What-if and scenarios

Simulation lets you ask "what would happen if" before you change a plan or chase a deal. Commission What-If projects what extra sales would earn one participant, and Commission Scenarios replays historical credited sales under changed rates or a draft plan version to compare total cost, winners and losers, and fairness. Both are part of the Simulation and forecasting module and are isolated: they never write earnings, balances, settlements or G/L entries.

A replayed scenario compares baseline and scenario payout without touching live data.

Before you start

• Switch on the Simulation and forecasting module in Commission Feature Management. When it is off, scenario commands are refused with BAA-FEATURE-OFF. See Turn features on as you grow.
• Creating and replaying scenarios requires the Bitta Commission Setup Administrator permission set or a Finance (all participants) scope. Other users get BAA-SIM-SCOPE.
• For a what-if, you can choose only participants within your own commission scope.
• A scenario replays credited sales that already exist, so run at least one real calculation period first. See Calculation runs and schedules.

Project a participant's earnings (what-if)

1. Open Commission What-If.
2. Fill in the inputs:

Field	What to enter
Participant No.	The participant to model.
As Of Date	The date used to pick the plan version, period and rates.
Hypothetical Additional Sales (LCY)	Extra credited base to add to the period to date. Use a negative value to model a return.
Expected Customer Payment Date	The payment date assumed for payment-triggered eligibility.

1. Choose Project Earnings. Nothing is written.
2. Read Projected Additional Earnings and the lines per component: the period-to-date base and entitlement, the projected base and entitlement, Estimated Commission, Effective Rate %, Quota Target, Attainment After %, the Eligibility Trigger and Expected Eligible Date.

For components that pay only at period close, such as rankings, contests and period bonuses, Calculated at Period Close is selected and Period Close Entitlement shows what the close would pay on the results posted so far. Explanation tells you how each line was derived.

Scenario kinds

Action on Commission Scenarios	What it models
New Ghost Rule Scenario	Replays production credits with component rate overrides or a uniform rate adjustment. Hidden from participants and never shown or paid.
New Shadow Plan Scenario	Replays production credits against a draft plan version.
New Plan Simulation	Compares a proposed plan version with the live definition over a historical window.

Build and replay a scenario

1. Open Commission Scenarios and choose one of the New actions. The Commission Scenario card opens in Draft.
2. Enter a Name and a Description of the purpose and assumptions.
3. In Definition, set Fact Window From and Fact Window Through. Rates are read as of the through date.
4. Set Baseline Plan Version to the live version whose credits you replay, or leave it blank to replay every credited plan.
5. For shadow and plan scenarios, set Comparison Plan Version. Its components replace the live ones by matching component code.
6. For a ghost rule, either enter Rate Adjustment % (for example 10 for ten percent higher on every rate cell) or add lines in Rate Overrides: choose the component and enter Override Rate (decimal), for example 0.05 for five percent. Overrides take precedence over the adjustment.
7. Choose Freeze Inputs. The app validates the window, comparison and overrides and freezes them with an Input Hash, so the replay is reproducible.
8. Choose Replay. The app recalculates the arithmetic over the credited bases in the window and stores results and statistics. No ledger is touched.

To change a scenario after replay, choose Reopen. It returns to Draft and its results are cleared. Archive retires a scenario you no longer need.

Validation messages

Code	Meaning
BAA-SIM-WINDOW	The window needs a from date and a through date in order.
BAA-SIM-COMPARISON	Shadow and plan scenarios need a comparison plan version.
BAA-SIM-OVERRIDE	A rate override must be between 0 and 1.
BAA-SIM-ADJUSTMENT	The rate adjustment must be greater than -100 percent.
BAA-SIM-MODEL	A component uses a model the replay does not simulate.
BAA-SIM-LIVE-RATE, BAA-SIM-COMPARE-RATE	A component has no rate table at the end of the window.
BAA-SIM-COMPARE-COMPONENT	The comparison version has no component with a live component's code.

The replay covers Flat Rate, Flat Amount, Per Unit, Progressive Tier, Retroactive Tier and Formula components, plus other models the model catalog marks as previewable. Period-close components are shown as calculated at close.

Read the results

The Financial impact group on the card shows Credited Facts Replayed, Total Credited Base, Baseline Payout, Scenario Payout, Payout Delta, both payout ratios and Cost per Revenue Unit. Behavioral and fairness signals shows Participants Modeled, Participants Gaining, Participants Losing, Payout Ratio Dispersion and Exception Count.

• Results opens Scenario Results: one row per participant total and per participant and component, with team, territory, credited base, baseline and scenario payout, delta, band, rank and Explanation. Ledger Earnings in Window and Replay minus Ledger reconcile the baseline to what the ledger actually recorded. A gap usually means the window cuts across period accumulation. Calculation Trace opens the trace of the recorded earning behind a row.
• Financial and Behavioral Impact opens Scenario Impact and Fairness with total payout, payout ratio, cost per revenue, payout bands, winners, losers, largest gain and loss, and component mix.
• Fairness View shows payout ratio mean, dispersion, minimum and maximum across participants, teams and territories.

Compare two scenarios

1. On the scenario, choose Compare With, or choose Compare Scenarios on the list.
2. On Scenario Comparison, choose Scenario A and Scenario B and choose Compare.
3. Review Total A, Total B, B minus A, and per participant the payouts, difference, percent change and rank in each scenario, plus participants present in only one of them.

Check Grain Check first. Totals over different fact windows are not comparable.

How it works behind the scenes

• Scenarios store their own inputs, results and statistics. They never read or write the live earning, balance or settlement ledgers except to read credited history.
• Ghost and shadow scenarios stay hidden from participants and never enter totals or pay.
• Every result is labeled as a modeled outcome, not an earning.

Related pages

• Forecasts and estimates
• Plans, versions, and assignments
• Explain any earning
• AI plan design assistant