Introduction to Etropo

Etropo is an AI-native marketing budget management platform. Plan, track, and optimize your marketing spend collaboratively — from the Etropo app, from Slack, or through AI agents like Claude. Spend data flows in automatically from your ad platforms and invoices, and Budget Buddy AI helps you analyze, report, and act on it instantly.

Why Etropo

• AI-native - Budget Buddy AI understands your entire budget and can answer questions, generate reports, and make updates — in the app or directly in Slack
• Works where you work - Manage your budget from Etropo, update actuals from Slack, or query your spend through AI agents like Claude
• Automated spend tracking - Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Meta Ads sync automatically. Forward invoices by email and AI extracts the data
• Real-time collaboration - One shared budget with threaded comments, approval workflows, and granular access control
• CRM-connected - Link budget line items to pipeline data from Attio or HubSpot to see which spend drives conversions

Core Capabilities

1. Intelligent Budget Planning

Hierarchical Budget Structure

Create budgets organized by categories and line items with optional master category groupings for complex organizational structures:

• Master Categories - Group related categories under collapsible parent categories (e.g., “Digital Marketing” containing “Paid Search,” “Social Media,” “Display Advertising”)
• Categories - Organize spend by channel, campaign type, or function
• Line Items - Individual budget entries with planned amounts by month
• Cost Centers - Track departmental or functional allocations
• Custom Properties - Add custom fields (text, numbers, dropdowns) to categorize spend your way

Example budget hierarchy:

Marketing Budget 2025
├── Digital Marketing (Master Category)
│   ├── Paid Search
│   │   ├── Google Ads - Brand Keywords
│   │   ├── Google Ads - Non-Brand
│   │   └── Microsoft Ads
│   ├── Social Media
│   │   ├── LinkedIn Ads
│   │   ├── Meta Ads
│   │   └── Twitter Ads
│   └── Display Advertising
├── Content Marketing (Master Category)
│   ├── Blog & SEO
│   └── Video Production
└── Events & Sponsorships (Master Category)

Multi-Currency Support

Operate globally with native multi-currency capabilities:

• Set organizational default currency
• Assign different currencies to individual line items
• Automatic exchange rate tracking and conversion
• Variance calculations normalize across currencies

Collaborative Budget Building

• Single source of truth - All marketing team members access the same budget in real-time, eliminating version conflicts and ensuring CMOs have complete visibility into team planning
• Category-level access control - Grant specific team members access to relevant categories
• Line item owners - Assign responsible parties for each budget line
• Comments & discussions - Threaded comments on any line item or individual cell, with the ability to resolve and reopen discussions
• Visual approval workflows - Drag-and-drop kanban board to move line items through Draft, Pending Approval, Approved, and Rejected statuses

2. Automated Spend Tracking

Spend Data Integration

Automatically sync actual spend from your marketing platforms:

• Google Ads - Daily OAuth sync with multiple account support and up to 12 months historical import
• LinkedIn Ads - Daily sync with campaign mapping and historical data
• Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) - Daily sync for all your Meta ad accounts

• Google Sheets - Daily two-way sync for Finance team collaboration
• Slack - Flexible reminders (e.g., “first Tuesday of each month”) and one-click actual entry, plus Budget Buddy AI available directly in Slack

Invoice Automation

Two ways to process invoices with AI-powered extraction:

• Email forwarding - Forward vendor invoices to your unique email address
• Manual upload - Upload up to 10 PDF invoices directly from the interface

AI extracts amounts, dates, and descriptions automatically. Review and confirm in seconds - no manual data entry.

