Initial Setup Guide


Overview

Macabacus is a highly customizable productivity tool designed to meet the diverse needs of a wide range of professional Office users. This initial setup guide walks you through the most important Macabacus settings to consider customizing in a team deployment scenario, in their recommended order of customization. Individual users and small teams should evaluate the applicability of prescribed customizations to their particular use cases.

There are many other customization possibilities not discussed here, including dozens of settings that you can configure on-the-fly as you use the tools to which they apply. This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all customization possibilities, nor is it intended to provide detailed explanations of the topics it covers, which can be found elsewhere in this documentation.

Who should do this?

In larger organizations, responsibility for Macabacus configuration is often assigned to someone in an IT, presentation technologies, training, or other back-office capacities. In smaller organizations, these duties might be assigned to a particular end user of the software (e.g., banker). Macabacus also offers paid training and customization solutions to assist with configuration.

Note that you must (a) be a Macabacus account administrator or (b) run Office applications as an administrator to perform some of the steps described here. If you do not yet have a Macabacus account because you are still evaluating the software, then do (b).

How long does it take?

How much time it takes to configure Macabacus depends on many factors, making it difficult to provide a single, meaningful estimate. The following customizations tend to take the most time:

  • Modifying an existing presentation template or creating a new one to work with Macabacus tools
  • Generating standardized content to be published to a Macabacus library, particularly tombstones

If we assume that you:

  • Have an Enterprise or Professional subscription,
  • Are deploying Macabacus in an enterprise environment,
  • Have relative autonomy in making configuration decisions,
  • Have a good presentation template (.potx file) that requires minimal updating,
  • Are comfortable working in Slide Master view in PowerPoint, and
  • Do not need to publish any standardized content (slides, charts, tombstones, etc.) to Macabacus libraries,

then it should take no longer than one day to customize and deploy Macabacus. However, if your presentation template needs to be overhauled or created from scratch, and you need to generate a lot of library content, it can take days, weeks, or months to complete this work (although most library content can be populated after initial rollout). On the other hand, if you have a Modeler subscription and are configuring Macabacus for personal use, you can probably do it in under one hour.

Admin Console

Some settings used by Macabacus add-ins are configured in your Admin Console. Access these settings by expanding the Configuration section of the navigation sidebar. Only those settings that merit explanation beyond that provided in your Admin Console are listed below.

To enable Single Sign-On (SSO) for Macabacus using either Entra ID or Okta, kindly reach out to support or your Account Manager. SSO functionality is accessible only with the Enterprise Plan.

Shared Settings Location

You can share Macabacus settings with other Macabacus users by publishing them to our cloud or your shared network or cloud folder. Publishing to our cloud is the default setting and most convenient option, and our recomended approach. Note that shared settings do not contain sensitive information. See our guidance here on managing your shared settings destination.

Office Configuration

Office-level settings, which Macabacus uses across Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, are configured in the General section of the Settings dialog, accessed with the Macabacus > Settings > Configure button. The most important Office-level settings to consider customizing are listed below.

Configure Office settings first

Configure general Office settings described below before configuring settings for individual Office applications.

Color Palette

Define a fixed color palette of up to 56 colors used in several Macabacus interfaces across all three Office applications to help standardize formatting. You can create multiple palettes, if desired. Ensure your palette includes all colors you need for all Office applications in which you use Macabacus—creative professionals often neglect colors used in Excel modeling (e.g., RGB(0,0,255)), which usually differ from traditional "theme" colors used in PowerPoint and Word and the colors that conform to your design standard or branding guidelines.

Standard Sizes

Define Standard Sizes that are predefined dimensions generally used to size charts and cell ranges in Excel to the dimensions of content placeholders in your presentation template. Therefore, you may need to revisit this step if your template requires significant changes or has not yet been created.

Cloud Storage Services

Macabacus can work with cloud file sharing/storage services like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Dropbox for linking, shared libraries, sharing settings, and more. Configure your local synchronization folder to work with these services.

