Category: What’s New

Jessica Lantz

•

Sep 23, 2026

Data entry is one of the most time-consuming parts of getting a new client plan underway, and one of the least valuable places for you to spend your time. Every hour spent transcribing information is an hour not spent on strategy. We're tackling this problem by introducing the Magic Balance Sheet, powered by VAI® - a new way to turn a client's financials into a fully populated balance sheet without requiring manual data entry. From PDF to populated in minutes The Magic Balance Sheet turns what has historically been one of the slowest parts of onboarding into a streamlined process...

Jessica Lantz

•

Sep 03, 2026

In case you missed it, two of our recent product updates at Vanilla give you more room to model the sophisticated plans your most complex clients bring to the table. Here's a look at what’s new: Fund subtrusts with remaining GST exemption, and model GST status across subtrusts For high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, documents often fund subtrusts with the remaining Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) tax exemption. Getting that figure right usually means calculating it by hand, entering a fixed dollar amount, and redoing the math every time the numbers move. Now, when building out estate plans in Vanilla, the remaining GST...

Jessica Lantz

•

Aug 26, 2026

August's release adds real depth for your most complex clients, and gives you more ways to turn planning work into something tangible you can hand across the table. Here's what shipped, and what's coming next. Confidence at every client conversation Model your most sophisticated estate plans in one place The challenge: For high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, sophisticated plans often fund subtrusts based on remaining Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) exemption. Calculating that by hand, and redoing it every time assets or assumptions change, is slow and easy to get wrong. The solution: GST exemption as a funding option: Fund subtrusts using remaining...

Jessica Lantz

•

Aug 10, 2026

Great planning conversations depend on trust, and trust depends on being able to show your work. If a client can't see how you got from a total estate to what's actually going to them, to charity, and to taxes, the numbers become something to take on faith rather than something to build a strategy around. That's exactly the gap we closed with our latest updates to Vanilla Scenarios. When you walk a client through a strategy, every number needs to hold up in the moment — where it came from, how it was calculated, and how it ties back to...

Jessica Lantz

•

Aug 06, 2026

Estate planning is a critical component of comprehensive financial planning. For most RIAs, it's also the hardest part to operationalize, because the financial data lives in one place while the estate work is done somewhere else entirely. The disconnect can be costly: manual data entry, version control problems, and siloed estate planning conversations (or no estate planning conversations at all). In 2024, Vanilla became the industry’s first estate planning solution to bring together AI-powered estate planning and leading financial planning capabilities when we launched our integration with eMoney, a collaboration designed to help advisors offer a more holistic approach to...

Jessica Lantz

•

Jul 31, 2026

July brought the heat, and a full slate of updates to match. From a clearer client-ready Personal Financial Statement, to expanded branding options in reports, and easier-to-follow scenarios, here's what's new: Confidence at every client conversation Open every Personal Financial Statement with the big picture The challenge: A client's financial picture holds a lot of detail. When you're walking them through it, the story of the estate is easier to land when it's summarized up front. The solution: Estate at a glance: A new overview page leads the Personal Financial Statement (PFS) with the story of the estate — how...

Jessica Lantz

•

Jul 09, 2026

Every estate plan eventually needs to leave the page and land in a client's hands. That deliverable is often the first real proof of the work behind it, which means how it looks and how quickly you can build it matters just as much as what's in it. Vanilla's reporting experience is built around a simple idea: you should see your report take shape as you build it, and the final product should look like it came from you — not from a generic template. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.justvanilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Report-Builder-Experience.mp4"][/video] How our reporting experience elevates your practice: Live, split-screen editing. See...

Jessica Lantz

•

Jun 30, 2026

Great client conversations are the result of showing up with the right deliverables, the right data, and the right preparation. June's release addresses all three of these things, with an expanded eMoney integration, on-demand data syncing, and Vanilla's reporting refresh. We're especially proud of our new report experience — it's the most substantial update we've ever introduced on that front, and we think it will change how you think about every client deliverable you send. Confidence at every client conversation Get to a client-ready report faster — and make it unmistakably yours The challenge: Client deliverables are often the first...

Jessica Lantz

•

May 27, 2026

Estate planning conversations don't always start with a trust structure. Sometimes they start with a client who wants to give — to a cause they care about or to an institution that shaped who they are. What makes these conversations worth having carefully is that charitable intent and estate planning goals don't have to live in separate lanes. When structured thoughtfully, a charitable strategy can honor a client's values while doing meaningful work on their estate at the same time. That integration is increasingly where advisors are finding differentiation. Clients with appreciated assets, concentrated positions, or taxable estates are asking...