Save a scenario

Name and save the calculation

Once your breakdown has finished calculating with no errors, look for the Scenario name box near the bottom of the calculation screen. Type a short, memorable name, for example “March 2026 budget”. The Save scenario button only switches on once you’ve typed a name and the breakdown above is fully resolved.

If the breakdown still has a problem, for example a cost centre that needs an amount set, the screen tells you what to fix. Sort that out, then come back and save.

For what a scenario actually is and why providers keep them, see what a scenario is.

What a draft is

While you work, SILWise quietly saves your progress as a draft in the background, shortly after you pause typing, without you doing anything. A small note at the bottom of the screen tracks this: it reads Draft not saved yet until your first save, then Draft saved just now (or however long ago it last saved). A draft is not a saved scenario. It’s a safety net in case you close the tab or lose your connection.

If you come back to the calculation screen for the same house later and a draft still exists, SILWise shows a banner across the top telling you it has resumed your last unsaved session, and how long ago that was. Your previous inputs are already filled in, so you can carry straight on.

To start fresh instead, select Discard draft in that banner and confirm. SILWise clears the draft and resets the screen to blank inputs.

Saving freezes the figures

Selecting Save scenario locks in every number on the screen exactly as it stands: rent, board, subsidies and all totals. From that moment the saved scenario never changes, even if you later update rent, change a participant, or a new Centrelink rate is published. It’s a permanent record of what you proposed, on that date, not a live calculation that keeps moving.

Saving also clears the working draft for that house, since it isn’t needed any more.

Your first saved scenario

The first time your organisation ever saves a scenario, its page opens with a green You’re set up card above everything else, confirming this is your first saved calculation. It offers three things to do next:

• Download the schedule further down the page and share it.
• Select Add another house to start the same chain again for a second property.
• Select Run this house again whenever this house’s costs change, to work out a fresh calculation for it.

This card only appears once, on your very first saved scenario. Every scenario you save after that opens straight to the frozen breakdown, without it.

Finding a saved scenario again

Every saved scenario appears on the Scenarios page, newest first. Use Filter by house to narrow the list to one property, or leave it on All houses to see everything. Each row shows when it was saved, the house, the name you gave it, the calculation date, and who saved it. Select the name to open the frozen breakdown.

What you should see

After saving, SILWise takes you straight to that scenario’s page, showing the frozen breakdown you just created. From there, you can download a PDF to share - see download PDFs. If you haven’t run a calculation yet, start with run a calculation.