Marketing finance · 2 min read
Which marketing savings can finance sign off on?
One disputed charge can appear as a withheld amount, a supplier credit and a reduced payment. It should enter the total only once.
At quarter end, the director asks how much money the team recovered. Marketing opens its tracker of disputed invoices. Finance opens the supplier ledger. The figures can differ even when both teams have kept accurate records. Marketing starts tracking the amount when someone raises a question. Finance records what changed in the amount the company owes or has already paid.
Imagine a KM 30,000 invoice. The team asks for delivery evidence covering KM 4,000. The supplier substantiates KM 2,500 and issues a credit note for the remaining KM 1,500. The company now owes KM 28,500 on the original invoice. Add the original KM 4,000 query to the KM 1,500 credit in a presentation and a single event turns into a supposed KM 5,500 benefit.
Three questions before the board report goes out
How much is still under review? In this example the review is complete and the open balance is zero. Keep the original KM 4,000 on the case so colleagues can see why it was opened.
What did the supplier agree to? A credit note has a reference, a date and a link to the original invoice. If the agreement was for replacement airtime instead, track its value and the eventual airing separately.
What happened to the money? If the invoice is unpaid, the credit reduces the liability by KM 1,500. If it has already been paid, finance can confirm a refund or the application of the credit against a later payment. One traceable sentence is more useful to the board than an impressive total: “The supplier issued a KM 1,500 credit on this invoice, and finance applied it when making payment.”