Financial Documents Templates - All You Need to Know Guide

Financial Documents that Banks & Other Institutions Need to Generate

When we talk of financial institutions, we are talking about any business engaged in transactions like investments, deposits, money exchange, and lending. There are four main categories of financial institutions: banks, brokerage companies, insurance firms, and investment firms.

These firms generate a lot of financial documents every day. Apart from money, documents are the number one concern for financial institutions. Documents help them keep track of the money as well as get more revenue. You can choose a document generation software that automates the creation of financial documents templates. Let us look at the different types of documents each of these institutions have to generate.

Documents Generated by Banks

Banks are financial institutions that take deposits, offer loans, and mortgages as well as provide some investment opportunities for their clients like helping to buy government bonds. Many financial documents need to be generated during this process and these include:

• balance sheets
• application forms
• welcome letters
• account statements
• loan application forms
• loan approval documents
• mortgage application and approval documents
• bank advice documents
• check books
• withdrawal, deposit, and bank slips
• purchase orders
• demand notices

Application Forms

The application form is mainly made up of fields where the applicant’s information can be captured. Usually, the application form is no more than a couple of pages. There is a lot of information to capture and so the financial documents templates need to be as detailed as possible. Although some of the fields may vary, here are the common fields on a bank loan application template whether it is a car/home or business loan:

1. Bank Description: This includes the bank's logo, the name, and address of the bank. Some banks include descriptions of the form. Just below this may be instructions on how to complete the form.
2. Applicant's Personal Information: This section will have fields with space provided for the applicant to fill information like name, gender, date of birth, age, nationality, etc.
3. Address: This section captures details on contacting the client. There are fields such as place of residence, email address, and phone contacts.
4. Applicant's Financial Status: In this section, the applicant will provide information such as their occupation, the position they hold, monthly income, and what type of account they wish to open.
5. Declaration: In this section, the applicant will sign a declaration stating that the information they have provided is accurate. The template will have a field for the applicant to write their name and then read through the declaration note before they append their signature at the bottom along with the date.
6. Terms and Conditions: This usually makes up the second page and it stipulates the conditions the bank sets for an account to be held. There can also be an added section for bank use only.

Welcome Letter

The welcome letter has become a standard procedure in most banks. A new client will be issued this letter that provides details about the relationship between them and the bank. Since it would be very tiresome to type out individual letters, having a template is a wise idea. A general welcome letter template would have the following:

1. Letterhead: The top of the letter is about the bank's brand. It will have the logo, name of the bank, address, and phone number and email.
2. Date: This is a variable field that will be filled according to the date the letter is issued.
3. Client's Contact: This is another variable field and the information is usually derived from the application form.
4. Greetings: This greeting is personalized by using the client's first name. For example, "Dear Joe." Some banks may prefer to keep their greetings formal and use a title followed by the client's surname.
5. Welcome Note: This section of the welcome letter template is not a variable and most banks will have the welcome note standardized for each customer. It is a brief paragraph expressing how pleased the bank is to have them as a new client.
6. Bank's Information: This field of the letter introduces the customer to the bank and informs them what account they have opened and gives details of the account number. This section may also have a summary of the bank's terms and conditions.
7. Conclusion: Different banks will choose a suitable conclusion which may include reminding the client how grateful they are to have them as a customer and to provide a contact person who can help them with any future problems.
8. Sign Out: This field will have a well-chosen valediction; the bank representative's name and signature will be included with their title and contact details.
9. Footer: The footer of the letter can include the bank's contact information and their website.

Account Statement

Every bank client is entitled to a periodic bank statement as well as a statement on request. Having a template for this helps to simplify the task as well as provide the service as quickly as possible. Since most of the information in a statement is entered from a datasource, the template has a lot of blank fields that need to be filled. The account statement template is made up of the following sections:

1. Bank Information: This can be part of the header where the logo appears along with the bank's branch, address, and phone number.
2. Client Information: This section has the name of the client, account number, and contact information.
3. Statement Duration: This provides the period that the statement covers. Usually, the start date is at the top and the end date is at the bottom.
4. Summary: This is a brief statement indicating the balance at the beginning of the summary and the end. It will also include the total withdrawals and deposits.
5. Transaction Summary: This is usually in table form with columns for date of transaction, description of the transaction, amount, and balance. At the bottom of the table is usually a section for ending balance.
6. Message: The bank can also choose to include a message at the end of the statement. This could be a product promotion or a motivational quote. This is usually according to what the bank sees fit.

