Marketing Budget Approvals Board

The Budget Approval Board helps marketing teams review, approve or reject budget items. This visual, drag-and-drop interface allows you to manage your marketing budget items through different approval stages.

Getting Started with the Process

When you go to the Approvals page of your budget you will see your budget items organized in four columns:

• Draft: Items in planning stage, not submitted for approval yet
• Pending Approval: Items submitted and waiting to be reviewed
• Approved: Items reviewed and approved
• Rejected: Items reviewed and rejected## Moving Items Through the Process

Move an Item to a New Status

To change an item’s status, simply drag it from the current column to the desired status column. For example, to approve an item that’s pending approval, drag it from the “Pending Approval” column to the “Approved” column.

This drag-and-drop functionality allows you to visualize your budget approval process without opening multiple forms or windows.

Item Cards

Each budget item will be displayed as a card with information:

• Item name
• Category
• Total planned amount
• Item owner

This summary information helps you to quickly identify and prioritize items during the approval process.

Filter and Order Budget Items

Filtering

Use the filter box at the top of the page to find specific items. You can filter by:

• Item name
• Category
• Currency
• Status
• And other attributes

Filtering is very useful when you have a large budget with many items to approve.

Grouping

You can order how items are displayed in each status column using the “Group by” dropdown in the top-right corner. Options are:

• No grouping: Display all items in a simple list
• Group by Category: Group items by their assigned category
• Group by Owner: Group items by the team member responsible for them

Grouping helps you to understand the distribution of budget items and spot patterns or bottlenecks in your approval process.

Item Details

To view or edit an item:

1. Click on the item card
2. A sidebar will open with all the item details
3. Review information including monthly planned amounts, notes and other attributes
4. Make changes if needed
5. Close the sidebar to go back to the main view

Use Cases

Monthly Budget Review Meetings

During monthly budget review meetings:

1. Project the interface on a screen
2. Go through each item in the “Pending Approval” column
3. Discuss with stakeholders
4. Drag items to “Approved” or “Rejected” in real-time as decisions are made
5. Add notes to explain decisions using the details panel

Campaign Budgets

When planning a new marketing campaign:1. Add all campaign expenses as Draft items 2. Assign categories and owners to each item 3. Once details are finalized, move items to “Pending Approval” 4. Finance team or management can review and move items to “Approved” 5. Start campaign execution with approved budget items

Quarterly Budget Realignment

During quarterly reviews:

1. Use the filter to focus on specific categories to adjust
2. Group items by owner to see spending distribution
3. Move items between statuses as priorities change
4. Submit new items directly to “Pending Approval” for immediate review

Tips

Approval Workflow Efficiency

• Regular Reviews: Schedule dedicated time for budget reviews to avoid backlogs
• Clear Ownership: Each budget item should have an owner
• Detailed Documentation: Add notes to explain unusual expenses or special requirements
• Status Updates: Keep momentum by moving items through the workflow promptly
• Categorization: Use consistent categories to enable filtering and reporting

Communication Flow

• When rejecting an item, always add feedback to the notes field
• When an item requires more information, move it back to “Draft” with specific questions
• Use the owner field to assign responsibility for feedback

Help

If you have questions about the Budget Approval Workflow, contact our support team at help@etropo.com or click the Help button in the app.