Marketing Operations · Spend Governance · Process Design · Stakeholder Reporting
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Project snapshot: B2B fintech · $1.2M budget · 6 channels · 4 quarterly reviews · 1 mid-year reallocation · Tools: Google Sheets, Notion, Slack
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Effective budget management is a core marketing ops function. Without it, campaigns slip, reallocations happen reactively, and finance conversations become firefighting exercises. For this project, I designed a simulated end-to-end marketing budget system for Onra Pay, a fictional growth-stage B2B fintech company. The system covers a full 2025 budget cycle: a structured Google Sheets tracker, a Notion SOP for governance and review cadence, and a clear reallocation process for mid-year changes. It manages $1,200,000 across six channels, supports four quarterly reviews, and handles one approved reallocation, demonstrating how a marketing ops function would maintain budget control and stakeholder visibility throughout the year.
📊 View the Onra Pay 2025 Budget Tracker
Onra Pay's 2025 marketing budget was set at $1,200,000, allocated across six channels based on planned activity, historical spend patterns, and strategic priorities for the year.
| Channel | Annual Budget | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Ads (Google & LinkedIn) | $336,000 | 28% |
| Events & Conferences | $240,000 | 20% |
| Partnerships & BD | $180,000 | 15% |
| PR & Comms | $180,000 | 15% |
| Content & SEO | $168,000 | 14% |
| Email & Lifecycle | $96,000 | 8% |
| Total | $1,200,000 | 100% |
Why these allocations? Paid Ads received the largest share (28%) as the primary pipeline driver for a growth-stage B2B company. Events & Conferences (20%) reflects the importance of in-person presence in the crypto and fintech space. Partnerships & BD and PR & Comms were equally weighted at 15% each to support credibility and distribution. Content & SEO (14%) and Email & Lifecycle (8%) are longer-term compounding channels that require less spend to maintain.
The budget tracker is organized across six sheets.
README: Color coding reference and update instructions. Start here if you are new to the tracker.
Annual Overview: Full-year budget by channel, total actuals, annual variance ($) and variance (%), and percentage of total budget. Use this sheet for exec reporting and high-level health checks.
Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4: One sheet per quarter. Each shows planned budget vs. actual spend per channel, with variance ($) and variance (%) calculated automatically. This is the primary working view for monthly and quarterly reviews.
Campaign Log: One row per campaign. Tracks campaign name, channel, quarter, dates, allocated budget, actual spend, variance, and status. This is updated throughout the year as campaigns run and close.
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue text | Hardcoded input: edit these cells (budgets, actuals) |
| Black text | Formula output: do not edit directly |
| Green text | Value linked from another sheet in the workbook |