Two documents that drift apart
A shared monthly finance review keeps the marketing budget and the marketing calendar aligned by putting both documents on the table at once, with finance owning the money figures and marketing owning the dates and scope. In each review, every campaign on the calendar is checked against a budget line, and every change since last month is either approved, funded from elsewhere or dropped.
The budget is usually set once a year, by quarter or month, against broad lines like digital, events and content. The calendar is a living plan that moves every week: a launch slips, a trade show is added, a campaign is cut. Within a couple of months the budget describes a plan that no longer exists, and the calendar contains campaigns nobody has funded.
Neither team is wrong to work this way. Budgets need stability so the company can plan cash; calendars need flexibility so marketing can respond to customers and competitors. The review reconciles those two needs on a known date rather than through scattered emails.
Who owns which number
Most arguments in these reviews come from unclear ownership. Settle it once and write it on the first page of the review pack.
Finance owns the approved budget, the actual spend posted to the ledger, accruals and the remaining balance per line. Marketing owns the campaign list, dates, scope, expected cost per campaign and the committed spend that has been agreed with suppliers but not yet billed. The forecast for the rest of the year is joint: marketing proposes it, finance checks it against cash and company targets, and the marketing head and financial controller agree it together. Committed spend is where most disputes start, so marketing should list each commitment with the supplier and the document that created it.
Monthly review agenda
Keep the meeting under an hour with a fixed running order. Send the pack a few days before, so the meeting is for decisions rather than reading.
- Actual spend versus budget for the month just closed, by budget line
- Committed but unbilled spend that finance should accrue
- Campaigns on the calendar for the next quarter with their expected cost and budget line
- Changes since last review: moved, added, cut or rescoped campaigns
- Unlinked bills and card charges marketing still needs to assign
- Reforecast for the rest of the year and any request to move budget between lines
- Decisions, owners and dates, recorded before the meeting closes
Handling moved, added and cancelled campaigns
Moved campaigns are the most common change. When a launch shifts by a month, its spend shifts too, and finance needs to know so accruals and cash plans follow. Marketing should flag date changes in the pack rather than leave finance to discover them from late bills.
Added campaigns need a funding source. Agree a rule: a new campaign is funded from unspent budget on the same line, from a named cancelled campaign, or by a formal request for extra budget. A campaign without one of those does not go on the calendar as confirmed.
Cancellations often leave sunk costs, such as deposits, design work already delivered or non-refundable bookings. Record them against the cancelled campaign so the year-end picture shows what the cancellation actually cost.
Sometimes a campaign comes in under its expected cost. Decide whether the saving returns to the line for reuse or is released to the company; otherwise marketing has a reason to overestimate.
Keeping the review short and useful
The review fails when it turns into a line-by-line audit or a debate about campaign creative. Finance is not there to judge whether a campaign is a good idea, and marketing is not there to question the accounting. Each side brings its numbers, the gaps are explained, and the decisions are about money and timing.
Attendance matters. The marketing head and financial controller, or their delegates with authority to decide, should be there. If the people present cannot approve a budget move, the meeting just produces a list for another meeting. Rotate who writes the pack commentary between the two teams, so neither feels it is presenting to the other.
Keep each month's pack and decisions in one place. At year end, the series of reviews explains every variance between the original budget and the actual spend, which saves a long reconstruction exercise when management asks why marketing ended where it did.
Supporting the review with your systems
The calendar side of the pack can come from BukuReach, which handles campaign planning and performance review, and the actuals and bills from BukuCloud, which covers bills, supplier payments and P&L reporting. Fasttrade scopes with you how the two sets of figures are brought together for the review, without assuming an automatic link.
Frequently asked questions
Should the review happen before or after the monthly close?
After the close for the month under review, so actuals are final, but early enough that decisions affect the next month's campaigns. Many companies hold it shortly after the management accounts are ready. If your close takes a long time, use preliminary figures and note which numbers may still change.
Who can approve moving budget between marketing lines?
Set this in your authority matrix. Often the marketing head can move budget between their own lines within the total, while increases to the total need approval from the financial controller or a director. Record each move in the review minutes so the year-end budget story is complete.
What if marketing's expected costs are always wrong?
Compare expected and actual cost per campaign over a few months to see whether the gap is consistent, such as agency fees always running over, or random. Consistent gaps can be fixed by adjusting estimates. Random gaps usually point to scope changes that were never written down, which the review should start capturing.
Next step
Explore BukuCloud or tell Fasttrade what your team needs.
These articles explain enterprise process design. Product availability and detailed scope are confirmed in conversation.