Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Bear Decisions
What does this really look like?
One Model. Hundreds of Possibilities
Imagine...
- • Two areas of incremental Decisions: Budget (Higher, Maintain Existing and Lower) and Expansion (Yes and No)
- • Three areas of Uncertainty: Pricing, Interest Rates and Other Risks, each with three cases (High, Base, Low)
Budget (3 options) × Expansion (2) × Pricing (3) × Interest Rate (3) × Other (3) = 162 unique scenarios – all generated automatically
Group by:
- 🔹Decision (6 combinations)
- 🔹Uncertainty (27 combinations)
- 🔹Instance (162 combinations)
View by:
- 📊Expected Value
- 📈Mean, Median, Minimum & Maximum
- 📐Reference Point (e.g. 2025 cash flow)
- 📉Cumulative Likelihood
Other Questions?
Does this replace Excel?
Not at all. It runs entirely within Excel – your model (and data) stays yours.
Can I use my macros and formulas?
Yes! We work with your model, not around it. Note that we can't automatically trigger your macros due to Microsoft's limits. You can, however, keep your macros by manually triggering them within a calculation process pause - if and when required.
Do I need to know any coding?
No! Bear Decisions does not require any coding expertise. All calculations use your Excel document's logic, we just aggregate and filter the results based upon your selections.
Can't I just ask ChatGPT to do this for me?
Unfortunately AI's haven't progressed to a point where they can help with this type of work. While great with words, a lot of these models struggle with numbers and when you are making a decision, you really want to make sure that the numbers you are presenting are correct. Bear Decisions does that.
How long does it take to see a benefit?
Bear Decisions deploys in minutes (if not seconds) and can be rapidly configured – helping you to start gaining insight immediately, not weeks or months down the track.
How will Bear Decisions help me avoid version chaos?
Well unfortunately we cannot promise you aren't still going to have a document called "final-plan_v4 (updated) 2.xlsx" but what we do offer is the ability to see all your what-if questions answered within a single document - so no more copying files to represent different cases. Having that single version also means that if you do find an error, want to add a calculation nuance or need to add a new input or reporting detail, you can make that change just once, test across the entire spectrum of cases and validate that it has worked with no surprises. This helps you rapidly iterate to get that change right and know that your cases all remain consistently evaluated – helping you make confident data-driven decisions, free from bias.
Is this Monte Carlo?
Not yet. But Bear Decisions does deterministic scenario better than any current Excel plugin or capability.
What if I want to dig deeper into a visualization?
Each visualization has the ability to copy the data behind it to the clipboard – enabling you to paste it wherever you need to dig into the details.