts, financial compliance reporting, invoices, client correspondence, and much more.
And no matter your financial service, whether it be risk management automation, onboarding or loan processing, investment or wealth management, you need accurate and up-to-date documents to keep internal records, finalize negotiations with clients, and stay compliant.
Given that Salesforce is the planet’s leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform and has the ability to store and analyze large volumes of client and business data, it only makes sense to use it to generate financial service docs.
You would be drawing on the gold standard of client data, which would enable you to create up-to-date docs personalized to the needs of each financial service use case.
Sounds great, but what’s the catch? Well, Salesforce’s own document generation abilities are relatively limited unless you have AI-powered document processing features from tools like Einstein AI, Salesforce Flow, or partner solutions.
So, to get a more flexible, versatile, and robust solution, we recommend you choose a third-party provider on the AppExchange marketplace.
Are you ready to find out how to create Salesforce documents to supercharge your financial service processes? If so, you have come to the right place.
Read on for top tips and more details on Document Generation in Salesforce for financial firms.
What is Salesforce Document Generation for Financial Firms?
So, what do we mean when we talk about Salesforce document generation? Well, we are speaking about the ability to dynamically generate documents based on data from your financial firm’s Salesforce CRM. This process is completely automated, resulting in super-accurate data and reliable documents.
You can save hours of admin time for your financial firm while mitigating human error.
Can Financial Service Teams Generate Documents from Salesforce?
As mentioned a little earlier, Salesforce does not have highly developed document generation features of its own. Using Salesforce, you do have the ability to generate PDFs of your quotes but for the most part that’s where the story begins and ends.
Suppose you want to generate a wider range of financial service documents in more formats. In this case, we suggest looking at the AppExchange marketplace, where there are tons of apps that can help generate documents in Salesforce.
It’s important to remember that there is a big difference between document generation and document creation or document management. Document creation for Salesforce typically involves the process of manually creating and attaching documents to your records and then saving them in places like Quip.
With doc creation, financial service teams can share documents with other users if your firm has synced sharing enabled. While Salesforce document creation is a useful feature it is nowhere near as powerful as document generation and it does not have the power to automate and streamline your documentation systems.
Similarly, Salesforce document management is all about organizing and storing your financial service documents and handling version control. There are several Salesforce tools for managing documents. While this is a useful function, it is another concept that must be differentiated from document generation: they are not the same.
How Financial Service Admins Create Documents in Salesforce & Its Limitations
Creating documents in Salesforce is easy but remember this is very different to Salesforce doc gen. Document creation enables financial service teams to attach docs to records and share them with other users. You can add a range of content to your docs such as spreadsheets, folders, and mentions.
Note: This is one common method of document creation. If your financial firm wants an alternative, consult your Salesforce admin.
Prerequisite for following these steps: Ensure that the Quip document component is added to your Lightning Page.
1. First up, you need to add the New Document option to your Global Action menu. This enables you to create a financial service doc from anywhere within the Lightning Experience.
2. So, head to Setup, run a search in your Quick Find Box, and click on Publisher Layouts. On the Global Publisher Layouts page, click edit next to Global Layout:
3. Next, click Mobile & Lightning Actions, then New Document. Drag “New Document” into the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions below. Remember to save the New Document action you just added and override any predefined actions if this is your first time editing Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions.
4. Once you have added this action, simply navigate to any Lightning Page on your Salesforce and find it in the Global Actions Drop-down:
5. From here, add your desired financial service content. The doc is saved to your private Quip folder. Now, you can link your financial service document to a Salesforce record and/ or share it.
Salesforce is regularly updating so be sure to check out How to create a document in Lightning Experience and how to Add the New Document Global Action guide.
Explaining Salesforce Document Objects to Financial Service Admins
When it comes to understanding Salesforce Document Objects, the main one is the Content Document version. This Salesforce Content Document object represents any document that has been uploaded to Salesforce. It’s important to bear in mind that this document object in Salesforce is available for Salesforce CRM Content (version 17.0 and beyond) and Salesforce Files (version 21.0 to the present).
There are limitations to the number of financial service documents you can publish, and the limit for regular accounts is 30k. Other options are:
- Contact Manager, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance Edition accounts get 200k new versions in a 24-hour cycle.
- Dev Edition and trial users can publish up to 2,5k new versions in the same 24-hour cycle.
Answering Financial Service Questions: Salesforce Document Version Control
Can financial service teams control document versions in Salesforce? The short answer is yes.
Via the Content Version object (this object is a child of the Content Document Object), financial service admins can upload a range of different file types to Salesforce, such as JPEG, MP3, and document formats like PDF, DOCX, and XLS.
