Contents
What is a forecast scenario?
Scenarios allow you to create several different versions of your forecast. In scenarios, you’re able to experiment with and change:
Which microforecasts are at play within the forecast scenario and the timing of those microforecasts
The value rules calculating classifications, headings, and accounts in the main forecasting grid
The timing profiles set for classifications, headings, and/or accounts in the main forecasting grid
You’re also able to make baseline adjustments to Profit & Loss classifications in your main forecast. Scenarios enable you to explore which actions would be taken if Revenue increased 10%, if Cost of Sales decreased by $50,000, and/or if Expenses increased 5%, amongst other baseline adjustment options.
Each scenario has its own version of the Business Roadmap and the main grid.
💡Pro Tip: To learn more about the differences between scenarios and microforecasts, please see our Microforecasts vs Scenarios article.
Anything you haven't changed in a scenario will remain in sync with your baseline forecast, giving you the ability to regularly come back to your scenarios and use them for making critical business decisions, or to simply visit a best case or worst case alternate possibility. As your main forecast updates with your actuals in Fathom, your scenarios will update and remain relevant as well.
💡Pro Tip: You can choose the main forecast or any other scenario you have already created to set the baseline for a new scenario. This enables you to layer different combinations of scenarios and microforecasts in new scenarios.
Creating a Scenario
To create a new scenario:
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Once this is complete you can click the 'Create Scenario' button to complete the process. The scenario will then be applied to the main grid and to the business roadmap throughout Fathom’s forecasting module. You can see that a scenario is turned on in the Forecasting tool because a green box with the scenario name will appear in the upper right corner of the main grid and Business Roadmap.
💡Pro Tip: Even if you base the scenario off of another scenario instead of the main forecast, ultimately all of the scenarios will be connected to the main forecast because the first scenario created has to be connected to the main forecast.
This allows the scenario to remain in sync with the main forecast as financial data for the entity is updated in Fathom and flows into the forecasting tool so that all of the scenarios remain relevant over time.
Turning scenarios on and off
There are two ways to turn on or apply scenarios to the forecasting tool. The first is to use the 'Cloud' icon in the upper right hand corner of the forecasting tool.Here you can select between scenarios and apply them to view the changes to your financials.
The second way to apply a scenario to a forecast is from the Scenario Manager panel, which can be opened with the ‘Cloud’ icon on the left sidebar of the forecasting tool. Simply create or select the scenario that you’d like to apply to your forecasting grid and business roadmap.
To turn off a scenario, simply go to the green box listing the scenario in the upper right corner of the forecasting tool. Click on the ‘X’ next to the scenario name and the scenario will be ‘turned off’, so the main grid and Business Roadmap will return to displaying the main forecast instead of the scenario.
Next steps
Continue the 'Forecast Creation & Setup Workflow' by choosing from one of the next steps below:
What you want to do: | Where to go next: |
Report on the forecast you've created to show others your findings | |
Audit the forecast you've created to ensure everything is set up and calculating as desired | |
Invite others into your Fathom account to share insights |
Additional knowledge & common questions