Scenarios guide
Scenarios let you test what-if changes without manually rewriting your underlying data.
You can use them to:
- hide matching transactions
- increase or decrease amounts
- set amounts to a fixed value
- move dates earlier or later
- add one-off transactions
- add repeating transactions
Scenarios are useful when you want to explore possibilities such as:
- What happens if sales rise by 10%?
- What happens if customers pay two weeks later?
- What happens if we hire someone next month?
- What happens if a certain cost disappears?
A simple way to think about scenarios is:
- choose the kind of change you want
- choose which transactions it should affect
- turn the scenario on
- review the outcome across your tabs
Where to find scenarios
Scenarios are managed from the Scenario creator.
From there, you can:
- add a new scenario
- organise scenarios into folders
- turn scenarios on or off
- edit, duplicate, or delete them
If any scenarios are active, Budgee shows the active count in the Scenario creator area.
1. Create a scenario
Select Add, then choose the kind of scenario you want to build.
The main scenario actions are:
- Add new…
- Hide all that…
- Increase by…
- Decrease by…
- Set to…
- Bring forward by…
- Delay by…
Scenario types
| Scenario type | What it does | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Add new… | Creates new scenario transactions | Planned income, new costs, one-off purchases |
| Hide all that… | Hides matching transactions | Testing the removal of an income or cost stream |
| Increase by… | Increases matching amounts | Sales growth, rising costs |
| Decrease by… | Decreases matching amounts | Discounts, cost savings |
| Set to… | Replaces matching amounts with one fixed amount | Setting a clean target value |
| Bring forward by… | Moves matching dates earlier | Earlier project start, earlier payment |
| Delay by… | Moves matching dates later | Late payments, delayed costs |
Add new…
Use Add new… when you want the scenario to create transactions rather than modify existing ones.
You can add either:
- a one-off transaction
- a repeating transaction
This is useful for things like:
- a planned marketing spend
- a new contract starting next month
- a temporary recurring cost
- an expected new revenue stream
Hide all that…
Use Hide all that… when you want matching transactions to disappear from the scenario view.
This is useful for questions like:
- What if this cost goes away?
- What if we exclude this income stream?
Increase by… / Decrease by…
Use these to change matching amounts by:
- a percentage
- a fixed amount
This is useful for questions like:
- What if sales rise 10%?
- What if supplier costs increase by $500?
Set to…
Use Set to… when you want matching transactions to use one fixed amount instead.
You can choose whether the result should be:
- Incoming
- Outgoing
This is useful when you want a clean target number instead of a relative adjustment.
Bring forward by… / Delay by…
Use these to move matching transaction dates earlier or later.
This is useful for questions like:
- What if invoices are paid two weeks later?
- What if this project starts one month earlier?
2. Choose which transactions the scenario should affect
For most scenario types, the next step is deciding which transactions should match.
You can target transactions using filters such as:
- description
- category
- labels
- bank account
- allocation or tracking category
- incoming, outgoing, or transfer
- transfer destination
- paid or unpaid
- due date range
- source
- contact
You do not need to use every filter. Usually, one or two good filters are enough.
A good way to build scenarios
Start with the smallest reliable filter set. For example:
- category and date range
- contact and type
- source and paid or unpaid status
Forecasting tip: For most scenarios, you want to choose unpaid to ensure they only apply to transactions in the future.
3. Save the scenario
When you save a new scenario, Budgee turns it on straight away.
That means you can create a scenario and immediately see the effect in the board.
If the scenario is incomplete, Budgee will not let you save it yet.
4. Turn scenarios on and off
Each scenario has a checkbox.
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Checked | The scenario is active |
| Unchecked | The scenario is inactive |
Folders can also be toggled, which turns all scenarios inside that folder on or off together.
5. Understand what happens across tabs
This is the most important thing to know about scenarios:
Active scenarios are not tied to one tab.
When you turn a scenario on, it stays active for you across the whole board, even when you switch tabs.
That means you can:
- turn on a scenario in one tab
- move to another tab
- see that tab redraw using the same active scenario set
Each tab simply shows the same scenario outcome in its own layout.
What you might notice when switching tabs
Depending on the scenario, you may see:
- transactions disappear if a hide scenario is active
- amounts change if an amount scenario is active
- dates move into different periods or columns if a date scenario is active
- new one-off or repeating transactions appear
- totals, balances, and grouped rows change because the displayed transactions changed
Important detail
Scenario activation is stored per user for the board.
That means:
- your active scenarios follow you across tabs
- they are not automatically turned on for every other user
6. See how scenario outcomes appear in the app
Budgee gives you several clues when a scenario is affecting what you are looking at.
On transaction cards
You may see:
- a scenario-coloured highlight
- changed amounts
- a lock icon when a scenario is controlling the displayed date
- cards moving into different periods because the displayed date changed
In the transaction dialog
If you open an affected transaction, you may see:
- an amount hint showing the value after scenarios
- date fields disabled with Disabled by a date scenario
- a banner showing that the transaction is part of a scenario
- a View button that jumps straight to that scenario
In grouped or summary tabs
Because active scenarios change the displayed transactions, you may also see:
- different totals
- different counts
- different group balances
- different cards appearing in each group or period
In forecasting
Scenario-created future transactions can also appear in forecasting views.
