AI Budget Buddy
What is AI Budget Buddy?
AI Budget Buddy is an AI assistant built into Etropo that has full access to your budget data. It can retrieve line items, analyze variance, create new items, update values, and manage approvals — all through natural language.
It’s available in three places: Etropo’s web app, as a Slack bot (@etropo), and via MCP for external AI tools.
What It Can Do
Plan
- Add line items — create up to 20 line items in a single request, with optional planned/actual values for specific months.
- Set planned amounts — set or change planned amounts for specific line items and months.
- Create categories — create top-level or nested budget categories (admin-only).
- Check remaining budget — see how much is left across the entire budget or specific categories.
Analyze
- Variance analysis — calculates actual vs. planned across line items, categories, and budget totals. Sorted by variance amount and percentage.
- Budget vs. actual breakdowns — compare planned and actual spending at any level.
- Monthly spending trends — track how spending evolves over time.
- Category-level summaries — get totals and breakdowns per category.
Update Actuals
- Update actual spend — set actual amounts for specific line items and months.
- Bulk updates — batch up to 50 value updates at once.
Manage Properties
- Update properties — bulk update status, owner, cost center, category, name, or currency across up to 50 line items. Useful for approval workflows, reassignments, and reorganization.
Learn
- Product help — answers how-to questions by searching Etropo’s documentation (e.g., “How do I create a budget?”, “What integrations are available?”).
Important: All write operations require your confirmation before executing.
Where to Use It
| Channel | How it works |
|---|---|
| Web app | Click AI Budget Buddy in the navigation. Conversations are saved automatically. |
| Slack | Mention @etropo or DM the bot in any workspace where it’s installed. Conversations are threaded. |
| MCP | Connect external AI tools (like Claude Code) to your budget data via Etropo’s MCP server. |
Example Questions
Plan
- “Add a TikTok Ads line item to Paid Media with $5,000/month planned for Jan–Mar”
- “Set planned amounts for Q2 across all Paid Media items”
- “Create a new subcategory for Events”
- “How much is left in the budget?”
Analyze
- “Which line items are over budget?”
- “Show budget vs actual breakdown”
- “What has the highest variance?”
- “Monthly spending trends”
- “Give me a category-level summary”
Update Actuals
- “Update actual spend for Google Ads to $7,200 for March”
- “Bulk update actuals for this month”
Manage Properties
- “Approve all draft items in the Events category”
- “Assign all Paid Media items to Sarah”
Stakeholder Reporting
- “Give me a table of all categories with planned, actual, and variance”
- “Summarize our Q1 budget performance for a board meeting”
Tips
- Be specific when you need specifics. “Show me Google Ads spending for March” works better than “show me some spending.”
- Ask follow-ups. AI Budget Buddy keeps conversation context, so you can drill down without repeating yourself.
- Use it for reporting. It formats data in markdown tables — useful for pasting into emails or presentations.
For additional help you can reach out to our support team at: help@etropo.com
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