Spend TrackingSpend Insights

Understanding Marketing Spend

Overview

The Spend Insights view compares planned spending against actual expenditures. It helps you track variances, monitor year-to-date progress, and make informed decisions about your financial resources.

Spend Insights

Key Features

Variance Analysis Table

The main component of the Spend Insights view is the variance analysis table, which displays:

  • Period Data: Shows planned and actual spending for the selected period (month or quarter)
  • Variance Metrics: Calculates the difference between planned and actual spending in both absolute amounts and percentages
  • Year-to-Date (YTD) Analysis: Tracks cumulative planned and actual spending throughout the year
  • Forecasting: Projects total yearly spend and shows remaining yearly budget

Hierarchical Data Organization

The table organizes financial data in a hierarchical structure:

  • Budget Total: (Admin only) Shows aggregated totals across all categories
  • Category Summaries: Displays totals for each budget category
  • Line Items: Shows individual items within each category

Categories can be expanded or collapsed to focus on specific areas of interest.

How to Use

Selecting Time Periods

Use the Period Selector in the top-right corner to:

  1. Choose between monthly or quarterly views
  2. Select the specific period you want to analyze

Filtering Data

The Filter allows you to narrow down displayed items by:

  • Category
  • Currency
  • Status
  • Owner
  • Total Cost
  • Monthly Cost

Interpreting the Data

Reading the Columns

  • Planned: The budgeted amount for the selected period
  • Actual: The actual spend recorded for the period
  • Variance: The difference between planned and actual amounts
  • Percent: The variance expressed as a percentage of the planned amount
  • YTD Planned: Year-to-date planned spending
  • YTD Actual: Year-to-date actual spending
  • Total Yearly: Forecasted total spend for the year
  • Remaining Yearly: The projected remaining budget for the year

Understanding Variance Values

  • Positive Variance (Green): Indicates spending less than planned (under budget)
  • Negative Variance (Red): Indicates spending more than planned (over budget)
  • Missing Actuals: Shown as ”-” when no actual data is available

Variance Calculation

Variances are calculated using the following formulas:

  1. Amount Variance: Planned Amount - Actual Amount

    • A positive value means under budget (favorable)
    • A negative value means over budget (unfavorable)

  2. Percentage Variance: ((Planned Amount - Actual Amount) / Planned Amount) * 100

    • Displayed with a ”+” or ”-” sign to indicate direction
    • Shows the percentage deviation from the plan
    • Rounded to one decimal place (e.g., “+10.5%”)
    • Shows “100%” for complete variances

  3. Variance Status Classification:

    • The system uses thresholds to classify variances as “normal,” “warning,” or “critical”
    • Warning-level variances display a yellow alert triangle
    • Critical-level variances display a red alert triangle

Forecast Calculation

Etropo calculates two types of forecasts:

  1. Total Yearly Forecast:

    • Represents the projected total spending for the entire fiscal year
    • Calculated by combining actual spending to date with planned spending for future periods
    • For line items with seasonality or changing monthly plans, the forecast reflects these patterns

  2. Remaining Yearly Budget:

    • Shows the difference between the total yearly forecast and the year-to-date actual spending
    • Calculated as: Total Yearly Forecast - YTD Actual
    • A positive value indicates remaining budget available
    • A negative value indicates projected overspending by year-end

Tips for Effective Analysis

  1. Focus on Significant Variances: Pay special attention to items with large percentage variances or warning indicators
  2. Compare Categories: Analyze which categories have the largest variances to identify areas needing attention
  3. Track Trends: Monitor how variances change over time to spot developing issues
  4. Review YTD Performance: Use year-to-date figures to understand cumulative budget performance
  5. Check Forecasts: Review remaining yearly budgets to ensure sufficient funds for the rest of the year

Navigating Between Views

Use the Budget Header to switch between different views:

Currency Handling

The system automatically handles currency conversions for multi-currency budgets, displaying all figures in your default currency for easier comparison.

Learn more about the automatic currency conversion here

GuideCurrencies