Introduction

The version branching feature introduces the ability to create, edit and store multiple versions of a budget, forecast or Life-of-Mine within a single XERAS model.

Examples of issues that are addressed with this feature:

1. The budget is not yet approved, but we need to start on the first forecast.

   • Budgets can often take significant time to get final approval. In the meantime, operations need to start working on their Q1 forecast.

   • Previously, without version branching, there was a single live model, so the operations teams could not start working on the forecast as any changes would supersede the budget in the live model.

   • With the version branching feature, a new branch can be created for the Q1 forecast, with data copied from the budget branch. Both the budget and forecast branches can remain active and editable as independent datasets.

2. I want to save a copy of the approved budget and be able to go back and review the data within that budget.

   • With the version branching feature, the budget branch can be set to an approved state and locked to disable editing. The branch will remain in a read-only state and allow full drill down of the approved dataset.

3. I want to edit assumptions and save the results without affecting other users by saving to the live model.

   • With the version branching feature, users can create (or request a super user to create) a new branch to test assumptions or options. The branch can be abandoned and deleted, should you want to, after the trial has been completed. Data can be manually copied from one branch to another using the current copy and paste functionality between XERAS applications.