Manual Actuals Entry

For spend not tracked by integrations:

• Grid interface - Fast data entry with keyboard shortcuts
• Range selection - Select multiple cells at once (Cmd/Ctrl+click, Shift+select)
• Bulk updates - Update multiple months or line items simultaneously
• Yearly totals - At-a-glance annual totals column for every line item
• Currency-aware totals - Selected ranges show normalized totals across currencies
• Missing actuals tracking - Home dashboard shows which team members haven’t submitted actuals

3. Real-Time Insights & Analysis

Budget Variance Tracking

Automatic variance calculations show how you’re performing against plan:

• Monthly variance - Planned vs. actual for each month
• Variance percentage - Percentage over/under budget
• YTD tracking - Year-to-date planned vs. actual accumulation
• Annual forecast - Projected year-end spend based on actuals + remaining planned
• Status indicators - Visual alerts for variances (normal <5%, warning 5-10%, critical >10%)

Visual Budget Dashboard

Interactive charts and insights on your home page:

• Monthly allocation trends - See spend distribution over time
• Category breakdown - Pie chart of budget by category
• Growth analysis - Track budget changes period-over-period
• Drill-down capabilities - Click chart elements to explore details
• Configurable views - Monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly aggregations

Budget Buddy - AI-Powered Assistant

Your intelligent budget advisor with deep understanding of your specific budget:

Plan and build your budget with conversation — Add line items, create categories, approve budget requests, change owners, update cost centers, or set custom properties — all through natural language. Say “Add a TikTok Ads line item to Paid Media with $5,000/month for Q1” and Budget Buddy confirms the details, creates the line item, and sets the values in one step.

Ask anything about your budget — Type a question like you’d ask a colleague. “How much are we spending on social media?” or “What’s our total paid media budget for Q1?” Budget Buddy searches across all your line items and returns exact numbers.

Sync actuals in one prompt — Tell Budget Buddy what changed and it writes the numbers for you — across dozens of line items in a single step. “Update actuals based on this conference summary” and it maps the amounts to the right line items for you to confirm.

Spot overspending before it’s a problem — “Are we overspending anywhere this year?” Budget Buddy compares your actuals against planned amounts across every line item and category, and shows you exactly where the variance is.

Available everywhere you work:

• In Etropo - Access Budget Buddy from any page via the home dashboard widget or the chat panel
• In Slack - Ask Budget Buddy questions directly in Slack without switching to Etropo
• In Claude, ChatGPT & other AI agents - Connect Etropo via MCP and manage your budget from any AI assistant

4. Permissions & Access Control

Organization Roles

• Admins - Full budget access, integration management, member management
• Members - Access to assigned categories and line items

Granular Category Access

Fine-grained control over who sees what:

• Category-level permissions - Grant access to specific categories
• Inherited access - Master category access automatically grants access to child categories
• Line item ownership - Assign owners for specific budget lines
• Bulk access management - Add/remove access for multiple users at once

Why this matters: Share your overall marketing budget with the VP of Marketing while giving individual channel managers access only to their categories. Junior team members can update actuals for their line items without seeing executive compensation budgets.

5. Campaigns & CRM Integration

Track how your marketing budget translates into pipeline and conversions by connecting your CRM:

• Attio integration - Sync deals and pipeline data from Attio to see which budget line items drive conversions
• HubSpot integration - Connect HubSpot CRM for campaign conversion tracking
• Campaign tracking - Link budget line items to campaigns and see performance alongside spend
• Expandable campaign rows - Drill into campaign-level detail directly from your budget view

Why this matters: See spend and pipeline impact side by side. Know which channels are actually driving results, not just consuming budget.

6. Custom Fiscal Year

Not every organization runs January-December:

• Custom fiscal year start - Set your fiscal year to start in any month (e.g., April for Q1)
• Aligned reporting - All charts, variance tracking, and exports respect your fiscal calendar
• Period grouping - View data by your actual quarters, not just calendar quarters

7. Data Export & Reporting

XLSX Export

Instant download of budget data in Excel format:

• Export options - Current view only (Plans OR Actuals) or Both
• Complete structure - Master categories, categories, line items, cost centers, properties
• Monthly columns - All months in budget period
• One-click export - Immediate download, no waiting

Google Sheets Sync

Automated bi-directional sync with Google Sheets:

• Three-tab spreadsheet - Plans, Actuals, and Plans & Actuals Combined
• Daily automated sync - Fresh data every morning
• Manual sync - On-demand refresh with one click
• Live collaboration - Share with Finance team using Google Sheets permissions
• Additional columns - Includes Owner and Currency data (not in XLSX export)

Use case: Finance team requires Google Sheets for their reporting stack. Connect your budget once, and they get fresh data every morning without bothering you.

