Causal Software

Causal is a collaborative, cloud base business financial modeling tool designed to take the best parts of spreadsheets and add in the benefits of programming to make modeling easier.

Causal Overview

I first heard about Causal through an article I found on social media. It was titled: UK startup Causal raises $4.2M to kill Excel with a better number crunching app. The article discusses how in total the Company has raised $5.5M in seed funding from a number of investors to create a “more data-driven, collaborative approach” to business modeling. The company was founded in 2019 by Taimur Abdaal and Lukas Kobis. The article goes on to talk about what they have built and what they hope to accomplish with this new software.

After first reading the article several months ago, I remember spending 2 hours one night playing with the software and coming away with an overall favorable initial impression. I told myself I would go back and spend more time with it and 7 months later I have spent enough time with it to provide my thoughts.

Causal Software

You can sign up for a free account of causal, here. The software has three pricing models but if you are just wanting to test drive it, I recommend the free version as it will give you a good feel for the application.

Causal is a modeling spreadsheet-like tool that can be used by businesses for various business analysis. At a high level the software includes the following:

Spreadsheet like input sheet broken into three sections:
- Inputs
- Outputs
- Calculations

Workspace that contains three canvas modes:
- Cards - These are like data cards in other applications
- Spreadsheet - This is the view people will be most familiar with and is where most modeling will occur
- Visuals - This area allows you to easily create a few visuals for looking at your data
Variable inputs - Unlike traditional spreadsheets you do not reference columns or rows instead you name your variables, and you reference those variables in your formulas
Formulas - The tool contains the most common formulas you would expect to see in a modeling tool but takes a different approach when it comes to building formulas when compared to spreadsheet tools.
Categories - Categories are how you build hierarchies within the software for example cost departments and then assign employee costs to said departemnts.
Presentation Mode - This allows you to present your data and modify inputs and see the impact of the modifications on the fly.
Data Connectors - The software has over 300 connectors for pulling your data into the software and using it in your models
Scenarios - Easily copy and model and create multiple scenarios by using the scenario functionality
Version Control - Contains version control and history built directly into the software
Comments and Sharing Functionality
Pivot Table/Table like functionality - You can create table/pivot table views for aggregating and presenting your data
Visuals - The software contains a handful of popular graphs for presenting your visuals

Hopefully the above gives you a general idea of what is included in Causal. The bottom line is Causal is hyper-focused on allowing users to build models in a more connected, integrated manner and I would say they are off to a good start. Most reviews I have read on various product sites have spoken positively about the software and they have a number of businesses that are using the software for model design.

Causal Strengths

From my limited review of the software some of the main pros that I see are as follows:

Model Structure - The way it pushes you to structure model with inputs, variables, and outputs all in their own section
Easy to Learn - The fact that the software is relatively easy to learn. I was able to start playing with and building basic models within a few hours. After watching the Causal library of videos, I felt comfortable I could build a full basic business model in a relatively short amount of time.
Presentation Mode - Big fan of the ability to easily adjust inputs on the fly and see visually how it impacts the model.
Naming Structure - It takes a little getting used too but I like that formulas use the variable names in the formula so no referencing column A2:A6, etc.
Data Connectors - It has a robust catalog of data connectors that can be used to connect your model to live data.

The above image shows some of the most popular data connectors offered.

In summary Causal has a number of positives and addresses a handful of issues we have all experienced when modeling in traditional spreadsheet software such as Excel or Google Sheets. Next let’s discuss some of the Weaknesses of Causal.

Causal Weaknesses

As with any software Causal has its own set of weaknesses and limitations. From my limited experience, a few of the Weaknesses I see at this point include:

Lack of flexibility. One thing that makes people come back to Excel, again and again, is the fact that it is a blank canvas, and you can design and build pretty much just about anything
Cleaning Data - With Causal you can connect with data, but you have no real tool to extract and transform data like Power Query
Visualizations - The software seems to have a very limited set of visualizations so if you like lots of graphs and flexibility within graphs you will be disappointed. Some of this could be limited to the free version.
Price - The basic version is $50 per user per month. If you are cost sensitive probably cheaper to go with Google or Office 365 suite as you get a lot more bang for the buck.
Limited Training and Video Resources - I am sure part of this is due to how new the software is but you do not have a lot of resources for learning and mastering the software.

Resources for learning more

Below are links to two articles the company website and two YouTube videos about Causal. This should help give you a better understanding of the software:

Three videos on Causal

Verdict: Excel Killer?

Causal is not nor will it ever be an Excel Killer or even a replacement for all that Excel can do, but it is a solid alternative for someone who does not want to use Excel for building business models. I expect the company to continue to grow and develop over the next several years and I look forward to seeing what the software can do in 1,3, and 5 years from now as they continue to enhance the product.

Causal: Excel Killer?