In forecast charts, they are treated as other future transactions, not as forecast assumptions generated by the forecasting engine.
7. Use folders to organise scenarios
Folders help you group related scenarios together.
For example:
- a hiring plan
- a downside case
- a growth case
- a seasonal campaign
Folders are useful when you want to:
- keep a long scenario list tidy
- turn a whole set on or off together
- duplicate a grouped plan
- shift the dates of a grouped plan together
8. Shift scenario start dates
Scenarios often become less useful when their dates drift into the past.
Budgee lets you shift the start date for:
- one scenario
- a whole folder
When you shift a folder, Budgee keeps the spacing between the scenarios inside it.
This is useful when reusing a plan from an earlier month or year.
If a scenario already starts in the past, Budgee warns that it may already be affecting the forecast.
9. Review scenarios from affected transactions
If a transaction belongs to a scenario, the transaction dialog may show a scenario banner with a View button.
This gives you a quick way to:
- confirm why a transaction is there
- jump to the scenario behind it
- adjust the scenario instead of editing the generated transaction directly
This is especially useful for scenario-created repeating transactions.
10. Adjust scenarios on the fly with sidebar controls
Each scenario has a Sidebar control setting that determines how it appears in the scenario list. This lets you adjust a scenario's value without opening the full editor.
Control types
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tick | A simple on/off checkbox. This is the default. |
| Number | Shows an editable number field so you can type in a value directly. |
| Slider | Shows a draggable slider with a min and max range you define. |
What the control changes
The value that the control adjusts depends on the scenario type:
- For Add new… scenarios, it changes the transaction amount.
- For Increase by… or Decrease by… scenarios, it changes the percentage or dollar adjustment.
- For Set to… scenarios, it changes the fixed amount.
- For Bring forward by… or Delay by… scenarios, it changes the number of days, weeks, months, or years.
This means you can see the effect of different values in real time across your board without re-editing the scenario each time.
Using a slider
When you choose Slider, you set a Min and Max range. The slider then appears directly in the scenario list.
Drag the slider to change the value and watch your board update instantly.
Tip: Sliders are great for exploring ranges. For example, set a salary scenario slider from $0 to $150,000 and drag to see how different hire costs affect your cash flow.
Important: Changing a slider or number value updates the scenario itself, not just your view. This means the change applies for all users on the board, not only you.
11. Practical ways to use scenarios
Good first scenario ideas include:
- increasing one income category by 10%
- delaying outgoing payments by 14 days
- hiding a non-essential expense category
- adding a repeating salary or contractor cost
- adding a one-off equipment purchase
Practical tips
| Tip | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Keep scenarios small and clear | Two simple scenarios are usually easier to trust than one sprawling monster |
| Use folders for versions of the same idea | Great for Best case, Base case, and Worst case |
| Expect cards to move if dates change | Date scenarios can shift items into different periods |
| Use scenarios for personal testing | Active state is per user, so they are good for private exploration |
| Review multiple tabs after turning one on | Different tabs reveal different consequences of the same scenario |
Reference details
Description matching
Important: The description filter requires an exact full-description match and is case sensitive.
Worth remembering if something is not matching when you expected it to.
Amount behaviour
Increase by… and Decrease by… support both % and $ adjustments.
Set to… replaces the amount entirely and lets you choose Incoming or Outgoing.
Sign protection
Increase and decrease scenarios will not flip a transaction from incoming to outgoing (or vice versa). If the calculation would cross zero, Budgee clamps it at zero instead.
Scenario order matters
Scenarios are applied in the order they appear in the scenario list. This means the sequence can affect the final result.
For example, if a transaction starts at $200:
- Set to $100 then Increase by 10% → result is $110
- Increase by 10% then Set to $100 → result is $100
If your scenarios are not producing the result you expect, check the order they appear in the list. You can drag scenarios to reorder them.
Date shift units
Date scenarios shift transactions by a chosen number of days, weeks, months, or years.
Dragging affected transactions by date is blocked while a date scenario controls the displayed date.
Add new… details
For repeating scenarios, the editor includes transaction details, frequency, end rules, amount change rules, and scenario transaction colour.
Saving and validation
| Scenario type | What is needed to save |
|---|---|
| Non-add scenario | A usable matching scope |
| Amount-changing scenario | A usable amount |
| Add scenario | Transaction details |
An incomplete scenario appears as not fully valid in the list.
Scenario list actions
Each scenario row supports: activate/deactivate, edit, shift start date, duplicate, and delete.
If the source scenario is active, duplicating it also activates the duplicate.
Missing references
If a scenario points to something that no longer exists (e.g. a deleted category, contact, or bank account), Budgee shows a missing reference warning. Review the scenario before relying on its result.