A framework is the scoring model your firm uses to evaluate clients — it defines the pillars (the areas of the business you score), how much each one weighs, and what "healthy" looks like. Every client your firm advises is scored against a framework, and the framework you choose shapes every score, flag, and piece of advisory commentary they receive. This guide covers the framework editor's structure and how to manage pillars and weights.
💡 Tip — Who can use this For firm admins. Find your frameworks under Framework Library in your firm portal.
Quick reference
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open a framework in the template editor |
| 2 | Add, remove, reorder, and weight pillars |
| 3 | Write pillar descriptions and "what healthy looks like" |
Step 1 — Open the template editor
From your firm portal, go to Framework Library. You'll see your firm's frameworks plus the system FORTIS framework (which you can view to learn from).
Click Edit on one of your firm's frameworks to open the Template Editor. (The system FORTIS framework is view-only for firms — you can open it to see how it's structured, but only platform admins can edit it.)
💡 Tip — Study FORTIS first Before building your own framework, open the FORTIS framework and read through its pillars, metrics, and flag rules. It's a proven, well-tuned model, and understanding it will make designing your own much easier. You can't break it — it's view-only for firms.
Step 2 — Manage pillars and their weights
The template editor shows your framework's pillars as stacked blocks. At the top, a Total Weight badge shows the sum of all pillar weights — it must total exactly 100% before you can save.
For each pillar you can:
- Edit the pillar name (the text field at the top of each block).
- Set the Default Weight — the percentage this pillar contributes to the composite score. This is entered as a decimal (0.3 = 30%).
- Reorder with the ↑ and ↓ buttons (pillars display in this order on client dashboards).
- Remove a pillar you no longer want.
- Add a new pillar with the + Add Pillar button at the bottom.
📝 Note — What "Default Weight" means The default weight is how much the pillar counts toward the composite score for most clients. You can override it per tier (see the Metrics & Scoring guide), but the default is the baseline. Pillars with higher weights have a bigger impact on the overall score — so weight them according to how strategically important each area is to your advisory methodology.
⚠️ Warning — Weights must total 100% The Total Weight badge turns red if your pillar weights don't sum to exactly 100%. You can't save until they do. If you add a pillar, redistribute weight from the others; if you remove one, redistribute its weight to the remaining pillars.
Step 3 — Write pillar descriptions
Each pillar has two text fields that shape what clients (and Pulse AI) see:
- Description — explains what this pillar measures. This text is shown to clients on their dashboard when they open the pillar, and it's sent to Pulse AI along with their scores so the AI understands the pillar's intent when writing deep-dives and advisory commentary.
- What Healthy Looks Like — describes what a strong score on this pillar looks like in practice. Shown to clients in the pillar detail modal, helping them understand the target state.
💡 Tip — Write clearly for both audiences These fields are read by clients (business owners, not analysts) and by the AI. Write in plain, concrete language: "Measures whether revenue is growing steadily month over month" is better than "Quantifies top-line velocity." Clear descriptions produce better AI analysis and help clients engage with their scores.
Version history
At the bottom of the editor, a Version History section records material edits — changes to weights, metrics, or flag rules that affect scoring. Cosmetic edits (renaming, reordering, fixing descriptions) are not versioned.
The first material edit creates version 1. This gives you an audit trail of how the framework's scoring logic has evolved over time.
📝 Note — Save regularly Use Save Template (top-right) to persist your changes. Unsaved edits are lost if you navigate away. The material-change confirmation (covered in the Metrics & Scoring guide) appears on save when your edits affect scoring.
Related guides:
- Framework Metrics & Scoring — how metrics drive pillar scores, per-tier overrides, and the connection to client-submitted data.
- Framework Flag Rules — how to configure the amber/red thresholds that alert clients and advisors to metrics needing attention.