This is a reliable document storage option in Salesforce, and the great part is if your financial service team wants to upload a new version of the same file to a record, then they can do so.
Describing the Salesforce Content Document Data Model to Financial Service Admins
The best way to understand the Salesforce Content Document data model is to use a diagram. Check it out below:
- Entity (My Object): Any standard or custom object.
- Content Document: Includes Title, Description, and LasPublishedVersionID
- ContentDocumentLink: Includes ContentDocumentId, LinkedEntityId, ShareType, and Visibility
- ContentVersion: Includes Title, ContentDocumentId, VersionData, and VersionNumber
Salesforce: The Upload Document Guide for Financial Service Teams
While there are many ways to upload documents in Salesforce (especially if you choose to use a third-party app for your financial service document management system in Salesforce), one of the most common is to choose to upload a file.
To do this, simply navigate to a record, choose to upload a file of your choosing, and click on Add Files. Alternatively, drag the file you want into the Files related list. Many different file types are supported, including PDF, XLX, and DOCX.
Financial Services Document Management in Salesforce
We have discussed document creation and document objects, but where does Salesforce document management for financial services fit into all this?
A document management system is all about storing, organizing, and managing documents in the number 1 CRM platform. For this, you can either go with a Salesforce native solution or with a Salesforce integration that has a document management system.
In terms of native Salesforce features, you have the documents tab, attachments, Salesforce Knowledge, Salesforce CRM, and the Files home area. Using these tools, you can handle Salesforce document storage and other aspects of file management.
You also have a few Salesforce document management integration solutions. Check them out below:
Salesforce Document Management Systems for Financial Firms
There are several tools for document management in Salesforce. All these options help financial firms optimize document storage in Salesforce and organize files better. These include Box, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox, to name just a few.
Often, it makes sense to choose the document management system your financial firm is already using and integrate it with Salesforce.
How Financial Service Admins Export from Salesforce to Excel (XLS)
If your financial service team works in Salesforce, you have the ability to export a report to Excel. However, this does require a degree of manual setup:
Exporting a Financial Service Salesforce Report to Excel
1. In Lightning Experience, click Export from the reports tab, then your desired exported view. For Excel, you need to select the Details Only view and choose whether you want .xlsx, .xls, or .csv.
2. Remember to choose the right encoding if you have selected either .xls or .csv.
3. And then it’s all about clicking Export and saving your financial services file.
Overall, the Salesforce integration with Excel is fairly limited. Although, Salesforce offers an Excel connector “Salesforce Connect”, that gives you access to real-time data, we recommend custom development or a third-party app on the AppExchange to get the most out of the Salesforce/ Excel integration for faster regulatory reporting automation.
Salesforce PDF Generation for Financial Service Teams
Standard Salesforce functionalities do not enable financial firms to generate a PDF in Salesforce except if they want to do it from a Quote object.
If you are after Salesforce PDF generation that is fast and reliable then we recommend browsing for online document generation solutions on the AppExchange marketplace or implementing custom development.
Remember if your financial firm opts for development, then Apex code will give you the best results, but be sure you have the technical know-how and resources to go in this direction.
Salesforce to Generate Financial Service Word Documents
Salesforce native functionalities enable financial service teams to upload and manage DOCX files, but they cannot generate or edit Word documents.
So, if you want Salesforce to generate a Word document, then you need to look for a third-party doc gen app.
Intelligent Financial Service Document Automation from Salesforce
But where does Salesforce Intelligent Document Automation fit into all this? For example, does it work for mortgage document automation?
Well, Intelligent Document Automation uses AI to provide solutions related to document management for accountants and other financial service professionals.
This technology has the ability to read data from your document to populate fields in Salesforce and convert data to digital files. It can also help financial firms automate workflows.
The limitations of financial document automation include a complicated setup that will take some time and require considerable technical expertise. In addition, Intelligent Document Automation is not easily customizable without development, and it is a pricey feature.
So, managers do have to think twice before making an investment in their enterprise document automation.
Note: If your firm wants to make the most out of Intelligent Document Automation for finance then it probably needs a Salesforce Unlimited License. Whereas the Salesforce Essentials License and Salesforce Professional Licenses will make using this feature very limited.
Salesforce CPQ for Quote Document Generation in Financial Services
Salesforce CPQ enables financial service teams to Configure, Price, and Quote smoothly and quickly so they can efficiently provide clients with reliable pricing.
Financial advisors can generate quote docs for Salesforce CPQ in PDF format, and they also have the option to build these docs as Microsoft Word documents. To do this, they need to adjust the settings.
