# Dealership marketing budget planning and approvals > One monthly marketing budget per store, approved by the dealer, with ad platform spend synced when enabled and turned into the invoice. URL: https://axion.auto/platform/budget/ Last updated: 2026-11-15 Budget planning replaces the spreadsheet that gets emailed back and forth every month. The plan, the approval, the actual spend and the invoice live in one place. ## A clear monthly workflow Each month moves from draft to approval to close, so everyone knows where the budget stands. - Monthly budget periods move through draft, review, approved, active, reconciliation and closed. - Review emails go to dealership contacts with one-click Approve and Request changes links. - Approval creates setup tasks for line items that need work, assigned to the right person and routed to the right team. - Closing a period produces billing reports, and next month’s budget can be previewed ahead of time. ## Line items that fill themselves in Less retyping, fewer missed charges. - Customizable columns, inline editing, department splits and notes. - Grouped line items with a total allocated across dealerships. - Recurring items carry forward from the prior month, with CSV import and export, historical import and budget templates. - Line items sync from completed production work and media buying placements. - Proposed changes wait in a pending approvals panel. Billing changes can go through an approval flow. ## Actual spend from the ad platforms Platform spend sync is something a store can turn on, so the budget shows what the platforms spent, not what someone remembered to type in. - Google Ads budgets sync from the month’s Google budget, locked as a snapshot, with next month’s edits staged for the 1st. - Facebook actual spend, including fees, syncs when enabled. - Programmatic actual spend syncs per media type when enabled, and ChatGPT spend is tracked against its net budget in the ChatGPT ads module. - Sync status and error alerts. - Management fees as a percentage or flat amount turn net spend into the gross figure the dealer is billed, inside the platform line. ## Reporting the dealer can trust Show where the money went and what it returned. - Actual spend, variance, trends, conversion rates, cost efficiency, group ROI and gross profit by department. - GL actuals: map GL accounts and vendors to line items and see spend that isn’t mapped. - Co-op fund management with utilization and eligible line items. - Needs attention, top performers and quick wins, with heatmaps for leads, sales and showroom traffic. ## Annual and multi-year planning Plan the year, then compare it with what happened. - Annual media planning with monthly flighting, cascade to stores, plan versus actual and unplanned buys. - Multi-year planning with scenarios, strategic initiatives and year-over-year comparison. - A rollup for dealer groups, with an audit trail. ## Works with - [Agency Hub](https://axion.auto/platform/agency-hub/): Tasks, media buys and invoices tied to each client’s budget. - [Google Ads automation](https://axion.auto/platform/google-ads/): Google Ads budgets sync to budget planning. - [Facebook and Instagram ads](https://axion.auto/platform/facebook-ads/): Meta spend syncs when enabled. - [Programmatic and broadcast](https://axion.auto/platform/programmatic/): Placements create budget lines as they’re booked. - [Analytics Hub](https://axion.auto/platform/analytics/): Spend next to leads, sales and gross profit. - [Dealer groups](https://axion.auto/solutions/dealer-groups/): Group totals allocated across every rooftop. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I replace the monthly marketing budget spreadsheet at my dealership? Axion’s budget planning keeps one monthly marketing budget per store, with the plan, approval, actual spend and invoice in one place. Each period moves from draft to review, approved, active, reconciliation and closed, and recurring line items carry forward from the prior month instead of being retyped. ### How does a dealer approve the monthly marketing budget in Axion? Axion sends review emails to dealership contacts with one-click Approve and Request changes links. Approval creates setup tasks for line items that need work, assigned to the right person and routed to the right team, and billing changes require an approval flow to make sure everyone impacted by the change is informed. ### Can a marketing budget track ad platform budgets and spend? Yes. In Axion, Google Ads budgets sync to budget planning from the month’s Google budget. Platform spend sync is something a store can turn on: when enabled, Facebook actual spend including fees and programmatic actual spend per media type sync into the budget. ChatGPT spend is tracked against its net budget in the ChatGPT ads module. Sync status and error alerts show when a connection needs attention. ### Can Axion track co-op funds and GL actuals against the marketing budget? Yes. Axion includes co-op fund management with utilization and eligible line items. GL accounts and vendors can be mapped to budget line items, and spend that isn’t mapped is shown, so the budget can be reconciled against the dealership’s accounting. ### Can dealer groups plan marketing budgets for the full year? Yes. Axion supports annual media planning with monthly flighting that cascades to stores, plan versus actual and unplanned buys. Multi-year planning adds scenarios, strategic initiatives and year-over-year comparison, with a rollup for dealer groups and an audit trail. ## See a month close in Axion We’ll show how a budget is planned, approved, tracked against actual spend and invoiced. [Book a demo](https://axion.auto/demo/)