BASELINE

Overview

Description	The BASELINE function returns the value for the inserted node with no assumptions applied, as well as all nodes that affect the input node have no assumptions applied. Use this to compare the effect of assumptions by seeing what a node's value would be without them.
Syntax	`BASELINE('Node' [, "useVariablesFrom"])`
Parameters	Node: An input node, specified in single quotes (e.g. `'Revenue'`) useVariablesFrom (optional): Determines which variable values are used in the calculation. `"SCENARIO"` - Uses variable values overridden by the scenario. This is the default. `"PROJECT"` - Uses the original project default values.
Limitations	If the model has multiple baselines, the baseline of the scenario is used. The `"PROJECT"` mode only applies project defaults to nodes calculated within the BASELINE function. Upstream nodes still use scenario values. Does not accept combinations of operations as input (e.g. `'A' + 'B'` is not valid).

Examples

Baseline values without assumptions

This example shows the baseline result of multiplying two nodes when no assumptions or variable overrides are applied. The project default variable $MY_VAR is set to 10.

Project default variables

$MY_VAR = 10

Input node: Node 1

Year	Value
2025	$MY_VAR
2026	$MY_VAR
2027	$MY_VAR
2028	$MY_VAR

Input node: Node 2

Year	Value
2025	1
2026	1
2027	1
2028	1

Formula: 'Node 1' * 'Node 2'

Year	Value
2025	10
2026	10
2027	10
2028	10

Note: Results above are the baseline results, i.e. with no assumptions applied.

Values with scenario overrides and assumptions

This example shows how the same nodes look when a scenario overrides $MY_VAR to 20 and assumptions are activated on both nodes.

Variable override via scenario and assumptions

$MY_VAR = 20

Scenario Assumptions

Input node: Node 1 (with overridden $MY_VAR as 'Base' and activated assumptions as 'Change')

Year	Base	Change	Result
2025	20	0	20
2026	20	10	30
2027	20	20	40
2028	20	30	50

Input node: Node 2 (with the initial measures as 'Base' and activated assumptions as 'Change')

Year	Base	Change	Result
2025	1	1	2
2026	1	2	3
2027	1	3	4
2028	1	4	5

Formula: 'Node 1' * 'Node 2'

Result node:

Year	*Base (Node 1 Node 2)**	Change	Result
2025	20 * 2	5	45
2026	30 * 3	5	95
2027	40 * 4	5	165
2028	50 * 5	5	255

Comparing SCENARIO vs PROJECT mode

This example shows the difference between the two modes: SCENARIO uses the variable value overridden by the scenario (20), while PROJECT uses the original project default (10).

Formula: BASELINE('Result Node') = BASELINE('Result Node', "SCENARIO")

Year	→ BASELINE Result
2025	20
2026	20
2027	20
2028	20

Formula: BASELINE('Result Node', "PROJECT")

Year	→ BASELINE Result
2025	10
2026	10
2027	10
2028	10

Related Functions

Function	When to use instead
NONSIM	When you only want to remove assumptions from the node itself. BASELINE removes assumptions from the node and all upstream nodes; NONSIM only removes them from the specified node.