Base Scenarios

Base Scenario Behavior

Every organization in Pluvo has one Base Scenario—your financial source of truth. Other scenarios are branches created from the base that inherit everything by default, unless a change is made.

This model gives you power and flexibility: change only what’s different, and let the rest stay in sync.

How Scenario Inheritance Works

When you create a new scenario:

• It clones the Base Scenario

• All variable definitions are linked to the Base

• Changes in the Base will automatically propagate to all scenarios—unless a variable or cell has been overridden

Linked vs. De-Linked Variables and Cells

Editing a Variable

If you edit a variable’s formula in a non-base scenario:

• That variable becomes fully de-linked

• It no longer inherits any updates from the Base

• If you delete the changes to a de-linked variable, the link to base will be restored.

Editing a Cell

If you change a single cell (within a variable) in a scenario:

• Only that cell becomes de-linked

• The rest of the variable remains linked to the Base

• Future changes in the Base will apply to all non-de-linked cells

De-linked cells are visually indicated by a blue highlight in the grid.

This behavior applies to both forecast and actuals definitions—you can override either on a cell-by-cell basis.

Example Walkthrough

You have a variable called Engineer Salary in both your Base and Optimistic scenarios.

• In the Base Scenario, salary is $10,000/month

• In the Optimistic Scenario, you increase the April salary to $12,000 by editing a single cell

  • That April cell is now de-linked

  • It appears highlighted blue

  • If you later change the base salary to $11,000:

    • All months except April update in the Optimistic Scenario

    • April stays at $12,000 (it’s de-linked)

You can override as little or as much of a variable as needed, giving you surgical control without needing to fully de-link everything.

Quick Reference: What Happens When...

Action	Result
Edit a variable in Base	All linked variables in other scenarios update
Edit a full variable in a scenario	That variable becomes fully de-linked
Edit a single cell in a scenario	That cell becomes de-linked (blue highlight)
Edit a de-linked variable in Base	No impact on scenarios where that variable is de-linked
Edit a de-linked cell in Base	No impact on that cell; others may still update

Global Behaviors

Some actions affect all scenarios, regardless of link status:

Action	Applies to All Scenarios
Creating or deleting variables	✅ Yes
Changing variable structure (folders)	✅ Yes
Editing actuals logic	✅ Yes (unless de-linked)

Best Practices

• Use full variable edits for structural or logic changes

• Use cell overrides when modeling point-in-time differences (bonuses, late payments, etc.)

• Watch for blue-highlighted cells to track where scenario logic diverges

• Avoid de-linking unnecessarily—linked variables are easier to maintain

For more on how to roll scenario changes back into the Base, see Merging Scenarios.