Your Assessment template comes pre-built with a solid set of items, but every MSP's process is different. This article covers how to edit your template content and the configuration options that let you make the Assessment truly yours.

There are three ways to make changes to your Assessment template:
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Click the gear icon next to any Assessment item in a draft Report to edit its settings: name, weight, tags, default values, and more. Changes made here update the template, so they apply across all Reports using that template. This is a great way to make small, iterative adjustments every time you fill out a Report.
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Go to Settings > Templates > [Your Template] > Parts > Assessments to access the full template editor. This interface lets you modify all template content without leaving the platform.

Export templates to Excel for bulk editing, then import them back into the system. This is the fastest way to make large-scale changes.

To use Excel editing:

Using Strategy Overview Template Master: Instead of editing the Excel file directly, you can use Template Master for a more visual editing experience. Export your template from Strategy Overview, open the file in Template Master, make your changes there, then export it back to Excel and import it into Strategy Overview. Template Master is a new beta tool, so review the exported Excel file before importing it back into Strategy Overview to make sure everything looks right.

Important guidelines for Excel editing:

Caution: Always keep a backup of your export before making changes, and test with a small change first if you're new to the process.

Two of the most important fields on each Assessment item are the Description and Health Standard. Taking the time to define these well makes your Assessments more consistent, easier for your team to use, and more effective with Arya AI.
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The Description is a plain language explanation for your vCIO team of what the item is evaluating and why it matters. Think of it as internal documentation that helps any vCIO on your team understand the intent behind the item, even if they didn't create it.

Example: For a "Workstation Age" item, a good description might be: "Evaluates whether the client's end-user workstations are within a reasonable lifecycle. Aging workstations lead to increased support tickets, security vulnerabilities from unsupported operating systems, and reduced productivity. This is one of the most visible indicators of IT health for end users."
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The Health Standard defines what your MSP considers "healthy" for a given item. This is where you document your standards so your team grades consistently, and it plays a direct role in how Arya AI evaluates client data. When Arya helps fill out an Assessment, it compares the client's actual technology against the health standard you've defined. The more specific your health standard, the more accurate and useful Arya's recommendations will be.
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Examples:

Many health standards reference specific tools or platforms that your MSP has standardized on. Documenting your preferred platforms in health standards serves two purposes: it keeps your team aligned on what "healthy" means for your MSP specifically, and it gives Arya AI the context to make recommendations that match how your MSP actually operates. When a vCIO sees that the health standard calls for a specific platform, there's no ambiguity about what to recommend.
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Each Assessment item has predefined dropdown options for Status, Risk, and Solution fields. These dropdowns make it faster to fill out Assessments because your vCIOs can select from a list rather than typing everything from scratch.

The default template includes a general set of options, but you'll get the most value by customizing them to match your MSP's actual services and recommendations. Add options that reflect what your team commonly recommends, and remove ones that aren't relevant to how you operate. The more specific and accurate these options are, the faster your team can work through Assessments.
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Examples:

You can edit these options from the gear icon on any item, from the online template editor, or in bulk through Excel export/import. Use semicolons to separate options and an asterisk (*) to mark defaults.

This is one of the most powerful features in Strategy Overview. When you relate Flexible Item groups to Assessment items, the actual technology data appears right alongside each Assessment question, giving you real context for grading.
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You connect specific Flexible Item groups to relevant Assessment items at the template level. Then, when you're filling out an Assessment, the related data appears right there.
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Example: You relate the "Managed Servers" Flexible Item group to the "Server Host" Assessment item. Now when you open that item in a Report, you see the client's actual server list with age, warranty, OS version, and everything you need to give an accurate grade.
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Sometimes you want to show only certain items from a Flexible Item group. For example, your "Servers" group might contain both physical and virtual servers, but you have separate Assessment items for each.

To add filters, click the filter button on the Assessment item after relating the Flexible Item group. Set your filter conditions and save. The filter applies across all draft Reports using this template, and each Assessment item can have different filters for the same Flexible Item group.
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Assessment columns control what fields appear for each item in your template. You can enable or disable columns and control which modes they appear in (Build, Display, Presentation).
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Go to Settings > Templates > [Your Template] > Parts > Assessments > Columns to configure which columns are active.

Common columns include Grade, Status, Risk, Solution, Budget, Description, Notes, and any custom columns you've added. You can also control column order and which columns export to Excel.

When you need to create similar Assessment items or groups, you can copy existing ones rather than building from scratch. This is useful when you have a standard set of items for a category and want to create a variation for a different context (e.g., "Network - Primary Site" and "Network - Secondary Site").

Assessment items can include recurring cost fields for tracking ongoing expenses like annual licenses, monthly subscriptions, or service fees. To enable recurring fields:

Once enabled, each Assessment item can have recurring cost data (amount, period, quantity, effective date, cancellation date) in addition to one-time budgets. These recurring costs flow into your Flexible Budget automatically.