If your financial service team wants to generate a quote in another format, they will need to implement custom development or get a third party app to help with Salesforce CPQ document generation.
Salesforce OmniStudio: Document Generation for Financial Service Developers
Salesforce OmniStudio is a suite of tools that makes life simpler for developers in financial firms by enabling them to build custom web apps and processes using drag-and-drop tools.
OmniStudio doc gen also has document generation abilities. With OmniStudio, financial service developers can generate documents from templates in DOCX or PPTX formats and they can also make docs by creating custom OmniScripts, Integration Procedures, and Apex Classes.
Bear in mind, like most OmniStudio functionalities, the document generation capabilities do not offer robust flexibility without using custom development or coding. Similarly, financial firms need to make sure they have document generation included in their OmniStudio license and that this makes sense for your enterprise.
Salesforce CRM Document Generation Software: What to Look for in Financial Services?
So what are the top features you need in your search of document generation software for your CRM? Getting a third-party app for Salesforce document generation+CRM is a great idea given the gaps in Salesforce’s native functionalities.
We think you need to look for these things when choosing a tool for your financial service administrative workflows:
- Automation! This makes it to the top of the list as it saves financial firms so much time. Ensure that financial advisors can pre-fill documents and dynamically generate them from Salesforce data for speed, power, and accuracy.
- High-volume document generation is another useful feature, especially if you are a large financial service enterprise. Find a tool that enables financial service professionals to send investment reports and other docs in bulk to a large number of clients.
- Real-time collaboration enables multiple users to work on a financial service document at the same time for greater efficiency.
- Easy-to-use templates based on document generation make financial advisors’ lives much more convenient. If they can pull real-time Salesforce data into these templates, then that would be even better.
- No-code document generation solutions give financial service teams the ability to skip custom development and generate docs quickly.
- Work with any Salesforce object so that your financial firm has no limits.
- A tool that integrates with third-party options is ideal because storage can often be an issue in Salesforce for financial service firms.
- Work with any document format. You should have the option to use PDF, DOCX, PDF, CSV, HTML, or any other output format you choose.
- Integration with digital signatures and e-signatures is also necessary, so your financial service documents can be signed swiftly.
- The ability to merge different financial service documents together, regardless of format, is also incredibly useful.
Salesforce Document Generation Tools for Financial Firms
Now that we have examined Salesforce document generation software and the pros of automating processes, let’s explore some of the top Salesforce document generation apps.
Remember, Salesforce does not have robust document generation of its own. The good news is that there are several document generation tool alternatives on the AppExchange that financial firms can use.
DocuSign
DocuSign is a reliable name in the world of document generation and signatures. DocuSign Doc Gen enables teams to generate a range of different documents for your Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. So, what are the pros and cons of using DocuSign in Salesforce to generate documents?
Pros
- DocuSign and Salesforce’s Integration is decent. Financial service professionals can create docs based on Salesforce data.
- Build docs with all clicks and no code.
- When working with complex documents from Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote), financial service teams can automatically sort table data, which makes them more efficient.
- Financial advisors have the flexibility to generate documents from standard and related objects.
Cons
- DocuSign can quickly become expensive as licensing costs climb for larger financial enterprises
- Limited ability to customize your Salesforce integration
- Limited Offline capabilities
PandaDoc
PandaDoc has been around for over a decade and directly integrates with Salesforce. What began as a startup has ended up being a global brand. But how good is PandaDoc for financial service workflows?
Does a PandaDoc Salesforce Integration live up to the hype? Let’s check out the pros and cons below.
Pros
- Fast Doc Gen
- Track financial service docs in Salesforce
- PandaDoc is available on AppExchange and offers no-code Salesforce integration.
- Relatively simple to use
Cons
- This can be an expensive option, depending on your financial firm’s licensing needs
- Depending on your license, there might be size limits on your financial docs
- This solution is ideal for simple projects, but it isn’t very flexible when it comes to more complex documentation needs
Zoho Docs
Zoho Docs does not have the greatest Salesforce integration, and you won’t find this tool on the AppExchange. If your financial firm wants a Zoho Salesforce integration, you will probably have to use a third-party integration platform. Zapier is the most well-known connector.
Alternatively, you can go the hard route and try out custom development.
So what are Zoho’s pros and cons:
Pros
- Intuitive and relatively simple to use.
- Use document versioning features.
- Sharing financial service documents is pretty straightforward, and you can set the permissions that suit your organization.
Cons
- It does not directly integrate with Salesforce.
- Unsuited to custom or complex financial service use cases.
- This is a basic tool.
