The Scenario Analysis tool allows you to review multiple scenarios for your client, be it for the same year or over multiple years.
Within Scenario Analysis, you can edit any income, deduction or credit item for your client, as well as the tax year and filing status/family details. (The exception to this is a scenario created directly from the uploaded return, which is not editable.) To expand on any section, click the green up/down arrow at the right-hand side of each section.
Creating Scenarios
The first scenario upon viewing the Scenario Analysis will be generated directly from the uploaded tax return, and this scenario will be named “Tax Year YYYY”. You cannot edit a scenario derived directly from the return, but you can use it as the base to generate new scenarios.
To create a new scenario, click the blue “+ Add a Scenario” button. You can copy from any visible scenario, an uploaded return, or create a blank scenario.
As a best practice when you’re getting started, we recommend keeping the scenario generated by the uploaded return, which is not editable, in the Scenario 1 column, and copying Scenario 1 by selecting “Copy from a Scenario” in the Scenario 2 column. This will create an identical scenario as the one generated by the tax return, but this one will be editable.
To distinguish between your scenarios, change the Scenario Name ("Tax Year 2021" in the above snapshot) to something descriptive. For example, if you anticipate showing the impact of a planning strategy, you may want to first create a baseline and name your scenario accordingly (e.g., “2022 Baseline”). Be sure to change the year for any newly created scenario: if you’re copying a scenario that was created using the tax return, every element of that return will be generated in the new scenario, including the year of the return. You’ll want to change this to show the results of a different tax year.