Jessica Lantz

Apr 23, 2025

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What’s New in April: Plaid Integration, Scenarios PDF Export, Estate Builder upgrades, and More!

Here at Vanilla, we’re thrilled to unveil a powerful lineup of new features and enhancements launching this month. These updates are all about delivering an intuitive, high-quality experience to elevate the advisor and end client journey.

New client portal unveiled: A unified net worth experience, powered by Plaid

We’re excited to introduce a reimagined client experience that brings financial and estate planning into a single, more connected view. 

• Clients can self-serve and securely link accounts through Plaid with thousands of financial institutions with just a few clicks
• Automatic daily data syncs ensure that information stays current – reducing the need for manual entry and minimizing advisor intervention
• Unlock insight by consolidating balances, ownership details, and beneficiary designations in one place for a holistic view of a client’s financial landscape, allowing for more informed planning guidance
• Edits and customizations such as renamed accounts persist across syncs, ensuring context is never lost 

Elevate your client meetings by displaying Vanilla Scenarios on the PDF report 

You can now export Scenarios directly into the PDF report, making it easier than ever to share and discuss potential planning strategies with clients! 

• Help clients visualize the impact of different planning approaches in a digestible format
• Assist in maintaining detailed records of strategies that have been discussed, allowing you to pick up conversations right where you left off 
• Create easier opportunities for asynchronous review of proposed strategies

A more intuitive Estate Builder, designed for advisor efficiency

Planners are thrilled with our updates to refresh the Estate Builder experience, making it easier to work faster, more confidently, and with less friction. 

• View the original PDF side-by-side with input forms for a streamlined, split-screen workflow
• Seamlessly toggle between key tools—V/AI summaries, diagram notes, Copilot chat, and the distribution diagram—all in one place
• Access everything you need in a single, organized view – no extra windows, no context switching

Built for privacy, designed for scale: Introducing Groups 

Privacy and security are foundational to everything we build at Vanilla. As our customers grow, so does the need for scalable tools that maintain the same level of rigor. That’s why we’re introducing Groups—a smarter way to manage access across your organization.

• Control access to client profiles with precision—define exactly who can view or edit each estate
• Transfer profile ownership easily between advisors, with admin-level oversight
• Mark sensitive profiles as private, restricting access even from org admins
• Organize users with custom Groups to streamline permissions and improve oversight
• Groups are designed to make scaling secure, simple, and seamless—without compromising on trust.

Streamline client reviews with custom templates

Advisors can now create and reuse custom report templates, making it easier to deliver consistent, personalized reports—without starting from scratch each time.

• Build templates from existing reports, template libraries, or previous customizations
• Create personal templates that match your preferred flow for client reviews
• Org admins can create and manage templates for team-wide use, with permission controls
• Customize reports by meeting type, client segment, or presentation style—then reuse with a click
• Still want flexibility? You can always adjust sections or settings on the fly

Personally configure the Balance Sheet with drag and drop functionality

• Intuitive ordering options are now available – simply drag and drop rows to arrange them to your preference
• The ability to save and apply preferences allows you to easily make broad changes
• Changes made to Balance Sheet will be reflected in the PDF report, allowing you to strategically display and highlight information to clients

Looking forward

These updates are part of our ongoing effort to make estate planning a powerful enablement strategy for advisors.

We’re building intuitive tools with intention—and constantly evolving. If you haven’t explored Vanilla lately, take a closer look and book a demo.

If you’re an existing user, reach out to your CSM to see what’s new.