Forecasts & Scenarios
Creating a forecast
Navigate to Forecasts in the sidebar. If no forecast exists yet, click the Add button and select forecast from the dropdown. Give your forecast a name (e.g. "FY2025 Budget" or "Annual Plan").
Each forecast starts with a single Baseline scenario. The baseline is your primary plan and serves as the reference point for all scenario comparisons.
Scenarios
Adding scenarios
From the Forecasts page, click the ... (More options) button on the forecast row, then select Add Scenario.
In the "Add a new scenario" dialog:
- Enter a Name for your new scenario (e.g., "Optimistic", "Worst Case", "Board Scenario").
- Choose how to structure the new scenario:
- Start from a template: Loads a pre-built scenario structure tailored to your industry.
- Create an empty scenario: Starts with no budgets; you can add them manually later.
- Duplicate the baseline scenario: Copies all budgets from the baseline scenario. You will then be prompted to choose whether to Link or Copy each budget from the baseline. See Linked vs. duplicated budgets for more details.
Baseline vs. Active scenario
Every forecast has two special scenario roles:
| Role | Purpose | Default behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | The reference scenario used for comparisons in Delta reports | Set automatically on the first scenario created |
| Active | The scenario shown by default in Forecast reports and dashboard displays | Initially set to the same scenario as baseline |
To change these roles, click the ... (More options) button on the scenario row. From the menu:
- Set as active — make this scenario the default view in Forecast reports and dashboards
- Promote to baseline — make this scenario the reference point for Delta comparisons
Linked vs. duplicated budgets
When adding budgets to a new scenario, or duplicating an existing scenario, you choose how they relate to the baseline:
Linked budgets inherit all values from the baseline scenario's equivalent budget. If you update a value in the baseline, every linked scenario automatically reflects the change. Use linked budgets for:
- Fixed cost assumptions that should be consistent across scenarios
- Shared methodology where scenarios differ only in inputs (e.g. different growth rates for the same product)
Duplicated budgets are fully independent copies. Changes in one scenario do not affect others. Use duplicated budgets for:
- Revenue scenarios with significantly different growth assumptions
- Headcount plans with different hiring timelines per scenario
- Scenarios with fundamentally different business models
To change how a budget is linked to the baseline:
- Click the ... (More options) button on the budget row, then select Link (to inherit baseline values) or Duplicate (to create an independent copy).
Duplicating a scenario
To create a new scenario as a copy of an existing one:
- Click the ... (More options) button on the scenario row.
- Select Duplicate.
- Enter a Name for the new scenario.
- For each budget, choose whether it should be Link (inherit from the original scenario's budget) or Copy (create an independent copy).
All budgets in the duplicated scenario start as independent copies of the original (or linked, if you chose that option).
Renaming and deleting
- Rename forecast: Click the ... (More options) button on the forecast row, then select Rename.
- Rename scenario: Click the ... (More options) button on the scenario row, then select Rename.
- Delete scenario: Click the ... (More options) button on the scenario row, then select Delete. This removes the scenario and all its independent budgets. Linked budgets are not deleted; they remain in the baseline.
The baseline scenario cannot be deleted if other scenarios have budgets linked to it. Unlink all dependent budgets first, then delete the scenario.
Comparing scenarios in reports
In Reports, use the Scenario dropdown to switch between scenarios when viewing Forecast or Delta views. This lets you compare scenarios (e.g. "what if we hired 5 more people") against the baseline without navigating away from the reports page.