Open Planning → Taxes → Scenarios to create and edit tax-planning scenarios. Use separate scenarios for alternatives you want to compare so the baseline facts remain intact.
The Taxes navigation includes Plan, Returns, Scenarios, and Compare. Plan organizes tax-planning opportunities, Returns stores imported returns, Scenarios contains the models, and Compare places selected scenarios side by side.
How do I create a tax scenario?
On Scenarios, select the + menu beside the scenario tabs. Choose one of the current creation methods:
Manual input starts a new calculator with default and derived inputs.
Copy current scenario duplicates the selected scenario and all of its saved inputs.
A completed item under From extracted returns creates a scenario from the selected extracted tax return.
Enter a name that identifies the tax year and tested decision, such as 2026 Baseline or 2026 Roth Conversion. After creation, confirm the new scenario tab is selected.
Starting from a return requires a completed extraction with available form fields. Review any household-person matching step before accepting the scenario.
How do I rename, copy, or delete a scenario?
Rename the scenario using the editable scenario tab control.
Use the + menu and Copy current scenario to preserve the baseline before changing a strategy input.
Use the red trash control to delete the selected scenario. The delete option appears only when another scenario will remain, and Kerdora asks for confirmation.
Do not delete a scenario that documents a planning decision until you have preserved the result or no longer need the comparison history.
How do I choose the main scenario?
The scenario marked as the client's main tax scenario is the tax model referenced by other applicable Kerdora views. Open the intended scenario's Inputs workspace and use the current Set as main scenario control. Confirm its scenario tab displays the primary indicator before leaving the page.
Changing the main scenario changes which saved tax model is treated as primary. It does not merge the scenario's manual inputs into the client's Profile records.
What is inside a scenario?
Each selected scenario has these advisor workspace views:
Inputs — configuration, income, adjustments, deductions, credits, payments, and other modeled facts.
Advisor Analysis — tax results, rates, thresholds, payment analysis, and planning relationships.
Client Report — the client-ready explanation of the selected scenario.
1040 Review — the supported line-oriented view of the modeled return.
Administrators can also see Reconciliation. It is not part of the normal advisor workflow.
How do Derived inputs and overrides work?
Many tax fields can derive from saved client records. A derived value follows the current source and can change when the client file changes. A manual value is an override for this scenario.
Before changing an unexpected number:
confirm the selected scenario and tax year;
inspect the field's source or derived explanation;
correct the Profile record when the source fact is wrong;
enter a manual scenario value only when the modeled assumption should differ; and
return the field to derived mode when it should follow the source again.
Check the unit and owner. A monthly amount entered as annual, or household income assigned to one adult, can materially distort the result.
How do I compare scenarios?
Build and verify the baseline scenario.
Copy it through + → Copy current scenario.
Rename the copy for the tested strategy.
Change only the inputs that define that alternative.
Open Compare.
Add, remove, or replace scenarios using the comparison controls.
Review the amounts and thresholds relevant to the decision.
If Compare needs another scenario, use Duplicate current scenario and then edit the new copy. Keep baseline facts such as tax year, filing status, state, and unaffected income consistent unless one of those facts is the variable being tested.
What should I review before using the result?
Confirm:
tax year, filing status, state, and household members;
income and entity ownership;
deductions and credits;
withholding and estimated payments;
derived inputs and manual overrides;
the strategy amount changed in the alternative; and
any threshold that drives the recommendation.
Use Advisor Analysis to understand the model before relying on Client Report. A scenario is a planning estimate, not a filed return or tax-preparation system. Coordinate material decisions with the client's tax professional, record adopted advice as a Change, and use Tasks for elections, forms, estimates, and follow-up.