The playbook
Budget Pacing: Review Process
A useful budget pacing review ends with a supported decision for each item examined. Define the evidence required before opening the report: date, planned spend, actual spend, remaining budget. These fields give reviewers a shared basis for agreeing what is working, what needs attention, and who should act.
Put the task in context
Compare cumulative actual spend with the planned schedule, not just a daily average. Campaign pauses, weekends, and seasonal demand may justify an uneven plan. Adjust to useful remaining demand rather than spending the balance merely to exhaust the budget.
Set the review boundary
Choose the records or journeys that matter to the current question. Include a normal case, a recently changed case, and an exception where available. This is a diagnostic sample, not a claim that every item has been checked. Record how the sample was selected and what would justify expanding it.
Use explicit review criteria
| Criterion | Review question |
|---|---|
| Compare actual spend with the planned schedule | Is the supporting date current and traceable? |
| Account for seasonality demand and campaign changes | Does planned spend support the decision being made? |
| Choose measured adjustments within agreed limits | Can the next owner verify remaining budget? |
Inspect the evidence before assigning a result
For each item, compare the intended behavior with the observed behavior. Pay particular attention to increasing spend simply because the month is nearly over. If it appears, record where it occurs and which assumption it contradicts. Distinguish a verified defect from an unanswered question and from a preference about how the work should look.
Where the evidence supports the known correction, consider remaining demand and acquisition quality before catching up. Give that action to an accountable owner with a description of the expected result. If you cannot yet identify the cause, assign a diagnostic action rather than prescribing a speculative repair.
Record a decision that can be acted on
| Decision | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Keep | The current state serves the intended task and the evidence is adequate. |
| Revise | A specific gap is confirmed and the proposed action addresses it. |
| Investigate | Important information is missing or conflicting. |
| Retire or combine | The item has no distinct useful purpose in the current scope. |
Verify corrections and expand selectively
Recheck the affected campaign or conversion record after the owner completes the action. Then inspect other items sharing the relevant cause. A shared template, process rule, or data source may justify expanding the review. Similar wording or appearance alone is a weaker reason.
Turn the review into a decision summary
Summarize the affected scope, confirmed findings, actions, and open questions. Connect the findings to spend variance against the approved plan using the same definition as the baseline. A good summary lets the responsible person decide what happens next without reading every working note.
Keep advertising spend, platform-reported conversions, and confirmed business outcomes distinct. Different platforms may claim credit for the same sale. A combined report needs reconciliation or a clear explanation that figures cannot be added.
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