Quick Start Guide

The Arcast^® Software at a Glance

Welcome to our guide for getting started with the Arcast^® FP&A software! By the end of this self-paced guide, you should have a feel for how the software works and a general understanding of the features and functionality.

Please note that the quick start guide does not go into great detail or cover any functionality extensively, as it is intended for those looking to get a more high-level introduction to the software.

The Desktop

The Arcast software is designed to function coherently and effortlessly no matter how many projects you are working on at the same time, whether it is a single project or your company’s entire portfolio. This is reflected in its user interface (UI) with the major desktop components shown below.

The following elements are central to the Arcast desktop:

• The project list, where you load and keep track of your analyses, whether they are projects, decision trees, or portfolios.
• The tabbed window area, which is populated on demand with editors and the reports you are currently working on.
• Complete configurability, where any window can be undocked to float anywhere on your screen.

The Project List

The Project list is the section of the UI where you organize your analysis. It works through simple interactions like mouse clicks and drag-and-drop, as illustrated in Figure 2.

In the Project list, you can:

• Create, open, and delete projects, decision trees, and portfolios
• Open an analysis from disk
• Use the Project Import Wizard to guide you through creating new projects and load them into the project list
• Populate portfolios and decision trees with projects

As shown in Figure 3, the Project list is also where you can view and edit global settings by left- or right-clicking on an item in the list.

You can:

• View and edit prices and currencies
• View, add, or edit owner shares
• View or edit tax regime parameters and get insight into tax calculations
• Perform bookkeeping tasks like copy, save, and save and close
• View any report or edit analysis settings
• Double-click to open project, decision tree, or portfolio editors

The Project Editor

All Arcast analyses are based on projects. To configure and edit project data, you start by opening the project editor, which is structured similar to a spreadsheet. This is done by going to the Project list and left-double-clicking or right-clicking on a single project and selecting Edit.

In the project editor, you can:

• Enter data profile values with one data profile per row
• Use common spreadsheet functionality to copy, paste, and link data values
• Access project parameters, calculation settings, and commands in the ribbon at the
  top of the editor window
• Scale input profiles to increase or decrease values by percentage

Defining Data Profiles

In the project editor, you can add new and edit existing data profiles. To add a new data profile, left-click the profile type heading. A window appears where you can give the data profile a name and set its basic parameters. To edit an existing data profile and its parameters, simply left-click the name of the data profile within the project editor. See Figure 5 for a visual guide.

Calculations

Calculations in the Arcast software gather input from several sources:

• The Assumptions file
  • This includes the prices, currencies, inflations, and conversion rates between currencies
• The Owner matrix
  • This includes owner share codes, companies, and actual owner shares reflecting a company’s actual share of project data in a particular analysis
• Project data and related settings

Figure 6. When you click “Run”, the Arcast software runs calculations based on the current settings and source data and generates reports for analysis. Click image to enlarge.

Portfolios

Portfolios include single projects, decision trees, and/or other portfolios (then called “subportfolios”).

There are three main things to know about portfolios in the Arcast software:

• The portfolio can span projects from different tax regimes.
• Projects within the same tax regime can be consolidated into one portfolio.
• The consolidated tax mode for portfolios is displayed alongside the other tax results.

Decision Trees

Decision tree modeling is a way of outlining the financial outcomes of various scenarios. In the Arcast software, the different development options are modeled using entire projects rather than single-value outcomes. When calculating a decision tree you get the optimal path and the corresponding expected NPV, production, and investment costs.

High-level overview of the decision tree functionality:

• The decision tree editor uses drag-and-drop of nodes starting from the root node
• Any number of branches can be built from the root node
• Branches contain probability, decision, and end nodes
• The optimal path is shown after calculation
• KPI results are shown on the root node
• Summary, Cash flow, and Plot reports available
• Extensive tree reports are found in End node, Profiles, and Root node reports

Arcast in the Company

The Arcast software is built to help the analyst in their daily work while also providing consistent analysis and reporting across the company. This is done by:

• Providing central storage for prices, currencies, and conversion rates through the Assumptions spreadsheet file
• Providing central storage for data profile definitions and their default settings
• Using the same Owner matrix throughout the organization
• Letting each user use their own adapted versions for all of the above to provide for local adjustments and “what if” scenarios

Figure 9. Companywide assumptions and settings are automatically downloaded from network files and used by all users in combination with their local assumptions and settings. All files are open, flexible, and configurable to serve in-house company needs. Click image to enlarge.

You made it to the end of our quick start guide! We hope you found it useful. If you still have questions about the Arcast software, we recommend checking out our FAQ page or contacting our team.

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