Loan Approval Document

There are usually very few variables included in a loan approval letter. Because of that, making a template for this document is practical. Generally, a bank just needs to inform the client that the loan has been approved and that there are certain terms and conditions they need to be aware of. The loan approval template would comprise the following sections.

1. Letterhead: This contains the bank's brand. The logo, bank name, and address need to be included here.
2. Date: Like any letter, the date on which it was issued needs to appear at the top.
3. Customer Address: The loan approval letter template would have space to fill in the customer's address since that is variable data.
4. Greetings: This could be "Dear..." followed by the client's first name or their title before their surname. The template will leave the area for the name blank since that is a variable.
5. Heading: Since this is a standard letter, the heading will be the same for every loan approval letter. Every bank decides how they would like to phrase their heading.
6. Message: This is the main point of the letter and will express the bank's pleasure to be able to extend the loan of a specific amount to the client. The field for the amount is left blank as it will be filled according to the amount approved. This letter will also include the interest rate and the date when the first payment will be expected. The message may also alert the client that the detailed terms of the loan are attached.
7. Attachment: Attached to this letter are the terms and conditions of the loan in detail.
8. Conclusion: The conclusion is a standard section that will include contract information in case the client wishes to make an inquiry.
9. Sign Off: The author of the letter will end with a valediction and include their name, title, and signature.
10. Footer: All letters from the bank need to have a footer with consistent data like the bank contact and website or even a slogan. This helps with branding.

Documents Generated by Brokerage Companies

Brokerage companies facilitate transactions as they take on the role of middlemen, connecting buyers and sellers. This involves providing both parties with sufficient information to make the best decision when making the transaction.

The role of brokerage companies comes with a high demand for paperwork and that is why they generate the following financial documents:

• proposals
• investment portfolio statements
• application forms
• statements
• tax records
• price lists
• contracts
• investment summaries

Proposals

Templates may vary according to the kind business proposal being created. Business proposal templates have a lot of variables. However, the fields usually remain the same. An automated proposal generator can make your job easy while creating proposals.

When a brokerage company is making a proposal template with the help of a proposal generator software, they can include the following fields:

1. Description: This needs a compelling summary of the investment opportunity. A combination of carefully chosen words and figures as evidence are included to persuade a prospect to read more and eventually agree to invest in the idea or business.
2. Performance Data: This section shows the current financial standing as well as projections of a business or property. It is a section that will be full of figures sourced from various sources to support the viability of the investment.
3. Strategy: This section of the business proposal template explains how to achieve the predicted success that appears in the performance data. This can be a marketing plan or market analysis that shows possible appreciation of a business or property.
4. Resource Input: This is a section that shows what needs to be put into the project to ensure it succeeds. This could be management staff, refurbishment of a property, and so on. The type of investment idea would determine what appears in this section.
5. Financing: The source of finance is an important section of proposals templates for business since it will show how viable the investment is. This can have multiple sources and indicate what percentage of the investment that source can finances. It can also show what will be gained from the finance put in.
6. Time Frame: A proposal must have timelines for different activities to be completed. It should also show how much will be achieved within a particular period of time.
7. Exit Strategy: This section explains how investors can pull out of the investment. It also explains how failure would be handled.

Tax Statement

The brokerage company needs to submit tax return statements to the client as well as to the tax body (IRS) the format of the statement may vary, but it needs to have particular fields to give the details of the tax payments. The fields for the tax statement template can include:

1. Brokerage Details: This field has the name of the company as well as the contacts.
2. Heading: The heading is usually the year the tax statement is being issued along with the correct form number indicating the tax being filed. Just below that should be the date the statement is issued.
3. Summary: This is about a paragraph summarizing the statement. Part of the statement will have fields that can be customized to suit the information unique to the particular client.
4. Client's Information: This section has the name of the client as well as the account number and tax identification number.
5. Advisor's Contact: The name and number of the financial advisor will be included here.
6. Tax Details: This section will contain the detailed information showing income and tax paid on the income.The way this is presented may depend on the brokerage company, but most firms prefer to use tables.
7. Additional Notes: if further explanations are needed, those can be included in this section. This field can be left blank for the person creating the statement to decide whether to add information or not.

