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Scope Phase | Spreadsheet Modelling Best Practices (SMBP) Course

The scope phase clarifies objectives and articulates what is in scope and what is out of scope in terms of:

• what the model exists to do i.e., what business need it is helping to meet;
• what the model needs to produce, i.e., what outputs are needed to help meet the need; and
• how the model goes about producing it (but not, yet, the mathematical logic), for example who will be using the model.

The scope phase also considers the risks. The level of risk depends on complexity, size, how well the problem is understood, how urgently the results are required, and the number of people involved.

A very simple example

Solar Power Limited wants a model to forecast energy revenue…

Area	In Scope	Out of Scope
Purpose	Supporting a decision to build a new solar farm	Enduring operational financial forecasts
Model Outputs	- 25 year revenue forecast - Monthly granularity - Best, Central & Worst scenarios - Total solar farm forecast - Outputs in tables	- Cost forecasts - Variable sensitivity analyses - Comparing different solar design options - Individual solar panel forecasts - Outputs in graphs or other form
Project Considerations	- Required by 30th March - Will be handed over to new staff member - Must be viewable by full project team	-

Coffee Cart - Scope Exercise

Follow the instructions for the scope phase of the coffee cart case study.