ZAP Tools - Active Development on an Open Source, Free, Pension Valuation Software Suite

[zackthecodingactuary]

Hello all,

I'm an Enrolled Actuary working in pension consulting and I wanted to share a project I've been building: ZAP Tools, a free and open source pension valuation suite targeting US single-employer defined benefit and cash balance plans. Perhaps due to my younger age, I find current legacy solutions reasonably clunky and dated to execute work in, so this is my good faith attempt to build something modern for all pension actuaries and retirement professionals.

The suite consists of two components: an Excel add-in for light valuation work, benefit calculations, and plan design modeling, and a full desktop application for formal funding valuations. The full actuarial engine is complete, the Excel add-in is production ready, and the desktop application is in active development with a public release targeted for later this year under the AGPL license.

One design decision worth highlighting for this audience: every expression in the desktop application, benefit formulas, participant filters, data validation logic, uses standard Excel syntax. No proprietary scripting language to learn while maintaining maximum flexibility in defining plan provisions or benefit formulas.

I've posted more detail and screenshots on LinkedIn and Reddit for those interested:
LinkedIn Post
Reddit Post

Happy to answer any questions or discuss here. Always interested in feedback from practicing professionals. Thank you for your time and attention!

[C. B. Zeller]

This is awesome. Very excited to see where this goes!

[justanotheradmin]

Sounds interesting! When it is available for public use, I'd definitely want to give it a whirl! 

[Bri]

Combos with testing, or just the DB/CB calculations themselves?

[zackthecodingactuary]

5 hours ago, justanotheradmin said:

Sounds interesting! When it is available for public use, I'd definitely want to give it a whirl! 

Still working that piece out! I'm hoping to have something shipped for both the tools in the next couple of months and will update accordingly!

13 minutes ago, Bri said:

Combos with testing, or just the DB/CB calculations themselves?

I'm focusing on getting the pure liability valuation piece down strong first for DB/CB plans (multiple decrements is the next big hurdle). Then the very next roadmap item is adding gateway/coverage/general testing!