<![CDATA[Cascata Solutions - News]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:51:57 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Bridge Alternatives launches Bridge Shadow Waterfall powered by Cascata Solutions]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:43:31 GMThttps://www.cascata-solutions.com/news/bridge-alternatives-launches-bridge-shadow-waterfall-powered-by-cascata-solutionsPicture
This partnership underscores Cascata’s shared vision with Bridge Alt+ and a rapidly growing community of private capital firms - fund administrators and managers - demanding a new industry operating benchmark for digital fund economics spanning investor distribution waterfall and sponsor's carry plan compensation administration.

Our success is anchored on Bridge Alt+'s talent and best practices and Cascata's true self-service administration platform that delivers non-negotiable, essential system-ready functionality to fully realize automation value at scale - accelerated time to value, maximum efficiency and service quality gains and reduced risk.

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]]><![CDATA[Bridge Alternatives Partners with Cascata to Deliver Automated Waterfall Solutions]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 02:45:20 GMThttps://www.cascata-solutions.com/news/bridge-alternatives-partners-with-cascata-to-deliver-automated-waterfall-solutionsPicture
Bridge Alternatives, a leading provider of fund administration, OCFO, and back-office solutions, announced its partnership with Cascata Solutions, the recognized leader in digital waterfall automation software for the private capital industry.

This collaboration underscores Bridge’s commitment to pairing best-in-class talent, teams, and technology to deliver greater accuracy, efficiency, and transparency for clients. The partnership unites Bridge’s operational expertise with Cascata’s cutting-edge PE Suite™ - the industry’s only true self-service digital waterfall platform; purpose-built for fund accountants and operations teams to automate fund economics from distribution waterfalls to carry plan compensation.

The integration unlocks the full potential of waterfall automation, delivering the most essential ‘table stakes’ functionality: auditable formula traceability, seamless and enriched data integration, dynamic system-ready modeling, and scalable efficiency and service quality across the myriads of fund structures.

Cascata’s waterfall technology enhances Bridge’s Fund Administration and OCFO services, operating independently of any general ledger system. The platform supports a ‘trust but verify’ framework, allowing fund administrators and managers to validate complex calculations with greater speed, precision, and confidence.

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]]><![CDATA[Waterfall Automation: Top 5 Best Practice Tips]]>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 22:59:41 GMThttps://www.cascata-solutions.com/news/waterfall-automation-top-5-best-practice-tips
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Raising the Standard for Back-Office Operations

Waterfall automation holds the promise of setting a new, higher operational standard for private capital fund managers and administrators - delivering a streamlined, end-to-end workflow for carried interest calculations and reporting, with significantly enhanced efficiency, accuracy, and control.

As demand grows and adoption accelerates, the market for automation solutions reveals wide variability in design, functionality, ease of use, and operating models - from true self-service platforms to consultant-dependent implementations. These differences directly impact implementation timelines, scalability, and the realization of meaningful economic and operational efficiency gains.
To justify the investment and fully realize the benefits of automation, solutions must deliver a core set of “table stakes” features and best practices.
This brief - drawing on Cascata’s deep industry expertise and leadership in digital waterfall software innovation - highlights five essential criteria that define a new benchmark in carried interest and fee management.

1. Formula Traceability
Excel remains the universal tool for fund accountants to calculate periodic carried interest, valued for its flexibility, control, and formula-level traceability. Any credible automation solution must preserve these qualities - it is non-negotiable. Without transparent and traceable formulas, automation forces reliance on a “black box” system while maintaining parallel spreadsheets for verification and reconciliation. This undermines efficiency and often increases workload due to duplicated effort.

An ideal solution provides a consistent, auditable framework, producing Excel-based outputs with system-traced formulas that align with the tools fund accountants already trust. It reinforces firmwide standards, adheres to industry best practices, ensures compliance, and delivers audit-ready transparency that builds stakeholder confidence.

2. Intelligent & Enriched Data Integration
A best-in-class waterfall platform must integrate seamlessly with upstream systems - especially the general ledger (GL) - to ensure reliable, end-to-end data flow. Yet GL data quality is often incomplete due to underutilized features, migration gaps, or reliance on offline spreadsheets.

To unlock full automation value, clients must ensure complete and accurate inception-to-date data in the GL, including cash flow timing, transaction categorization, and deal-level granularity.

A flexible, rule-based ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) layer is essential to address data nuances and anomalies. This layer should be self-learning, capable of auto-mapping new transaction types and ingesting external data. It should support:

  • Filling in missing values
  • Reclassifying overlooked transfers
  • Applying bespoke rules (e.g., synthetic preferred return flows)
  • Handling fund-specific exceptions to exclude certain entries from NAV

With strong GL lineage and enriched data preparation, automation platforms can deliver consistent, auditable, and accurate calculations while empowering teams with clarity and control.

3. Industry Calculation Method Standards & Compliance
Carried interest automation must not only handle complex calculations but must do so using a “bottom-up” approach, rather than a “top-down” method, to capture carry results at the most granular levels — investor and deal. It must also align with industry-standard calculation methodologies, ensuring a consistent framework for firmwide compliance.