Conga
Conga is a household name in terms of Doc Gen and is well known for helping financial firms create and track documents in Salesforce. So what’s the hitch? Well, reviews suggest problems with usability and lack of responsiveness from the company’s support team.
Below, we check out the top pros and cons of Conga for Salesforce:
Pros
- A Salesforce Conga integration is decent, and you can read more about this on the AppExchange
- Financial advisors can save time by pulling data from Salesforce into templates
- This tool has no problem integrating with leading eSignature solutions.
Cons
- Reviews on the AppExchange indicate below-average customer support
- Ease of use is a big challenge, and you can’t do everything drag-and-drop
- The admin panel is badly designed and not intuitive
Docomotion
Docomotion is designed to help you generate and automate your documents. The good news is that it has a relatively fast and reliable integration with Salesforce.
Here are its pros and cons for financial service teams:
Pros
- Docomotion’s Salesforce integration is reputable, and you can get all the details on its AppExchange page.
- This solution offers several options for automating financial service workflows in Salesforce.
- Docomotion integrates with most leading eSignature solutions, which is useful when you want financial service documents signed.
Cons
- This can be a pricey option, both in terms of licensing and implementation
- Bespoke financial service workflows are often a challenge, and you might need development
- Reviews on the AppExchange indicate it’s tough to set up
Nintex
Nintex is a Document Generation tool you have more than likely heard. It likes to market itself as a solution that requires little to no technical ability to use. Sounds good for financial service administrative tasks?
But what are its biggest strengths and weaknesses? We break it down:
Pros
- Nintex Doc Gen integrates directly with Salesforce, and you can read more about this on the AppExchange.
- Nintex Doc Gen for Salesforce provides firms with robust automated financial reporting and analytics features.
- This tool has some great security features, including access based on your role and encryption.
Cons
- Nintex Salesforce solutions and document generation are not always super scalable, so take a good look at your financial firm’s requirements beforehand
- Reviews on the AppExchange suggest it does require technical know-how to use it properly
- Reporting features are somewhat limited
Formstack
Formstack, as the name suggests, is usually better known for its form-building functionalities than it is for document generation, but its direct integration with Salesforce earns it a spot on our list.
So where does Formstack win big in financial services, and where can it improve?
Pros
- The Formstack Salesforce integration is a direct one, and you can find this tool on the AppExchange
- The tool is relatively intuitive and easy to use
- It integrates with most leading eSignature tools so financial firms can sign docs fast
Cons
- Lack of documentation or information on their platform
- Support does not always get back to you (as indicated in an AppExchange review)
- The interface is also unreliable and often buggy
S-Docs
A S-Docs Salesforce integration is right up there with the best. Arguably, this is the best option on the list so far. Claiming to be the only native document generation tool for Salesforce, it talks a big game and has a good reputation.
So, should you choose it for your financial firm?
Pros
- Robust Salesforce integration, though some in the industry would say it’s not entirely “native.”
- Generates docs fast and helps financial service teams automate workflows.
- Useful document templates.
Cons
- No-code formatting for tables is limited. It seems that inserted images aren’t always rendered, and adding a related list does not reliably function.
- Your PDF templates have a narrow range of fonts and CSS styles. This means your financial service teams don’t get flexible styling options
- To create custom layouts, you may need code
- Limited ability to merge templates
- Financial professionals can’t generate PDF and Word docs with interactive fields
Titan Docs: Best Document Generation Software for Financial Services
Last on this list is Salesforce’s secret weapon for financial service teams: Titan Docs.
Titan is an all-in-one codeless solution for Salesforce designed to help financial service teams generate docs, build forms, sign fast, send surveys, streamline procurement contract management, and build interactive portals.
The beauty of Titan is that you can implement any kind of financial service project you want using no code, such as loan document automation and more. This is a breath of fresh air in a market where usually your options are:
- Tools with limited abilities for financial services and compliance automation
- Advanced and flexible tools that require coding or development
With Titan, your financial firm doesn’t have to make difficult choices or compromise. Using our powerful point-and-click doc gen tool, you can generate quotes, proposals, invoices, contracts, and more in just a few easy clicks.
So, what are our biggest pros and cons?
Pros
- It’s very easy to relate an uploaded financial services file to whatever record you want in Salesforce.
- It’s simple to upload a file from a financial services form to Salesforce.
- Dynamically generate financial service documents.
- Interactive (pre-filled) fields based on Salesforce data.
- Real-time integration with Salesforce: Data instantly flows to the #1 CRM, and we can pull it back to provide the most up-to-the-minute documents.
- No code and no custom development.