Price List

The arrangement of a price list template may vary depending on the brokerage firm as well as the prices that may be compared. One of the most common templates includes the following sections:

1. Heading: The logo of the broker company would appear at the top of the template along with contact information. Just slightly below the logo will be a description of the quote. For example, (Price List for Office Blocks in New York) this can be a variable field because broker companies deal with different commodities.
2. Client's Information: This section is also a variable section and will include the name of the client and the address.
3. Quotes: This section can be in table form. It will include columns for the item, seller, and the price each seller quotes.
4. Summary: Some brokers may choose to provide a summary which shows the sellers with the best prices.

Documents Generated by Insurance Firms

Insurance companies have been providing financial services for decades. The industry spends approximately 45% of its time dealing with documents. These documents insurance companies create define the relationship between the company and their clients as well as the duties and obligations the insurer has towards the client. These documents comprise the following:

• insurance policies
• claims documents
• medical and incident reports
• certificate of insurance
• compliance documents
• underwriting documents

Medical Claim Report

This report is issued before the insurance company pays any medical bills. Most of the information is provided by the medical facility and the Insurance company simply fills in that information into this document. The sections include:

1. Member's Information: This information is already with the insurance company and it is entered into the template automatically. It includes the name, age, date of birth, insurance number, and contact details.
2. Claim Information: This section can be presented in table form and it shows what the patient was billed for. The column headers include date, diagnosis, treatment, medication, and cost.
3. Medical Data: This section captures past medical procedures and establishes whether they are related to the latest treatment. This section contains fields for yes/no answers.
4. Doctor's Details: The final section will have a field that captures the details of the medical provider. There is also space for the provider to sign as confirmation that they provided the said treatment. The patient also signs in this section.

Documents Generated by Investment Firms

Investment firms operate like banks only that they concentrate on the investment function of a bank. They serve as advisors, brokers as well as facilitators of investments of various kinds. To be able to carry out this function, investment banks need the following documents:

• acquisition proposals
• investment opportunity reports
• evaluation document
• business plan
• tax documents

Acquisition Proposal

Like most proposals, a business acquisition proposal is a long detailed document that covers several pages with different fields. A standard acquisition proposal template would have the following sections:

1. Introduction Letter: This section introduces the company intending to make the acquisition. The letter can be structured like a memorandum of understanding with many editable fields for information like names, position, dates, and type of company intending to make the acquisition.
2. Creation of Acquired Entities: A few standard paragraphs will describe the different entities that will be taken on following the acquisition. A list can be included to describe the assets, both fixed and movable.
3. Purchase Price: This section will include the mention of the price that the company or individual is ready to pay for the purchase of assets as well as the entire entity. A field will also be left for the dates involved in the completion of the purchase.
4. Description of Partners: This section is fully editable, although many people choose to copy and paste information directly from other documents.
5. Purchase Proposal: These terms of the purchase are usually written by a legal brain depending on the details of the due diligence report. It spells out what responsibilities every party involved has and what they agree to contribute towards the successful acquisition of the entity.
6. Added Sections: Some proposals may have more information to include and this can be catered for by adding more editable sections to the template. In the absence of additional information, the proposal can be concluded at this point.

Business Plan

The business plan template can be a single page or it can be several pages. This depends on the purpose of the plan. If the business plan is simply to get an understanding of the business, then it can be a single page, on the other hand, if it is to act as a blueprint to help set up a new business, the plan may be several pages long. The business template plan would have the following sections:

1. Executive Summary: This is usually an editable section that can cover anywhere from half a page to a full page. It will have fields for a mission statement, product, or service, why it will be successful, summarized financial projections, and management information.
2. Company Description: This part of the business planning template gives details about the problem that the business solves, its competitive advantage, and who would be the target. It also includes a section for a SWOT analysis.
3. Market Analysis: This section will provide information about the competition and thee loopholes within the market that the business can capitalize on. It would field to identify the top competitors. Strengths and weakness of the competition as well as results of market analysis.
4. Management and Roles: This segment identifies positions within the business and describes the roles those positions will play to ensure the success of the business. This section can also have a field to provide the qualifications of team members.
5. Marketing Plan: This area will have fields for key marketing strategies and will explain how they will be implemented and the possibly results they will deliver.
6. Funding: This section is about the budget. It provides information about what financing will be needed and where this financing is likely to come from.
7. Projections: This one justifies the expenditure shown in the funding section. It includes timelines that show how much can be expected within the first quarter of operation, the first year, and so on. Usually, projections do not exceed 5 years. An important field in this section is the break-even point.
8. Added Information: this chunk of the business plan template is optional and can be used to provide supporting information to back up any of the data that apepars in the business plan. It can even have fields with definitions, in case the business has certain jargon that may not be familiar to the reader.
9. Contact: If the plan is to be shared with a prospective investor, then the contact of the business or individual seeking funding should be included in this section.

