Create cost center budget

Create the cost center budget for Q3 for Marketing, total 1,200,000, broken into salaries 720,000, campaigns 360,000, and events 120,000. Put the approver as Lina in finance and request approval by next Monday so payroll can lock headcount allocations.

Before I publish the cost center budget to managers, make approval easy: show the total savings or increases up front, call out variances against last quarter, summarize headcount impact, and flag any line items that require director-level signoff so Lina can approve without extra back-and-forth.

I submitted Marketing's Q3 budget and Lina hesitated on the 360,000 campaigns line citing unclear ROI. I cannot produce a detailed ROI now and campaign leads are on leave. Should I split the item into committed versus discretionary spends for approval, or delay approval until campaign owners return? Which gets us payroll certainty fastest?

We keep getting Marketing budgets approved late because campaign leads delay inputs, which forces last-minute payroll and accrual work. What habit changes or gating rules should we introduce so budget submissions are complete on the first pass? Recommend one change to deadlines, one to required documentation, and one to who holds approver accountable.