We know you understand mapping. You may have even used Mapping in other business modelling apps. We are not trying to teach you the meaning of mapping. What we are trying to teach you, is the most effective way to get started with Castaway and ensure you know how Castaway Mapping works.
To that end, we are offering you a basic Mapping exercise, based on a 70-line model. In this exercise, the numbers reflect doesn't matter as much as how you undertake the Mapping process.
Mapping Exercise Steps
Please follow these steps to experience Mapping in Castaway:
1. Download and save the attached Excel spreadsheet called "Integration Sample Data.xlsx"
2. Open Castaway and create a New Project
3. For the purpose of this exercise, Click on Build Manually
4. Name the Project
5. Choose your Country and Currency (this exercise works for any choice you make here)
6. Set the Financial Year to Jul-Jun, Project Start Month to July 2024 and Duration to 2 years
7. Click “Build my project”
8. Go the the Forecast tab, External Sources, and at Add a new data Source, click on the Excel icon
9. Choose Select Excel File. Once you click on this, you should be taken to your File Explorer and be able to easily find the Excel file we saved, “Integration Sample Data.xlsx”. This process should take only a few seconds.
10. Now it’s time to Map your Chart of Accounts. Click on Map
11. Start mapping! Drag and drop multiples of Accounts/ Types at the same time. You can use many-to-many mapping to quickly create a Chart of Accounts in Castaway of 70 elements
12. SAVE your mapping along the way!
13. Once your mapping is 100% complete, set the Active Actuals Month to, say, Sep 24
14. Click on External Sources (left hand side panel)> Import Account Values> Opening Balance, and Import Opening Balance for Jun 2024
15. Click the Actual Value drop-down, check the boxes for Jul 2024 - Sep2024 and Import Actuals Values
16. Go to the Actuals Data screen, scroll to the bottom and enter any out-of-balance amount in Retained Earnings.
Mapping with Castaway is designed to be a smooth, almost game-like experience. Now that you've seen it in action, try it yourself for your own models!