Library Definitions

Configure your shared libraries in the Library Manager dialog, accessed from the Macabacus > Settings menu. If you want to restrict read/write access to certain user groups, you should first define those groups in your Admin Console. Alternatively, you can use native Windows folder permissions to restrict access. Note that Macabacus requires exclusive use of the folders you specify as library folders—do not save other files and folders there. You need not publish content to libraries when you define them, but if some or all content is ready to publish you can do so now.

Once you have defined (but not necessarily populated) your shared libraries, be sure to share your library definitions using Macabacus' Share Settings dialog as described below.

Library Folder Paths

Note that Macabacus requires exclusive use of the folders you specify here—do not save other files and folders here. Below are examples of "best practices" paths for a shared library folder.

Shared network drive: N:\Macabacus\Library
OneDrive: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\OneDrive - %COMPANY%\Macabacus\Library

The company library path setting, specifically, can be a shared using Macabacus' Enterprise Configuration dialog, so it need not be specified by each Macabacus user in the organization. However, the path to the team library cannot be shared the same way, and all team members who want access to a team library must manually set the path to the team library in the Settings dialog.

Library Cache Settings

Macabacus locally caches remote libraries so that you have access to their content while working offline. If you are using Macabacus v9 or later, click the Working Offline button in the Library Manager dialog to configure cache settings. If you are an older version, configure library cache settings in the Libraries section of the Settings dialog.

Excel Configuration

Most Macabacus settings for Excel can be configured in the Settings dialog, accessed with the Macabacus > Settings > Configure button. The most important Excel settings to consider customizing are listed below.

Formatting Settings

If you have not already defined your Macabacus color palette(s) as described above, do so now. Many color-related settings are limited to those colors in your Macabacus palette.

  • Colors — Customize color cycles, default colors, your AutoColor scheme, and other colors in the Excel > Format > Colors section of the Settings dialog.
  • Number Formats — Customize number formats used in number format cycles in the Excel > Format > Numbers section of the Settings dialog. Macabacus installs with pre-configured number formats that we recommend for financial modeling.
  • Styles — Configure custom styles that modify multiple cell formatting properties—similar to native Excel styles—and can be applied with shortcut cycles in the Excel > Format > Styles section of the Settings dialog.

Library Content

If you have not already defined your libraries as described above, do so now.

  • Charts — Publish pre-formatted charts with pre-structured data to shared Macabacus libraries to facilitate chart creation and standardization. Although charts can be inserted from the library into Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, they can only be published to the library from Excel.

    Several charts install with Macabacus and appear in your personal library. These charts serve only to demonstrate the library functionality, and you should replace these charts with your own.

  • Model Templates — Publish model templates to shared Macabacus libraries. Model templates are simply spreadsheets that are generally intended to be used as starting points when building new models, such as LBO models. Model templates are not technically templates as defined by Microsoft—those with a .xltx extension.

    Several model templates install with Macabacus and appear in your personal library. These templates serve only to demonstrate the library functionality, and you should replace these model templates with your own.

Keyboard Settings

  • Shortcuts — Use the Shortcut Manager to customize Macabacus' shortcut keystrokes to your preferences or to deconflict with another add-in, or to disable certain shortcuts altogether.
  • Accelerator Key — Accelerator keys activate tabs within the Ribbon. For example, keying Alt>B activates the Macabacus tab, by default. You can change the accelerator key—perhaps to avoid conflicts with another add-in—in the Ribbon section of the Settings dialog. Note that Microsoft reserves most accelerator keys for native functions, limiting customization options. If you use Macabacus in multiple Office applications, you will likely want to select the same accelerator key in all three Office applications.

PowerPoint Configuration

Most Macabacus settings for PowerPoint can be configured in the Settings dialog, accessed with the Macabacus > Settings > Configure button. The most important PowerPoint settings to consider customizing are listed below.

Presentation Template

  • Template — Many Macabacus tools for PowerPoint rely on a presentation template—a .potx file—published to a Macabacus library for proper operation. Learn more about how to configure your template to work with Macabacus.
  • MasterShapes — Define MasterShapes on the slide master in your presentation template, if desired.
  • Styles — Define shape styles—similar to those in Excel and Word—on the slide master in your presentation template, if desired.

