Scenario-based budget planning

Test hiring and staffing scenarios with budget impact.

Create a budget scenario

  1. Go to Scenario Planning
  2. Create a staffing scenario (e.g., “Hire 2 engineers Q3”)
  3. Switch to Budget & Finance within that scenario
  4. See how budget changes with the new headcount

Example

Baseline: 15 engineers, $600k annual budget Scenario: Hire 2 engineers mid-Q3

  • Q1–Q2: $300k (baseline)
  • Q3: $325k (4.5 months original + 1.5 months new hires)
  • Q4: $350k (all 17 people)
  • Total: $825k vs. $600k budget
  • Delta: Need $225k additional budget

Compare budget across scenarios

  1. Go to Scenario Planning
  2. View multiple staffing scenarios
  3. Create a comparison:
ScenarioHeadcountAnnual CostVariance
Baseline15$600k—
Hire 2 eng17$825k+$225k
Hire 3 eng18$950k+$350k
Attrition (-2)13$500k-$100k

Make hiring decisions

Use budget scenarios to approve hiring:

  • “We can hire 2 engineers in Q3 for +$225k”
  • “Or defer hiring to Q4”
  • “Or hire 1 now, 1 in Q4”

Commit scenario to budget

Once you’ve committed a staffing scenario:

  1. The budget automatically reflects new headcount
  2. Update your budget in Budget & Finance to match
  3. Communicate the new budget to stakeholders

Adjust budget for scenarios

  1. Create a scenario
  2. Add/remove headcount
  3. Update budget in Budget & Finance > scenario mode
  4. See financial impact side-by-side with staffing

Monitor actuals against scenario budget

Once a scenario becomes baseline:

Forecast remaining spend for the year

Track spending against the scenario budget

Adjust actuals as hires ramp up

On this page

  1. Create a budget scenario
    1. Example
  2. Compare budget across scenarios
  3. Make hiring decisions
  4. Commit scenario to budget
  5. Adjust budget for scenarios
  6. Monitor actuals against scenario budget

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