---
name: "budget-pacing-review"
description: "Compare spend to plan by campaign and date, and project month-end from the current rate."
triggers: ["budget pacing", "overspend", "underspend", "monthly ad budget", "spend forecast"]
version: "1"
---
# Budget pacing review
Use this mid-month or whenever spend looks off plan.
## Spend against plan
State the budget period, the planned total, and the owner who set it. For
each campaign show planned spend to date, actual spend to date, and the gap
in money and per cent. Check that spend and budget use the same currency and
the same dates; convert only with a stated rate and date.
## Projection
Project month-end spend from the last seven days' daily rate, and show the
working. Note what could change the rate: seasonality, a launch, a paused
campaign, or platform limits that let daily spend run above the daily
budget. Give a range, not a single figure, when the rate has been uneven.
## Options for the owner
Lay out options, for example:
- hold as is, with the projected overspend or underspend;
- move budget between campaigns, with amounts;
- lower or raise daily budgets, with the new figures.
For each give the effect on results where data supports it, and say where it
does not. Name the budget owner and the date a decision is needed.
Do not change budgets, bids, or schedules yourself; recommend for approval.
Never invent spend or results, and never promise a return.