Dynamic Marketing Budget Spreadsheet
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
I need a clean, automated spreadsheet—built in either Excel —that lets me log every marketing expense once and instantly see where the money is going. The file has to cover the full calendar year, breaking spend down by month while letting me pull totals on demand for any category or the overall YTD figure.
The structure is straightforward:
• Top-level categories: Social Media, Content Marketing, Web Marketing, Local Marketing and Other (five or six in total once we finalise).
• Under Social Media I’ll be tracking YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
• Under Content Marketing I’ll be tracking Blog Posts, Videos, Newsletter and Content Management Software.
• Web Marketing, Local Marketing and Other may each gain their own sub-lists, so build the template so new items drop in without breaking the formulas.
What I expect the file to do
• Accept simple line-item entry (date, vendor, notes, amount, category, subcategory).
• Auto-populate monthly totals for every subcategory and roll them up to the parent category.
• Present clear year-to-date totals by category and a grand total.
• Allow me to filter or quickly review any single category or month.
• Keep formulas protected but editable content unlocked so my team can add spend as it occurs.
Ideal approach
SUMIFS, Pivot Tables or dynamic arrays—whatever keeps the sheet fast and low-maintenance. A couple of charts (e.g., a YTD bar by category and a monthly trend line) would be ideal.
Acceptance criteria
1. Drop-down selections for every category and subcategory to prevent typos.
2. Zero manual recalculation required after I add a new line.
3. All totals and charts update instantly and accurately.
Turnaround is flexible within reason, but I’d like an initial draft to review quickly so we can lock the structure before you polish the visuals.
The structure is straightforward:
• Top-level categories: Social Media, Content Marketing, Web Marketing, Local Marketing and Other (five or six in total once we finalise).
• Under Social Media I’ll be tracking YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
• Under Content Marketing I’ll be tracking Blog Posts, Videos, Newsletter and Content Management Software.
• Web Marketing, Local Marketing and Other may each gain their own sub-lists, so build the template so new items drop in without breaking the formulas.
What I expect the file to do
• Accept simple line-item entry (date, vendor, notes, amount, category, subcategory).
• Auto-populate monthly totals for every subcategory and roll them up to the parent category.
• Present clear year-to-date totals by category and a grand total.
• Allow me to filter or quickly review any single category or month.
• Keep formulas protected but editable content unlocked so my team can add spend as it occurs.
Ideal approach
SUMIFS, Pivot Tables or dynamic arrays—whatever keeps the sheet fast and low-maintenance. A couple of charts (e.g., a YTD bar by category and a monthly trend line) would be ideal.
Acceptance criteria
1. Drop-down selections for every category and subcategory to prevent typos.
2. Zero manual recalculation required after I add a new line.
3. All totals and charts update instantly and accurately.
Turnaround is flexible within reason, but I’d like an initial draft to review quickly so we can lock the structure before you polish the visuals.