Marketing Budget Planning

The Plans Editor view allows you to manage your marketing team budget.

Marketing Budget Editor

Budget Grid

The main section where you manage your marketing budget data. It consists of overall totals and categories with their line items.

Line Items

Creating Line Items

To add a new line item:

Click the “Add Item” button in the header
Fill in the required fields:
- Name: Enter a descriptive name
- Category: Select from existing categories
- Currency: Choose from available currencies

Additional properties can be set up later by editing the line item.

Line Item Properties

Marketing Budget Line Item

Each line item includes:

Basic Properties:

Name: Identifier for the line item
Status: Track progress (Draft/Active/Completed)
Owner: Assign responsibility
Category: Organizational grouping
Currency: Set specific currency for this item

Custom Properties: Based on your needs, you can add custom properties of the following types:

Single-choice dropdowns
Text fields
Numerical values
True/false options

Currency Management

Etropo supports multiple currencies:

Each line item can have its own currency
All amounts convert to your default currency for totals
Fixed exchange rates can be set in the currencies settings

Multi-Cell Operations

The Budget Grid supports Excel-like range selection functionality, allowing you to select multiple cells simultaneously for quick analysis and operations.

Multiple Cell Selection

You can select ranges of cells using several methods:

Click and Drag: Click on a cell and drag to select a rectangular range
Shift + Click: Select a cell, then hold Shift and click another cell to select the range between them

Navigation Shortcuts

Ctrl / CMD + Arrow Key Jump to the end of data in the direction of the arrow

Selection Shortcuts

Windows:

Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key: Select from current cell to the end of data in the arrow direction
Shift + Arrow Key: Extend selection by one cell in the arrow direction

macOS:

Cmd + Shift + Arrow Key: Select from current cell to the end of data in the arrow direction
Shift + Arrow Key: Extend selection by one cell in the arrow direction

When you select a range of cells containing numerical values, Etropo automatically calculates and displays the sum of the selected cells. This feature provides instant insights into your budget data without requiring manual calculations.

When your selection includes line items with different currencies, Etropo automatically handles currency conversion:

All values are converted to your organization’s default currency for the sum calculation
Exchange rates are applied based on the rates configured in your currency settings
The sum is displayed in your default currency
Individual cell values remain in their original currencies

Access Control

Etropo allows you to set category-based access to ensure sensitive financial information is only accessible to authorized team members. You can decide which parts of the budget each user can view and edit. There are two types of user accounts: user and admin.

Admin

As an admin, you have full access to the budget planning system. This means you can:

See and manage all categories and line items
Create new categories and modify or delete existing ones
Control who has access to which categories
Set and adjust the total planned budget
Work with any line item in the system
Access filtering capabilities

User

Your access to the budget depends on which categories you’ve been given permission to view. Here’s what this means:

You’ll only see the categories you have access to
You can only work with line items in your accessible categories
You’ll still be able to use filtering capabilities on the line items you can access

When you don’t have access to all categories:

You won’t see any data from restricted categories anywhere in the system
Users can’t tell if there are categories they don’t have access to

How to Manage Category Access

If you’re an admin, you can control access to categories:

Click on a category name
Go to “Manage Access”
Choose which users should have access
Save your changes

Master Category Access (Custom Plans)

For budgets with master categories enabled:

Granting access to a master category automatically includes all child categories underneath it
You cannot grant access to individual child categories independently
This simplifies permission management when organizing budgets by region, channel, or team
Only admins can create or reorganize category structure

Good to know:

Only admins can change who has access to categories
Regular categories require setting access individually
Master categories provide access to all children at once

Budget Header

Filtering

The Filters Panel available at the top of the Budget Grid, allows you to refine which line items are displayed in the budget. It provides a powerful way to focus on specific aspects of your budget data.

Marketing Budget Filtering

Available Filters

You can filter your budget by multiple criteria:

Category: Filter by specific budget categories
Currency: Show only items in particular currencies
Status: Filter by item status (draft, pending approval, approved, rejected)
Owner: See items assigned to specific team members or unassigned items
Total Cost: Filter items based on their total cost using various comparison operators
Monthly Cost: Find items with specific monthly spending patterns

Using Filters To add a filter:

Click the “Filter” button in the filter bar
Select the type of filter you want to apply
Choose specific filter criteria or enter numeric values for cost filters
For cost filters, you can select comparison operators like “Equal to,” “Greater than,” or “Less than”

Multiple filters can be applied simultaneously to narrow down your view. Each active filter appears as a tag in the filter bar, and you can remove individual filters by clicking the “X” icon on each tag or clear all filters at once with the “Clear all” button.

Display Settings

The Display Settings dialog provides control over how you view and interact with your budget data. Access it by clicking the “Display” button in the editor header.

Column Visibility

Control which data columns appear in your budget grid:

Plans: Show planned budget amounts
Actuals: Show actual spending amounts
Variance: Show the difference between planned and actual (color-coded: green for under budget, red for over budget)

For draft budgets, the Plans column is shown by default. For active budgets, all three columns are visible by default.

Period Type

Switch between two viewing modes:

Monthly View: Display budget data broken down by individual months
Quarterly View: Aggregate data into quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) for a higher-level overview

When viewing by quarter, amounts are automatically aggregated across the three months in each quarter.

This Quarter Only: Filter the view to show only the current quarter’s data (available in both monthly and quarterly views)

This is useful when you want to focus on near-term budget management without the distraction of past or future periods.

Managing Active Budgets

When working with active budgets, the Budget Status Badge in the bottom-right corner shows real-time performance against your target budget. The badge combines actual spending with planned values for months without actuals, giving you an accurate picture of your budget health.

Badge indicators:

🟢 Green: Under Budget
🔵 Blue: On Target
🔴 Red: Over Budget

The badge displays the amount and percentage you’re over or under your total target budget. For example, if your target is $10,000 and you’ve spent or planned $6,000, the badge shows “Under Budget: $4,000 (40%)”.

Best practices:

Review your budget status weekly to catch issues early
Adjust future month plans when actuals come in differently than expected
Use comments to discuss significant budget adjustments with stakeholders