# Install guide - Actuarial Closing Platform 3.2.0-RC1

Release candidate. For the Administrator who installs the platform; the full guide is the Administrator guide (PDF in the download list). Facts below come from the Administrator guide, the IT prerequisites and the go-live checklist.

## 1. Requirements

- Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows (Data Model, Power Query, dynamic arrays, LAMBDA and VBA are required; Excel on the web, Mac or mobile cannot run the platform).
- One platform folder on a plain Windows file share, opened by its UNC path (`\\server\share\...`). Not OneDrive, not a SharePoint / Teams library, not a synchronised folder, never opened from a browser or with AutoSave: the platform then shows a red banner and refuses every command that changes data.
- The folder permissions of the IT prerequisites guide (four directory groups: users, Preparers, Reviewers, Administrators), agreed with IT before go-live.

## 2. Download and verify

1. Download `Actuarial_Closing_Platform.xlsm` from the site.
2. Compare its SHA-256 with the value on the page. In PowerShell: `Get-FileHash .\Actuarial_Closing_Platform.xlsm -Algorithm SHA256`. They must be identical.
3. A downloaded file carries the Windows "from the internet" mark: right-click the file > Properties > tick **Unblock** > OK. Alternatively place it in a Trusted Location.

### 2a. If the `.xlsm` cannot be downloaded: the xlsm kit

Where Group Policy blocks `.xlsm` downloads, do not import the modules into the macro-free `.xlsx` by hand (the ThisWorkbook code arrives as a class module, the button macro assignments and the hidden LAMBDA names stay missing). Use `ACP_xlsm_kit.zip` instead:

1. Download `ACP_xlsm_kit.zip` and extract it to a folder (right-click > **Extract All**). Do not run it from inside the zip.
2. Double-click `Build-Xlsm.cmd` (or drag the `.xlsx` onto it).
3. The script verifies the `.xlsx` and the kit parts by SHA-256, puts the VBA project (all modules and the frmPassword form), the button assignments and the hidden names back at package level, and compares every part of the new `.xlsm` with the published `.xlsm`. Look for the line `OK ... 449 of 449 parts byte-identical`; on any difference no `.xlsm` is written.
4. Continue with section 3 using the new `Actuarial_Closing_Platform.xlsm`.

Excel is not started, no module is imported, "Trust access to the VBA project object model" is not needed; the script changes no Office, security or PowerShell setting (it runs with `-ExecutionPolicy Bypass` for its own process only). The Trusted Location or signature of section 3 still applies for the macros to run. The SHA-256 of the new file differs from the site (different zip compression); the part-by-part comparison of the script is the verification. Do not open and save the `.xlsx` in Excel before running the script. If PowerShell runs in Constrained Language mode (AppLocker / WDAC) the script stops with a message; ask IT.

### 2b. If the kit zip cannot be downloaded either: the script (plain text)

Some security products block the kit zip too (it holds a script and macro parts). Then download the `.xlsx`, `ACP_VBA_source.zip` and `Build-XlsmFromSource.txt`:

1. Put the three files in one folder. The `.txt` does not need renaming; double-clicking it only opens Notepad, it does not run the script.
2. Tick Excel > File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings > **"Trust access to the VBA project object model"**. If it is greyed out, policy disables it; ask IT.
3. Open PowerShell in that folder (type `powershell` in the Explorer address bar and press Enter) and run: `powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "& ([scriptblock]::Create((Get-Content -Raw .\Build-XlsmFromSource.txt)))"`. The last line says `RESULT: SUCCESS` or `RESULT: FAILED`; everything shown is also written to `Build-XlsmFromSource.log` in that folder.
4. The script verifies the files by SHA-256, opens Excel in the background (macros and events off), imports the modules and the form, writes the ThisWorkbook code into the existing ThisWorkbook module, assigns the 46 buttons to their macros, compares the code with the source and checks the saved `.xlsm`. On any error no `.xlsm` is left behind.
5. Afterwards you may untick the box of step 2 again. Continue with section 3 using the new `Actuarial_Closing_Platform.xlsm`.

The file made this way is saved by Excel: code, buttons and data are the same, but it is not equal part by part as on the kit route.

## 3. Place it and enable macros

1. Copy the workbook into the platform folder on the share. Keep one platform file: every other copy shows the red COPY banner and cannot change data.
2. IT makes the platform folder a Trusted Location for the users ("Allow Trusted Locations on my network"), or signs the VBA project. Without macros only the Start sheet is visible and it says why.

## 4. First run: Setup

Open the workbook from the share with macros enabled; Setup starts by itself, as a sequence of dialogs (Cancel stops at any time):

1. The first Administrator is claimed once and sets an own password (at least 12 characters).
2. Pick the source folder with the company payment files.
3. Create the Archive, Log and Export folders next to the workbook.
4. Validation of the folders, discovery of the companies and files, users and roles, one FX check.
5. Setup writes `ACP_Settings.ini` and runs the first Refresh. Then add a second Administrator (Administrator guide, section 16), lock the approved column map and, if past months are in the source folder, run Backfill history.

## 5. Privacy-level refresh check (two minutes, do this first)

On one Preparer's and one Reviewer's machine, with their normal Excel and policies:

1. Excel > Data > Get Data > Query Options > Global > Privacy: it must be **"Combine data according to each file's Privacy Level settings"** (the default) or "Always ignore Privacy Level settings".
2. Open the platform from the share and press Home > Refresh.
3. Pass: the result starts with OK. Fail: Refresh stops with "Refresh stopped by Power Query privacy levels". IT then allows the per-file setting; do not go live on a machine that fails.

## 6. Notes

- The site has two videos: the installation and role guide for 3.2.0-RC1 (2026-10-06, Turkish with Turkish subtitles; people, companies and data are fictional, the narration is synthetic) and the previous user guide video (development copy of 2026-10-01, version 3.0.0 screens).
- The macro-free `.xlsx` is for reading only (no VBA project, buttons not assigned to macros) and the VBA source zip is for review; the platform runs only from the `.xlsm`. Where the `.xlsm` cannot be downloaded, the xlsm kit builds it (section 2a).
- Open items accepted for the candidate are listed in the go-live checklist, section 6.