Budget Governance & Accountability:
Who Owns the Marketing Budget?
Ownership lives with the CMO (or equivalent) for strategy and outcomes, while Finance governs controls and RevOps (Revenue Operations) stewards data, approvals, and reconciliation across GTM.
The CMO owns the marketing budget—accountable for portfolio choices and business outcomes. Finance owns policy, controls, and stewardship of cash. RevOps operationalizes the budget: codifies taxonomy, gates POs, tracks burn vs. plan, and reconciles spend to pipeline and bookings. Budget authority is centralized; execution accountability is distributed to program owners with defined limits.
Ownership Principles That Keep Budgets On-Track
Make Ownership Real: A Simple Operating Flow
Define who decides, how money moves, and how results are verified—without slowing execution.
Step-By-Step
- Appoint the owner — CMO (or VP Marketing) holds authority; publish RACI with Finance and RevOps.
- Create budget envelopes — Assign caps by region/segment/program with reserve and contingency rules.
- Gate commitments — Use PO thresholds and approval tiers; require objective, scope, and expected outcomes.
- Track burn vs. plan — Weekly dashboard with 50/75/90% alerts; auto-hold when caps are hit.
- Reconcile monthly — Finance, RevOps, and owners true-up commitments, accruals, payments, and variances.
- Reallocate with evidence — Attribution for credit; experiments for lift; move dollars accordingly.
- Journal decisions — Record triggers, rationale, and exit criteria to improve the next cycle.
Who Owns What? Decision Rights Matrix
| Area | Primary Owner | Decision Rights | Finance Role | RevOps Role | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Portfolio & Envelopes | CMO | Allocate across regions, segments, lifecycle | Policy, guardrails, ROI targets | Model scenarios, align to targets | Annual + Q refresh |
| POs & Vendor Contracts | Program Owner | Choose vendors within caps | Approve terms and thresholds | Route approvals, archive SOWs | Per request |
| In-Quarter Reallocations | CMO + Budget Owners | Move funds between programs | Validate funding source | Update caps; notify teams | Weekly |
| Forecast & Variance | Budget Owner | Submit forecast, explain variance | Close books; verify accruals | Maintain dashboards | Monthly close |
| Impact Measurement | Marketing Analytics | Declare attribution scope, tests | Review ROMI/CAC methods | Connect spend → pipeline → bookings | Monthly + Q review |
Client Snapshot: Clear Ownership, Better Outcomes
After centralizing ownership with the CMO and codifying decision rights, a global B2B firm reduced monthly variance from double digits to single digits and freed 10% of budget for mid-funnel programs that improved payback time.
Put ownership on rails: one accountable leader, explicit rights, and a closed loop from spend to revenue that both Finance and GTM trust.
FAQ: Budget Ownership & Decision Rights
Concise answers you can use in leadership reviews.
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