- Flexible and scalable.
- Financial service teams get to harness the full power of Salesforce Automation tools when generating docs. This means using Flow, Process Builder, and Apex when required.
- Titan’s easy-to-use Microsoft Word add-in works with bi-directional Salesforce integration.
- Financial service teams have many storage options, and Titan integrates with external apps like Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, and more.
- Titan Docs easily integrates with other Titan modules such as Forms, Sign, Web, Survey, and Flow, allowing financial service teams to customize an end-to-end process with only clicks.
- Mass Document Generation for Salesforce is a breeze.
Cons
- Onboarding time can vary depending on the complexity of your financial service use case.
If you liked the sound of Titan for Salesforce and are keen on a cost-effective, zero-code tool that does it all for docs, why not get in touch?
Financial Service Use Cases and Document Generation for Salesforce
If you have stayed with us and enjoyed this article so far, you might be wondering: how does all this apply to my financial firm? And how will I use Salesforce Document Generation in my everyday life? Great question!
Here, we break down the top financial service use cases. Let’s get started!
Investment Proposals
Pre-populate templates based on Salesforce data on customers and leads to automate every step of the investment proposal process. This way, wealth managers can focus on networking with leads and customers and skip manual admin.
Creating investment proposals in Salesforce can be completely streamlined. Wealth managers can even track the level of engagement with an investment portfolio reporting strategy.
Loan Quotes
Salesforce loan quotes can save banks hours every week and give them the ability to close agreements with clients faster and more efficiently. But before quotes are needed, banks also need to create loan origination documents, for clients to access and fill out when applying for credit.
By using document generation, banks can create quotes and other documents for Salesforce based on accurate data, pre-populate them, review them, and get them signed.
Salesforce CPQ can also complement this process!
Insurance Policies
Ensure complete accuracy with Salesforce insurance policies and track them every step of the way. When insurance companies use document generation for policies in Salesforce, they are able to quickly create docs based on up-to-the-minute data. Additionally, doc gen software brings together multiple parties to review and sign the policy efficiently.
Financial Advisory Invoices
When you use document generation for Salesforce invoices, you can ensure all customer information is automatically pulled into your document and that it is sent out efficiently. This means no delays for financial advisory invoices and completely accurate records for your automated financial statements.
Reports
Salesforce reports can be an essential part of analyzing your financial firm and getting data-driven insights. Using document generation, you can gather relevant data and create a report your stakeholders will love.
Afterward, you can store your reports in Salesforce to re-examine them in the future. You can even create Salesforce joined reports to combine different report types.
Merchant Service Agreements
Never settle for sub-standard agreements again, and ensure that every detail is based on data coming from the #1 CRM. With document generation for merchant service agreements, banks can automate every step of the purchase agreement process. From template creation to pre-population and from reviewing to signing the agreement, doc gen software can assist.
Presentations
Financial service presentations are another type of document you can generate with Salesforce. Whether this be for an important board meeting or as part of an annual review of your financial firm’s performance, getting the power of Salesforce data, analytics, and insights in your presentations is a game-changer.
Financial Service Letters & Correspondence
Virtually stamp the Salesforce letterhead on all your letters and correspondence. Never miss a letter or forget to reach out to a valued client or partner again.
With Salesforce, your financial firm can get personalized insights on every one of its correspondents to generate tailored messages using letter generation software.
No more generic emails or correspondence again.
Financial Service Certificates & Diplomas
Another use case is that financial service organizations can automatically generate certificates and diplomas using Salesforce data. This is a great use case if you need to generate these documents in bulk while still recognizing individual names and achievements in your financial firm.
Onboarding Packets for Financial Service Professionals
With document generation, you can ensure that every new employee has absolutely every tool they need to succeed. Compliance filings, orientation guides, legal documentation, training materials, benefits details, and much more can be created based on Salesforce records and sent to new recruits in the format of your choosing.
How’s that for smooth Salesforce onboarding?
Financial Documents with QR and BarCodes
With the right doc gen tool, you can map barcodes and QR codes from your docs to Salesforce for digital payments, invoices, order processing, and transactions. The best tools will allow your firm to do this statically or dynamically, depending on your preferences and the needs of your financial service use case.
Our Thoughts on Salesforce Document Generation for Financial Services
We hope you enjoyed this article on financial document generation for Salesforce and learned something new for your firm. The benefits of document generation are clear, and from our perspective, they are best enjoyed with a third-party app like Titan Docs.
Get in touch. See you soon!
Disclaimer: The comparisons listed in this article are based on information provided by the companies online and online reviews from users. If you found a mistake, please contact us.
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