The budget question, on one page

What's inside

• The one question every budget decision rests on
• Attribution, mix models and experiments: what each tells you, what to use it for, and what to watch out for
• How to read a range rather than a single number, with three simple rules
• Four questions finance should ask, and what a good answer sounds like

Who it's for

Marketing directors preparing for a budget review, finance partners who want to challenge marketing numbers fairly, and analysts who need a common language with both.

How to use it

1. Share it before the meeting, not during it.
2. Agree which of the three methods you're using for which decision.
3. Use the four questions as the agenda for the review.

Related reading

• Your attribution report can't answer the budget question
• Explaining causal measurement to your CFO
• A number without a range is a guess you've stopped admitting

Free to use within your organisation. Please don't resell or republish it. Download terms

Examples and charts in this resource use illustrative data.