---
title: Compare planning scenarios
description: Compare various planning scenarios with your current or default plan to assess different combinations of projects and demands in your portfolio for execution. You can perform a what-if analysis and determine the planning scenario that optimally achieves the target budget and uses your resources.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-business-management/portfolio-management/compare-scenarios.html
release: australia
product: Portfolio Management
classification: portfolio-management
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Scenario Planning for PPM, Portfolio Management, Project Portfolio Management, Strategic Portfolio Management]
---

# Compare planning scenarios

Compare various planning scenarios with your current or default plan to assess different combinations of projects and demands in your portfolio for execution. You can perform a what-if analysis and determine the planning scenario that optimally achieves the target budget and uses your resources.

## Before you begin

Ensure that you have created up to four planning scenarios and selected projects and demands for execution. For more information, see [Create planning scenarios](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/portfolio-management/create-scenarios.md) and [Select demands and projects for portfolio planning](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/portfolio-management/select-prj-demands.md).

Role required: it\_portfolio\_manager

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to Portfolio Planning Workbench from either of two starting points.

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Location

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Steps

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**From application navigator**

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1.  Navigate to **Project** &gt; **Portfolios** &gt; **Portfolio Planning Workbench**.
2.  From the **Portfolio** list, select the portfolio that you want to perform the planning for.


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**From the portfolio list**

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1.  Navigate to **Project** &gt; **Portfolios** &gt; **All**.
2.  Open the portfolio that you want to perform the planning for.
3.  In the Portfolio form, click the **Portfolio Planning** related link.


</td></tr></tbody>
</table>2.  In the **Plan** tab of the Portfolio Planning Workbench, click **Compare Scenarios**.

    The Compare Scenarios page displays all the planning scenarios.

3.  Compare different aspects of the scenarios such as costs, number of projects and demands, benefit amount, and actuals for the selected projects and demands.

4.  Compare the variance between the scenarios for costs, number of projects and demands, benefit amount, actuals for the selected projects and demands, and so on.

    The variance value for different fields is displayed in red or green color. For example, if the planned cost of a scenario is greater than the planned cost of the confirmed plan, the planned cost variance is displayed in red. Or if the benefit amount of a scenario is greater than the benefit amount of the confirmed plan, the benefit amount variance is displayed in green.


## What to do next

Confirm a scenario that best aligns with your organizational objectives, optimally achieves your target budget, and uses your resources. For more information see, [Confirm a planning scenario](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/portfolio-management/confirm-a-scenario.md).

**Parent Topic:**[Scenario Planning for PPM](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/portfolio-management/portfolio-planning-overview.md)