Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about FinChat — the voice-powered financial planning platform for Australian financial advisers.
What is FinChat?
FinChat is a voice-powered financial planning platform for Australian financial advisers. An adviser speaks scenarios in a client meeting — “What if your balance was $800,000?” — and FinChat runs the projection, generates a comparison chart, and displays it on any screen in seconds. Built on Amazon Alexa and AWS, it was a finalist in AI Innovator, Wealth Management at the Australian AI Awards 2024.
Who is FinChat for?
Australian financial advisers who want to run interactive client meetings without a laptop, spreadsheet, or legacy planning software. It suits sole practitioners and small firms that need to deliver advice quickly and produce compliance documentation on the spot.
How does voice-based financial planning work?
The adviser activates the FinChat Alexa skill on any screen device — a Fire TV Stick plugged into the client’s TV, an Echo Show on the desk, or a Fire Tablet. They speak a scenario like “What if we increased contributions to $500 a fortnight?” and FinChat runs a dual retirement projection (old versus new), generates a comparison chart, and displays it with confirm or cancel buttons. If the adviser confirms, the new figures are locked in and feed into the Statement of Advice.
What hardware do I need?
A Fire TV Stick (around $69) plugged into any TV, or an Echo Show on a desk. That’s it. An adviser can walk into any client’s home with the device in their briefcase, plug in, and run a full planning session — no laptop and no software licence required.
How much does traditional financial advice cost in Australia?
Research commissioned by the Financial Services Council found the average cost of comprehensive financial planning advice is around $5,500 per client. The process typically takes weeks or months because the adviser’s notes go to a paraplanner who builds the plan in 20-year-old software, then sends it back for presentation. FinChat compresses this into a single session.
Is FinChat compliant with Australian financial services law?
FinChat generates a Statement of Advice as a Word document covering reasons advice was sought, scope, recommendations, and tasks — providing a compliance audit trail. Client meetings can be recorded and transcribed automatically, giving advisers a complete record of the conversation alongside the advice document. The adviser remains fully responsible for the advice given.
Can Alexa give financial advice in Australia?
Alexa itself doesn’t give advice — FinChat is a tool used by a licensed Australian financial adviser during a client meeting. The adviser remains fully responsible for the advice; FinChat handles the calculations, projections, charts, and documentation. Think of it as a voice-controlled planning assistant for the adviser, not a robo-advice product for consumers.
What calculations does FinChat perform?
Retirement projections (real-rate accumulation and 40-year drawdown with zero-crossing detection), risk profiling via a 6-question Likert-scale assessment, before-tax and after-tax contributions (including lump sums with contributions tax applied), insurance quoting, super fund comparison, and education cost modelling for multiple children. All results display as interactive charts on the screen the client is looking at.
How does FinChat differ from XPLAN or Midwinter?
Traditional planning software is keyboard-driven, built for paraplanners working away from the client. FinChat is voice-driven and designed for the live client meeting — the client sees the charts update in real time as the adviser tests scenarios. It runs on a $69 Fire TV Stick rather than a desktop computer, and produces compliance documentation in the same session rather than weeks later.
Can meetings be recorded and transcribed?
Yes. A companion Android app records the meeting audio, uploads it to secure storage, runs it through AWS Transcribe, and uses Claude (Anthropic’s AI) to generate a summary. The adviser receives an email with the audio file, full transcript, and AI-generated meeting summary — all delivered via domain-verified infrastructure at finchat.com.au.
How long does it take to get started?
The adviser installs the FinChat skill on their Alexa device, enters client details through the connected CRM, and can start running scenarios in the next client meeting. There’s no implementation project, no multi-week training programme, and no data migration.
Does FinChat replace the paraplanner?
For routine scenario testing and Statement of Advice generation, yes. The adviser runs projections, tests contributions, adjusts retirement ages, and produces the compliance document all in the client meeting. For complex strategies involving detailed tax structures or multiple entities, a paraplanner may still add value — but FinChat removes the paraplanner from the critical path of everyday advice.
How much does FinChat cost?
Pricing is available on request. FinChat runs on low-cost Alexa hardware (a $69 Fire TV Stick) rather than desktop software licences, so the total cost of delivering a client meeting is a fraction of traditional planning software. Contact us at finchat.com.au/contact for pricing suited to your practice size.
Can clients use FinChat directly?
Not in the adviser version. For consumers who want to manage their own financial planning, our sister site SMFP.au offers 40+ financial planning calculators, info-grams, guides, and a chatbot — all designed for self-managed financial planning. SMFP was a finalist in Innovator of the Year 2025.
Who’s behind FinChat?
FinChat is built by Steve Manning, a Sydney-based founder with 30+ years in financial services technology. He also built SMFP, Australia’s most comprehensive self-managed financial planning toolkit (finalist in Innovator of the Year 2025). FinChat was a finalist in AI Innovator, Wealth Management at the Australian AI Awards 2024.