If you run campaigns, the last week of every month brings the same questions from finance: what was done this month, and where is the proof? This guide explains what finance needs from you, why they need it, and how to get your work counted without the last-day scramble.
Key takeaways
Finance has to book the cost of this month's marketing work before the bills arrive. Your confirmation of what was delivered is the only way they can do that properly.
Every medium needs its own kind of proof: telecast confirmations, platform reports, dated photos, signed milestones.
Confirming work against the PO as it happens, not at month-end, removes most of the chase.
When your work is confirmed early, vendors get paid on time and your spend looks steady to the CFO.
The emails that arrive in the last week of the month
As a brand manager, you've lived this week. Your festive campaign is in full swing. TV is on air. Digital is running on accounts that bill a month later. Activations have happened in 40 of the 120 planned towns. The brand film is delivered, but the cutdowns are still in edit.
Then the emails from finance start. What was done this month? Which towns? Where is the proof? You know roughly where things stand. Proving it, line by line, while the campaign is still running, is another matter.
Why finance needs this from you
Finance needs your input because they have to show this month's marketing cost before the bills for it arrive. Vendors often bill 30 to 90 days after the work. The books can't wait that long, so finance records an estimate of the work already done but not yet billed. That estimate is called the month-end provision.
The only defensible way to build it is to count what was actually delivered. Finance can't see that. You and your vendors can. A telecast confirmation, a platform report, a dated photo from a town or a signed-off milestone is what turns your campaign into a number finance can book.
It isn't a question of trust. If finance has to guess, they either book the whole PO or only the bills that have arrived. Both make your spend jump up and down from month to month, and the CFO then asks you why.
What counts as proof, medium by medium
Finance needs a different kind of proof for each medium, because each one is delivered differently. This is what to have ready for each.
Medium | What finance needs from you | Proof that works |
|---|---|---|
TV and radio | Spots that aired this month | Telecast confirmations or spot logs |
Digital (billed later) | Spend to date on the last day of the month | Platform spend report exported that day |
On-ground activations | Activations completed this month | Dated photos, attendance, regional sign-off |
Production | How much of the job is done | Signed milestones: script, shoot, final delivery |
Insertions published | Tear sheets | |
Outdoor | Sites that were live, and for how many days | Dated, geo-tagged site photos |
Influencers and creators | Posts that went live | Links and dated screenshots |
Dealer and retailer schemes | Activity that ran, even if not yet claimed | Claims and activity counts |
Retainers and fixed fees | Months of service delivered | Contract and service confirmation |
Two lines slip more than the rest. On-ground activations are the fragile ones: if ten more towns ran in the last two days of the month but their photos haven't reached you, the number is already wrong. And some spend arrives late by design: if a dealer activity ran this month, it belongs to this month even if nobody has filed the claim yet. Tell finance about both before the close, not after.
Confirm the work as it happens, not at month-end
Today, most of this happens in the last few days of the month. Finance emails you and every other PO owner two or three days before the close. You dig through inboxes and chat groups for proof. Half the answers arrive after the month has ended. Finance rebuilds the number in Excel, and the close slips.
The fix is to move the confirmation to when the work happens.
In practice, that means three habits:
Ask vendors to confirm their own work as they finish it: the month, the amount and a line of remarks, with the proof attached against the PO.
Confirm on a vendor's behalf when they don't, while the proof is still fresh.
Tell finance early about anything that moves: work that slips into next month, activities that were cancelled, claims that will arrive late.
What you get when your work is confirmed early
No last-day chasing. Your work is already confirmed, so the month-end emails mostly stop.
Fewer follow-up calls. Vendors confirm their own work with proof, so you aren't the go-between.
Steadier numbers. Your spend looks steady from month to month, so you get fewer awkward questions from the CFO.
Vendors paid on time. Confirmed work can be paid without delay.
If you want to see the same close from the other side of the table, we've written a guide for finance teams on how to build an accurate month-end marketing provision.
How Brandintellé works for marketing teams at month-end
In Brandintellé, every live PO shows how much of the work is done, as a progress bar. Your vendors confirm the month, the amount and their remarks, and attach the proof on the platform. Where a vendor doesn't, you can confirm it for them. The amount comes from those confirmations: the system doesn't read telecast logs or ad-platform reports on its own.
Finance works from the same record. For any PO, you and finance see the same view, month by month: what was done, what was billed and what is still open. So the month-end question has an answer before anyone needs to ask it.
Finance can only count what you can show. Confirm it while the work happens, and month-end stops being a scramble.
See how month-end provisioning works in Brandintellé →
Frequently Asked Questions -
What if a vendor won't confirm work in the system?
Confirm it on their behalf, with the proof you have, and flag it to finance. Make confirming work part of the vendor's scope for the next PO.
What if work slips into next month?
Tell finance before the close. Only work actually done this month should be counted this month. The rest stays open until it happens.
Does finance need proof for every small item?
Agree a simple rule with finance: full proof for anything above an agreed value, and a sample check for the rest.
