Leverage a precise, transparent, and repeatable way to compute GP compensation for both realized and hypothetical events. 3forge brings the business logic, the data, and the user interface into one cohesive environment that eliminates spreadsheet fragility and reduces operational risk.
Carried interest calculations are one of the most complex, audit-sensitive, and business-critical workflows in private equity and venture capital. Yet most firms still rely on fragile, manual processes.
Every fund has unique economics: integrating live and historical information across asset
different fee structures, preferred return terms, expense rules, and carry splits that evolve from vintage to vintage.
Each realization event must consider the fund’s complete transaction history, including capital calls, distributions, expenses, and prior partial dispositions, making accuracy dependent on granular, historical data
Traditional spreadsheets and BI tools break under this complexity.They can’t enforce modeling rules, separate logic from data, or scale as funds mature, resulting in duplicated models, version drift, and difficult audits.
As a result, teams spend significant time reconciling numbers, resolving edge cases, and validating outputs before each distribution, increasing operational risk for both GP compensation and investor reporting.
3forge delivers the three pillars of a modern carry engine:
Where established waterfall systems optimize for out-of-the-box coverage, 3forge optimizes for precision and adaptability. Funds with bespoke waterfall terms, custom allocation rules, or legacy structures can be supported exactly, without compromises or expensive product customization.
The result is a carry solution that moves as fast as your fund evolves, while maintaining complete auditability and control.
3forge integrates calculation, data, and validation into one cohesive engine that delivers exact results for even the most customized fund structures.
3forge models the full GP compensation process across both cash and hypothetical scenarios.
Covers multiple models
For realized events, the cash waterfall engine captures for all rules defined in fund documents, including fees, expenses, preferred returns, clawbacks, and any GP catchup provisions.
For hypothetical or planning scenarios, the solution projects GP compensation using the fund's fair market value marks, giving operations teams a reliable view of current economics for internal planning, carry accruals, and investor communication.
Well-built and sustainable
The business logic is centralized and written as code, not scattered across worksheets. This allows teams to maintain a single source of truth that is easy to validate, easy to modify, and resistant to manual errors.
Since the logic is separated from the data, historical events are stored in the master security database and referenced automatically during each run. Complex dependencies between past and present transactions are handled correctly without additional reconciliation work.
Integrated into workflows
Once GP-level carried interest results are produced, the workflow continues seamlessly into the carry-participant distribution model. The system allocates amounts to employees based on the firm’s compensation rules, applies holdbacks and tax offsets, and generates individualized distribution reports for each carry participant.
This creates a complete end-to-end process inside one platform that supports review, approval, recalculation, and audit without switching tools or rebuilding logic.
The waterfall model can be delivered as part of a suite of firm-level, portfolio-level, and fund-level application screens which provide in-depth analytics and functionality, as well as integration into other models powered by 3forge, like the the carry-participant distribution mode.
Let 3forge bring clarity, speed, and control to one of your most complex and sensitive workflows.
Integrated calculation, data, and UI
The full workflow lives in one environment, so teams do not need to stitch together spreadsheets, BI tools, and databases.
Structured and auditable business logic
The model is expressed as clear, centralized code that captures even the most complex fund rules and eliminates spreadsheet ambiguity.
Accurate handling of historical dependencies
All prior events are stored in the database and used consistently during calculations, ensuring correct outcomes across multiple realizations.
End-to-end workflow for GP and employee-level carry
After computing the carried-interest waterfall, the system flows directly into the carry-participant distribution model: allocating amounts by employee, applying holdbacks and tax offsets, and producing clear distribution reports for each participant.
Focus on business logic, not infrastructure code
3forge takes care of all underlying UI components, connectivity, and persistence, so the entire development focuses on ensuring accurate business logic, with an accelerated delivery timeline and iterative enhancements.
When financial workflows require transparency and specificity, you can rely on 3forge.