8. Import Your Existing Budget

Import your existing budget in under a minute:

• 60-second import - Upload Excel/CSV and get structured budget
• AI-powered detection - Automatically identifies line items, categories, cost centers
• No manual mapping - System figures out your structure
• Multi-currency support - Handles mixed currencies in import

Subscription Plans & Trial

14-Day Pro Trial

Every new organization automatically receives:

• Full Pro access for 14 days
• No credit card required
• All integrations included
• Unlimited team members

Paid Plans

After trial, choose the plan that fits your needs:

• Essential - Core budgeting features, basic exports
• Pro - All features including integrations, AI assistant, advanced analytics
• Custom - Enterprise features, custom limits, priority support

See pricing page  for current pricing.

How Etropo Works: The Planning Cycle

1. Build Your Budget

• Set up organizational defaults (currency, fiscal year start month)
• Create budget with start and end dates
• Define categories and master categories (if using hierarchical structure)
• Add line items with planned monthly amounts
• Assign owners and cost centers
• Add custom properties as needed

2. Track Actuals

Choose your tracking method:

• Automated - Connect Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or Meta Ads for automatic sync
• Invoice automation - Upload PDFs or forward vendor invoices to unique email address for AI extraction
• Manual entry - Use the grid interface for non-integrated spend
• Slack reminders - Get flexible reminders (e.g., “first Tuesday of each month”) to update actuals

3. Analyze Performance

• Dashboard insights - Visual charts show budget health at a glance
• Variance tracking - Automatic planned vs. actual comparisons
• Budget Buddy AI - Ask questions and get instant analysis
• Export reports - Generate XLSX or sync to Google Sheets

4. Adjust & Optimize

• Reforecast - Update planned amounts based on actual performance
• Reallocate budget - Move budget between categories as priorities shift
• Approval workflows - Submit changes for stakeholder approval
• Comments & collaboration - Discuss changes with team members inline

5. Repeat

• Duplicate for next period - Copy budget structure for next quarter/year
• Refine process - Improve accuracy with each cycle
• Build history - Create trends and year-over-year comparisons

Who Etropo Is For

Primary Users

• Marketing Operations Managers - Centralize and automate budget tracking
• CMOs & VPs of Marketing - Executive visibility into marketing spend
• Finance Business Partners - Collaborate with marketing on budget management
• Performance Marketing Managers - Track paid media ROI and spend pacing
• Marketing Coordinators - Update actuals and manage line item details

Organization Types

• Mid-market companies (50-500 employees) with dedicated marketing teams
• Agencies managing client budgets across multiple accounts
• SaaS companies with complex digital marketing spend
• B2B companies with multi-channel marketing programs
• E-commerce brands with seasonal budget fluctuations

Team Size

• Works for solo marketers managing their own budget
• Scales to large marketing teams (50+ members) with role-based access

What Makes Etropo Different

Getting Started

Ready to manage your marketing budget with AI?

Quick Start (3 Steps)

1. Sign up - Create your account  (takes 60 seconds)
2. Choose your path:
   • Import existing budget - Upload your file and start in 60 seconds
   • Create new budget - Build from scratch with guided setup
3. Start tracking - Connect integrations or enter actuals manually

Your 14-day Pro Trial starts immediately - no credit card required.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Etropo different from other budget tools?

Etropo is AI-native. Budget Buddy AI understands your entire budget — ask it questions, generate reports, or make updates in natural language, directly in the app or from Slack. It’s not a bolt-on feature; the platform is built around it.