Library Content

If you have not already defined your libraries as described above, do so now.

  • Templates — Publish your Macabacus-enabled presentation template(s) to a shared Macabacus library. Templates are used as a foundation for many of Macabacus' presentation automation tools that facilitate presentation creation and standardization.
  • Slides — Publish slides that you reuse often to a shared Macabacus library, such as team pages, tombstone slides, or executive biographies.
  • Images — Publish images that you reuse often to a shared Macabacus library, such as client logos or team member headshots. You can publish images in Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.
  • Shapes — Publish Office shapes that you reuse often to a shared Macabacus library.
  • Text — Publish snippets of text that you reuse often to a shared Macabacus library, such as legal notices and executive biography text. You can publish text in Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.
  • Tombstones — Publish tombstones used to highlight recent transactions or engagements to a shared Macabacus library. If you intend to use tombstones, you should consult the tombstones section of this documentation for other configuration requirements.

Presentation Automation

  • Default Template — Once you have configured and published your Macabacus-enabled presentation templates as described above, optionally select one as the default template in the PowerPoint > New Presentations section of the Settings dialog.
  • Slide Stamps — Slide stamps are words or phrases that appear on most or all slides in a presentation and typically convey confidentiality, such as "DRAFT" or "For Internal Use Only." Slide stamps are used in conjunction with MasterShapes, discussed above, and are configured in the PowerPoint > Stamps section of the Settings dialog.
  • Agendas — Customize settings related to agenda behavior and appearance in the PowerPoint > Agendas section of the Settings dialog.

Proofing

Configure proofing settings that Macabacus uses to check presentations for errors and inconsistencies related to formatting, layout, content, and grammar/spelling to improve presentation quality and brand compliance. These settings are customized in the settings section of the Proofing pane, rather than the Settings dialog.

Keyboard Settings

  • Accelerator Key — Accelerator keys activate tabs within the Ribbon. For example, keying Alt>B activates the Macabacus tab, by default. You can change the accelerator key—perhaps to avoid conflicts with another add-in—in the Ribbon section of the Settings dialog. Note that Microsoft reserves most accelerator keys for native functions, limiting customization options. If you use Macabacus in multiple Office applications, you will likely want to select the same accelerator key in all three Office applications.

Word Configuration

Most Macabacus settings for Word can be configured in the Settings dialog, accessed with the Macabacus > Settings > Configure button. The most important Word settings to consider customizing are listed below.

Doc Builder

If you intend to use Doc Builder to facilitate document creation, configure autofill fields in the Word > Doc Builder section of the Settings dialog, and modify any documents you intend to publish to shared Macabacus libraries as prescribed in the configuration instructions to work with Doc Builder functionality.

Library Content

If you have not already defined your libraries as described above, do so now.

  • Document Templates — Publish document templates to shared Macabacus libraries. Document templates are simply documents that are generally intended to be used as starting points when authoring new documents, such as fax cover pages. Document templates are not technically templates as defined by Microsoft—those with a .dotx extension.

Keyboard Settings

  • Accelerator Key — Accelerator keys activate tabs within the Ribbon. For example, keying Alt>B activates the Macabacus tab, by default. You can change the accelerator key—perhaps to avoid conflicts with another add-in—in the Ribbon section of the Settings dialog. Note that Microsoft reserves most accelerator keys for native functions, limiting customization options. If you use Macabacus in multiple Office applications, you will likely want to select the same accelerator key in all three Office applications.

Shared Settings

Once you have configured Macabacus as described above, you will likely want to share some or all of these customizations with other Macabacus users in your organization. This process is described in another section of this documentation.

You will want to publish the shared library definitions as a shared setting in the Share Settings dialog. Similarly, if you have published or intend to publish Meta Shapes (e.g., tombstones), Meta Slides, or archived decks to Macabacus libraries, you will want to publish the corresponding custom fields (i.e., metadata) as a shared setting.

If you make changes to settings that were previously shared, be sure to republish those settings in the Share Settings dialog. This does not apply to changes in library content/templates, but changes to the shared library path would need to be republished.

This documentation refers to the latest Macabacus version. Some features and descriptions of these features may not apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.