Best-practice platforms come pre-configured to support a wide range of tiered structures, preferred return (PR) methodologies, and related treatments, including:

  • Simple Compounding
  • IRR-based
  • Interest on Net Contribution - daily cumulative balance with compounding intervals
  • Tranched FIFO - bucketed contributions / distributions with PR calculated from contribution date to first / next distribution date
  • Stop the Clock - PR stops when cumulative distributions exceed contributions)
  • Adjusting cashflow dates e.g., end-of-month, first of next month

By embedding firmwide and industry standards, these platforms ensure consistency, reduce human error, and provide a scalable, defensible system of record.

4. Technology-Driven Waterfall Modeling
A core requirement for effective automation is a technology-driven modeling engine that eliminates manual template mapping, static Excel logic, and custom-coded models - all of which result in lengthy, fragile and unpredictable implementations and outcomes.

To deliver ROI, best-practice platforms must support the full range of structures - American, European, and hybrid - and cover at least 85% of a firm’s portfolio. This is critical for fund administrators managing hundreds or thousands of diverse client funds. The system must enable auto-configured, dynamic waterfall model construction at scale.

Leading solutions go beyond basic return of capital, hurdle, preferred return, catchup, and residual split GP/LP carry logic to support:

  • 10+ tier structures
  • Multiple catchups
  • Hybrid styles
  • External data inputs
  • Special gates, overrides, and fund-specific provisions

This level of sophistication delivered in a self-service manner empowers firms to manage complexity without compromising speed, accuracy, or transparency, from implementation through daily operations.

5. Carry Forecasting & Scenario Planning
An increasingly strategic use of waterfall automation is to forecast carried interest outcomes under different performance and timing scenarios. Whether for capital distribution events, budgeting, compensation planning, or LP reporting, forward-looking projections are essential.

Platforms should support intuitive, self-service scenario modeling, enabling teams to evaluate outcomes based on hypothetical NAVs, exit timings, or preferred return assumptions - without modifying source data. These capabilities empower firms to make informed decisions and proactively manage stakeholder expectations.

Conclusion: Unlocking the Full Potential of Waterfall Automation

The top 5 best practices outlined above are not just recommendations - they are essential requirements for unlocking the full potential of waterfall automation. Platforms that combine traceability, enriched data integration, industry-standard methodologies, dynamic modeling, and forecasting empower private capital firms to operate at a higher standard with unmatched transparency, speed, and control.

Compared to legacy methods or consultant-heavy implementations, a modern, purpose-built software approach offers clear advantages:

  • Self-service design enables rapid onboarding and model configuration
  • Out-of-the-box coverage for 85%+ of fund structures - American and European - regardless of complexity
  • Faster time-to-value and reduced dependency on custom development
  • Audit-ready transparency and repeatable results

If you're interested in learning more about how Cascata can help you modernize and elevate your waterfall and carry operations, 📩 Email us at info@cascata-solutions.com or click here to request a demo!

About Cascata
Cascata is a leading provider of digital waterfall administration software, purpose-built for the private capital industry. Trusted by top fund managers and administrators, Cascata delivers unmatched automation, transparency, and scalability for complex carried interest and fee calculations—empowering finance and operations teams to move beyond spreadsheets and manual processes.

Our mission is to elevate operational excellence across the industry through continuous product innovation, leadership, and a deep commitment to the success of our clients and partners.
]]><![CDATA[Ultimus and Cascata Join Forces to Transform Waterfall Calculations with uWaterfall™]]>Wed, 11 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascata-solutions.com/news/ultimus-and-cascata-join-forces-to-transform-waterfall-calculations-with-uwaterfalltm
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Ultimus LeverPoint Private Fund Solutions (Ultimus), a leading independent provider of comprehensive fund administration, accounting, and investor solutions, is pleased to announce its strategic partnership with Cascata Solutions, the industry leader in automated distribution waterfall and management solutions. Together, they are launching uWaterfall™, a cutting-edge platform “powered by Cascata”.

This collaboration combines Ultimus’ deep expertise in fund administration, data management, and advanced technology with Cascata’s innovative software, offering a fully integrated, digital-enabled service suite. uWaterfall™ elevates carried interest and fee management through seamless data transfer, automated high-precision waterfall calculations, and full-formula transparency. The partnership is set to deliver unparalleled accuracy, efficiency, service quality, data integrity and insights for alternative asset clients’ waterfall calculations, scenario modeling, and employee/partner carry compensation reporting.

“We are thrilled to partner with Cascata,” said Jason Stevens, CTO of Ultimus. “Their advanced digital waterfall capabilities perfectly complement our robust fund administration services. With uWaterfall™, our clients gain instant access to the most comprehensive, accurate, and transparent financial data, empowering better investment decisions. Additionally, new clients will benefit from uWaterfall’s rapid onboarding and digital service delivery advantages.”

Chuck Dooley, CEO & Co-Founder of Cascata, echoed these sentiments: “Our partnership with Ultimus LeverPoint underscores our leadership in delivering top-tier digital waterfall solutions solving the most crucial functionality for fund accountants’ production operation. By integrating our technology, Ultimus professionals are uniquely poised to offer a fully systematic, standardized, and transparent client experience, from onboarding to ongoing carry reporting.”

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