Evaluation Report

Investment firms need to create evaluation reports for their clients intending to invest in a particular venture. The investment report reveals how viable the venture may be. The sections in an evaluation report include:

1. Description: This section includes the name of the business being evaluated as well as the kind of business it is involved in. The template can have fields for this information, like business name, service provided, location, and owner.
2. Competitive Advantage: Here the competition should be identified and the advantage that the business being evaluated has over its competition. This section can have fields that allow for short bullet points.
3. Market Analysis: This segment needs to identify the target and then analyze how big that demographic is. It will include fields like market size, average age, gender, income, and so on.
4. Current Market Share: Here, the market share of the competition will be compared to that of the business. It can be displayed in table form or using graphs.
5. Financial Summary: This part of the document shows how much money is being put into the business and how much is going back. It also includes projections. This section can also be illustrated using graphs.
6. Conclusion: The investment firm will provide an expert evaluation of the investment and advice on whether it should be considered and what has to be done to ensure it succeeds.

Other Miscellaneous Documents Generated by Financial Institutions

Employment Contract

Employment contract documents help both the employer and employee acknowledge their duties to each other. This is a document every employee needs to read and consent to its terms. Although different companies may have different terms, these are the general sections that can make up a template.

1. Heading: This is a straight-forward section with the heading "Employment Contract."
2. Terms of Employment: This section has a field where the employee will fill in their name and the date they are signing the contract. It will then go ahead to describe the terms that the employee agrees to. This can include terms like employment hours, roles and responsibilities, rules and regulations of the company, and so on.
3. Benefits: This section will state the remuneration to be paid to the employee along with other benefits like medical insurance, paid leave, and allowances.
4. Additional Clauses: Some companies include a non-compete clause as well as a non-disclosure clause in this section. This may depend on the position the employee will hold.
5. Termination: This section describes the circumstances under which the contract may be terminated and what would be expected of both parties in the case of termination.
6. Declaration: This section has fields for the employee to add their name and signature to show they agree to the terms of the contract.

Recommendation Letter

Employees who are moving on from one financial institution to another may ask for a recommendation letter. Having a template for this makes it much easier to write a positive recommendation without having to give it too much thought. The main parts of the recommendation letter template include:

1. Company Header: Most financial institutions will have this on every document. It includes the company logo and contact.
2. Contacts: The person writing the letter will have their name and contact information just under the date and then after a line, the name and contact of the recipient of the letter. Sometimes though, it may be a general letter to "whom it may concern."
3. Greetings: This is usually "Dear..." followed by the title and surname. Alternatively, just the title Sir or Madam.
4. Introduction: The person writing the recommendation will introduce themselves to the correspondent and include the position they hold at the company which makes them an appropriate person to write such a letter.
5. Description of Subject: This section will be a paragraph professionally describing the person being recommended. Attractive qualities like team player, diligent worker, good timekeeper, etc, can be sued where applicable.
6. Recommendation: This paragraph recommends the subject for a particular roles in the organization.
7. Conclusion: This section is used to reiterate the information given above and to encourage the recipient to contact the recommender for further details.

Invoice

Almost every business that provides a service or product has to write an invoice to some of its clients to notify them of money owed to the institution. Creating an invoice template is mostly about creating fields that will be filled with figures. The core parts of an invoice are:

1. Company Header:This includes the company name, logo, and contact information.
2. Client Information: This field will have the name of the company being invoiced, the contact person, and the address of the contact person.
3. Invoice Description: Usually this will be the invoice number and date.
4. Bill: This section will provide the details of the payment to made. Usually, this is presented in table form, showing the service or product, indicating the unit cost, quantity consumed, and total payment due.
5. Tax: If taxes are included, this will appear in this section.
6. Discount: If any discounts apply, they will appear here.
7. Added Information: Any further relevant information can be included here. This can also include the method of payment preferred as well as account details where applicable.