Key capabilities:

• AI assistant - Budget Buddy answers questions, generates reports, and makes budget updates from the app or Slack
• Automated spend tracking - Google Ads, LinkedIn, Meta Ads, and CRMs sync automatically
• AI invoice processing - Forward a PDF by email, AI extracts the data, you confirm with one click
• Real-time collaboration - Threaded comments on any cell, approval workflows, and granular permissions
• CRM integration - Connect Attio or HubSpot to see spend alongside pipeline impact
• Complete audit trail - See who changed what, when

What exactly does Etropo do?

Etropo is marketing budget software that handles three core functions:

1. Planning - Create budgets organized by categories and line items with monthly planned amounts
2. Tracking - Automatically sync actual spend from ad platforms, invoices, or manual entry
3. Analysis - Compare planned vs. actual with variance calculations, dashboards, and AI insights

It’s a collaborative, AI-native platform built specifically for marketing teams.

What’s the pricing?

Transparent, self-service pricing:

• 14-day Pro Trial - Free, no credit card required
• Essential Plan - Core budgeting features
• Pro Plan - All features included
• Custom Plan - Enterprise features and priority support

See pricing page  for current pricing.

No per-seat pricing - Invite unlimited team members on any plan.

Do you offer a free trial?

Yes! Every new organization gets a 14-day Pro Trial with:

• ✅ All Pro features unlocked
• ✅ All integrations available
• ✅ Unlimited team members
• ✅ No credit card required
• ✅ No auto-charges when trial ends

Start your trial: Sign up here 

Can I export my data from Etropo?

Absolutely. You own your data and can export anytime:

XLSX Export:

• Download Excel files instantly
• Choose Plans, Actuals, or Both
• Includes all budget structure and metadata

Google Sheets Export:

• Automated daily sync to Google Sheets
• Three tabs: Plans, Actuals, Combined
• Manual sync available anytime

CSV Export:

• Available for all budget data
• Standard format for importing elsewhere

No lock-in - Export everything and cancel anytime if needed.

Does Etropo support multiple currencies?

Yes. Full multi-currency support:

• Set organizational default currency
• Assign different currencies to individual line items
• Define custom exchange rates
• Automatic currency conversion for variance calculations
• Multi-currency totals in range selections
• Currency column in exports

Example: You can have line items in USD, EUR, and GBP in the same budget, and Etropo will normalize everything for variance analysis.

Should I invite my marketing team to Etropo?

Absolutely! Etropo is designed for team collaboration:

Benefits of inviting team members:

• Line item owners can update their own actuals
• Comments enable inline discussions
• Approval workflows involve relevant stakeholders
• Each person sees only their accessible categories (no data leakage)
• Slack reminders notify individuals when actuals are due

No per-seat fees - Add unlimited team members on any plan.

Access control: Set granular permissions so junior team members only see their line items while execs see everything.

What integrations does Etropo offer?

• Google Ads - Daily automated sync, multiple accounts, historical import
• LinkedIn Ads - Daily sync, campaign mapping, historical data
• Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) - Daily sync for all your Meta ad accounts
• Attio - CRM integration for campaign conversion tracking
• HubSpot - CRM integration for campaign conversion tracking
• Google Sheets - Daily two-way sync for Finance collaboration
• Slack - Flexible actuals reminders, one-click updates, and Budget Buddy AI bot
• Invoice Automation - Upload or forward PDFs for AI-powered extraction and matching

How long does it take to set up?

Most teams are fully operational within one day — import your existing budget, connect your ad accounts, and invite your team. No complex setup or IT involvement required.

Is my data secure?

Yes. Etropo is built on SOC 2 Type II compliant infrastructure with end-to-end encryption. Optional two-factor authentication (2FA) is available for all accounts. See etropo.com/security  for full details.

Can I try Etropo for free before committing?

Yes! The 14-day Pro Trial is specifically designed for this:

• Import your existing budget
• Connect your ad accounts to see automated sync
• Invite a few team members to test collaboration
• Generate reports and use AI assistant
• No credit card required, no commitment

Ready to manage your marketing budget with AI? Start your 14-day Pro Trial →