• My documents are missing paragraphs/sections/words.
• My documents are missing the signature blocks.
• My documents generate blank.

Issues like these can be easily avoided by following some very simple best practices:

1. To generate documents, it is always best to do it from a freshly created task. Reusing previous tasks is not recommended. This is particularly important after any changes to the data or system have been made.
   
   
    

2. Make sure to fill in all of the date fields in the task. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
    

3. If the task involves Principals (eg. Organizational task, Change of Principals task, etc.), make sure to indicate any applicable incoming, and outgoing principals.
   
   Note: make sure the principals with the appropriate roles are selected.
   
    

4. If the task involves transactions (eg. Organizational task, Share Transactions task), make sure to indicate all applicable transactions, and the corresponding certificates.
   
   Note: The easiest way to properly match a transaction and the corresponding certificates is using the "Select at date" button in the task (when applicable). This will automatically select the correct transactions and certificates based on the Transaction Date indicated in the task.
   
   
    

If you followed these best practices, and are still experiencing issues generating documents, don't worry! A Document Automation Specialist is just a couple of clicks away. You can contact us using the Resource Center in the application. We will be happy to assist you.

Why is my document generating blank?

You’ve coded a template (🎉 ). You’ve uploaded it successfully. Your entity is active and your task document is selected. The spinning circle has stopped and you see the glorious green checkmark ✅. But… when you go to review the document, there are blanks!

1. Is the right data in this record? A database is only as good as the data entered into it, so if data is missing, even the most experienced coder couldn’t make a document magically populate 🪄
    
2. Does the task require some more information that wasn’t included? Often, tasks require more specific data to be included, such as selecting share transactions or certificates, and principals; or filling in blank fields in the task such as the resolution date or fiscal year.
    
3. Have the statuses been set correctly? Sometimes if a document is coded for principals or addresses of a specific status (for example, incoming or outgoing), but the data in the record hasn’t been updated to that status accordingly, the selected data might not show up in the document.
    
4. Is the document coded according to the same document generation path you’re using? If a document was coded using the variables available in the Share Transactions task, but it is a register that needs to be generated through the Registers/Ledgers button, there may be discrepancies in what variables can be generated in each path. 
    
5. Is there an out-of-collection logic statement used within a collection loop? For example, when coding a Director Consent, you may find you need to refer to a specific jurisdictional legislation. The most intuitive way to do this is to use {#entity_jurisdiction} logic to determine the name of that legislation. However, one limitation of Athennian coding at the moment is that when using one collection (in this case, {#directors}), it’s not possible to code a logic statement that uses a variable that doesn’t exist within that same collection (in this case, {entity_jurisdiction} is not a variable that is contained within the {#directors} collection). To do this, check out our library of variable assignments.