Scenarios & Offer Documents

Scenarios & Offer Documents

Your client says: "What if we shoot in Mexico instead of Spain?" In a spreadsheet world, that means duplicating the entire file, changing cells, and hoping nothing breaks. In Splinde, it takes 30 seconds. This guide shows you how — and how to turn the result into a professional PDF offer.

Watch the Video (2:35 min)

[Video Embed: Day 4 — Scenarios & Offer Documents: From Plan to Pitch]

Scenario Management

What is a Scenario?

A scenario is an alternative version of your budget that lives inside the same project. You can change any number in a scenario — fees, days, currencies, crew positions — without affecting your main budget.

Think of it as a "what if" path. What if we shoot in a different location? What if we add a shoot day? What if the client needs a 15% cut? Each question becomes a scenario that you can model, compare, and present.

How to Create a Scenario

1. Open your budget.

2. Click New Scenario.

3. Give it a name (e.g., "Service in Mexico" or "Reduced Budget").

4. The scenario starts as a copy of your main budget — same structure, same numbers.

5. Make your changes. Adjust fees, change days, add or remove line items.

Your main budget stays untouched. You can create as many scenarios as you need.

The Visual Delta

This is the feature that makes comparisons instant. When you change a number in a scenario, Splinde shows you:

• Blue highlighting on any value that differs from the main budget, so you can see exactly what changed.

• A delta value next to every affected section total. For example: if the Production Unit section costs 19,425 EUR in the main budget and 16,852 EUR in the scenario, you see –2,573 EUR right next to the section total.

You do not need to compare two spreadsheets row by row. The differences are highlighted automatically.

Sidebar Comparison

From the sidebar, you can toggle between all your scenarios using a dropdown. The section totals update instantly, giving you the macro picture: which option is cheaper overall, which sections are most affected, where the savings or overruns are. This is useful when you need a quick overview before diving into the details.

Scenario-Specific Variables

Each scenario can have its own values for the variables you have defined. For example: if you set up a variable called "Shooting Days" with a value of 3 in your main budget, you can change it to 2 in your "Reduced Budget" scenario. Every line item that references @Shooting Days recalculates — but only in that scenario. The main budget keeps its original values.

This is the fastest way to model budget changes. Change one variable, and the entire scenario recalculates across every section.

Common Use Cases for Scenarios

Offer Documents

What is the Offer Document Editor?

Splinde has a built-in document editor that lives right next to your budget numbers. You write your proposal text — introduction, production approach, descriptions, disclaimers — and the budget numbers are embedded directly from the live data.

This replaces the workflow where you copy numbers from Excel into a Word document, format them, and then manually update both files every time something changes.

How It Works

1. Open your budget and switch to the Offer Document tab.

2. Write your proposal text using the built-in editor. You can add headings, paragraphs, bullet lists, and quotes.

3. Press / (slash) to open the insert menu.

4. Select Cost Overview to insert a block that pulls section totals directly from the budget.

5. The numbers update automatically whenever the budget changes.

Scenario-Linked Documents

Here is the powerful part: your offer document is linked to your scenarios. If your client asks for "the Mexico version," you do not rebuild the document. You select the scenario from a dropdown at the top of the document editor, and the entire document updates — cost overview, section totals, line items, everything.

One click. Different numbers. Same professional document.

Export to PDF

When your offer document is ready, click Export. Splinde generates a professional PDF with your proposal text, your cost overview, and all the formatting — ready to send to the client. No copy-pasting, no formatting nightmares.

What is Next

Tomorrow is the final guide: a complete walkthrough of the entire Splinde workflow, from creating a budget to exporting a finished offer document. You will see how templates, AddOns, Variables, collaboration, scenarios, and offer documents come together in one fluid process.

Ready to try scenarios? Open your budget, click New Scenario, and change one fee.