What is a Scenario?

A Scenario is a full, independent version of a budget that lives beside the original as its own column in the editor. It lets you build a five-day shoot and a four-day shoot side by side, in the same file, without duplicating the whole budget or keeping a second spreadsheet.

What it's for

A producer often needs to show a client, or think through, more than one version of a budget. A Scenario gives each option its own live column next to Main, the original budget, so every version stays inside the same file and stays comparable.

How it works

Open the budget editor and scroll to the Add Scenario card at the right edge of the columns. It shows which budget the new Scenario will be based on, Main by default; use the picker to base it on a different Scenario instead. Click to create it. Main and every Scenario render at once as columns you scroll between.

A new Scenario starts as a full copy and is then independent. Amounts, rates, units, AddOns and Labels can all be changed in one Scenario without touching any other. Names of Cost Items and Sections are owned by Main, and a rename there reaches every Scenario, which keeps rows lined up so a comparison always matches line for line.

Each Scenario also keeps its own copy of the Variables, so a what-if in one column never leaks back into Main or any other Scenario. You get full creative control over each version. Documents work the same way: each Scenario gets its own copy of the document, editable independently.

To see the gap, look at the column header. Each Scenario shows its difference against Main there, the Scenario's total minus Main's total, so a costlier Scenario reads as a positive number. The Scenario Comparison Budget Block can put two versions into an Offer Document for the client. It shows the difference as base minus comparison.

Examples

Four days or five. Keep the four-day plan in Main and add a Scenario with the extra shoot day, so the client sees exactly what that day costs.
Studio or on location. Build one Scenario per location and compare transport, accommodation and set costs line for line.
The client's cap or the ideal plan. Hold the cap in one column and the plan you would like to shoot in another, so the difference is visible at a glance.
With or without a stunt or VFX sequence. Add the sequence in one Scenario only, and the rest of the budget stays untouched.