Siebel Marketing User Guide > Planning and Budgeting for Marketing > Process of Creating Marketing Plans and Budget Requests >

Creating and Submitting Budget Requests

Use budget requests to request funds to pay for a marketing activity such as a campaign, event, or program. You can specify the amount of funding you need, associate the tactics related to the request, and submit the request for approval from the budget owner in your organization. Budget requests can be associated with a marketing plan or created and approved without establishing a relationship to a marketing plan. You can request funds for a single tactic from multiple budget owners. You can spread the money from an approved budget request across multiple tactics.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Marketing Plans and Budget Requests.

Creating Budget Requests

The following procedure shows how to create a budget request.

To create a budget request

1. Navigate to the Marketing Plans screen.
2. In the Marketing Plans link bar, click Budget Requests.
3. In the Budget Requests list, create a new record, and complete the fields.

   The following table describes some of the fields.

   Field	Action
   Total Requested	Total amount of the budget request. This field must be completed, or the budget request cannot be submitted.
   Approval Status	A status field that indicates that the plan has been Approved, Declined, Submitted, or Needs Revision.
   Marketing Plan	Associates the request with the marketing plan.
   Budget Request Id	Automatically populated.
   Net Requested	By default, this field shows the same value as Total Requested, but it can be configured to calculate the net amount as total minus any partner contributions.
   Approval History	Displays the history of approvals for the budget request (when Approval Status is Submitted).
   Planning Period	Indicates the time period during which the request is active. For example, an annual or quarterly budgeting period.
   Budget Category (G/L Account)	Choose a budget category for the request. The categories typically correspond to the values in the back-office accounting general ledger.
   Line Number	You can use this field in any way that meets your business needs. For example, some general ledger applications generate a line number for each budget item.
   Approved Budget	Specify the amount of money approved for the request. This field must only be used by employees with budget authority.
   Region	Select the region authorized to spend the funds.
   Type	The value corresponds to the categories that your organization uses to organize and review requests. For example, Direct Mail, Hospitality, Marketing Operations, and so on.
   Fund	Identifies the Marketing Fund that provides funds for this budget request.
   Organization	Associates the request with organizations that must have visibility to the request.

Associating Programs, Campaigns or Event plans with a Budget Request

The following procedure shows how to associate programs, campaigns or event plans with a budget request.

To associate programs, campaigns or event plans with a budget request

1. Navigate to the Marketing Plans screen.
2. Click the Budget Request link.
3. Click the Tactics view tab.
4. To associate an existing program, campaign or event, click Add, then select a tactic in the dialog box, and click OK.
5. To create a new tactic:
   1. Click New, and then enter a name.
   2. Select the type (Program, Event Plan or Standalone campaign).

      NOTE:  After you select a tactic type and save the record, you cannot change the type.

You can now submit the budget request.

Submitting a Budget Request

After you create the budget request (making sure that the Total Requested field is complete), submit the budget request, using the following procedure.

NOTE:  Be sure that the marketing plan for the budget request is associated with a tactic before submitting the request. For instructions, see Creating and Associating Tactics with Marketing Plans.

To submit a budget request

1. From the Approval Status drop-down list, choose Submitted.

   The Pick Employee dialog box opens.

2. In the Pick Employee dialog box, select the employee to whom you want to submit the budget request.
3. (Optional) Add a comment to the request.

Approving or Declining a Budget Request

The following procedure shows how to approve or decline a budget request.

To approve or decline a budget request

1. Navigate to the My Approvals Inbox view.
2. Click the budget request name.

   The Budget Request view appears.

3. In the Approval Status drop-down list, choose Approved, Declined, or Needs Revision.

   The Pick Employee dialog box opens.

4. In the Pick Employee dialog box, select the employee who submitted the budget request.
5. (Optional) Add a comment to the request.

Associating a Budget Request with a Marketing Plan

The following procedure shows how to associate a budget request with a marketing plan.

To associate a budget request with a marketing plan

1. Navigate to the Marketing Plans screen.
2. In the link bar, click Marketing Plans.
3. In the Marketing Plans list, expand a Marketing Plan name.
4. Click the Budget Requests folder.
5. In the Budget Requests list, click Add.
6. In the Pick Budget Request dialog box, select the budget request, and click OK.

   NOTE:  If there are any tactics associated with the budget request that are not already associated with a marketing plan, then the tactics are then associated with the marketing plan.

Associating Budget Requests and Tactics with the Marketing Fund

When you submit a budget request, you must indicate the fund from which you want the money drawn. To indicate this, you must associate the fund with the budget request record.

The following procedure shows how to submit a budget request from a marketing fund.

To submit a budget request from a marketing fund

1. Navigate to the Marketing Plans screen.
2. Select the Budget Requests link.
3. In the Budget Request list, click the name of the Budget Request.
4. Click the Fund field.
5. Select the Fund, then click OK and save the record.

Managing the Marketing Fund

You can shift funds from one marketing fund to another and make other required financial changes to your Marketing Fund using the Transfers In, Transfers Out and Adjustments view tabs.

You can also view charts that provide Fund Analysis, Fund Allocation Analysis, and a Fund Allocation Trend Analysis by Region Brand, and Budget Category by Marketing Fund, and add notes to the fund.

Transferring Funds into or out of a Marketing Fund

The following procedure shows how to transfer funds into or out of a marketing fund.

To transfer funds into or out of a marketing fund

1. Navigate to the Marketing Funds list, and click the marketing fund name.
2. From the Market Fund form, click either the Transfers In or Transfers Out view tab.
3. In the Transfers In, or Transfers Out list, create a record and complete the fields.

   Amounts transferred in or out of the Marketing Fund are calculated and appear in the Net Transfers field of the Marketing Fund form. For a Transfer In, the To field is always the Fund that you selected. For a Transfer Out, the From field is always the Fund that you selected.

Making Adjustments to a Marketing Fund

The following procedure shows how to make adjustments to a marketing fund.

To make adjustments to a marketing fund

1. Navigate to the Marketing Funds list, and click the marketing fund name.
2. From the Market Fund form, click the Adjustments view tab
3. In the Adjustments list, create a new record and complete the fields.
4. Enter a comment to explain why the Fund amount was increased or decreased.

   For example, if there is a budget cut, then provide details so that other users can understand why the budget was changed.

   The Net Adjustment amount appears in the Net Adjustments field of the Marketing Fund form.

Viewing Marketing Fund Analyses

The following procedure shows how to view marketing fund analyses.

To view marketing fund analyses

1. Navigate to the Marketing Funds list, and click the marketing fund name.
2. From the Market Fund form, click the Charts view tab.
3. In the Charts view, specify the By value, and the Chart Type, and click Go.
4. Click the appropriate link on the link bar to view Fund Allocation Analysis, Fund Analysis, or Fund Allocation Trend Analysis results for your Marketing Funds.