2027 Edition · Free B2B worksheet

The Marketing Investment Sheet

A free one-page worksheet to decide what to fund, hold or fix in your 2027 marketing budget.

Review marketing performance, from spend against plan to qualified pipeline and signed deals. Calculate financial KPIs including customer acquisition cost (CAC) and estimated marketing ROI when the inputs are available. Leave with one budget decision, an owner and a due date.

About 5 minutes for a first pass with rough ranges.

Use the free worksheet See the worked example (PDF)

Bring a decision to the meeting

CEO
Leave with one budget decision, an owner and a date.

CFO
Check actual spend against plan and see which figures represent pipeline or signed deals.

CRO
See when new opportunities are rising but fewer older deals are closing, so you know where to investigate.

RUTTENS+ · Executive worksheet

Your Marketing Investment Sheet

Choose a range · EUR amounts

CAC and ROI inputs · use matching scopes and time windows

Cost to acquire new customersSales and marketing costs for new business. New customers wonUse the customer group covered by those costs. Marketing investment costWhat you spent on the campaign or programme you’re reviewing. Estimated extra gross profitProfit the investment added, before subtracting its cost.

Use matching costs and results. Leave ROI blank if you only know the value of signed deals.

Marketing-sourced pipeline

Deals created by marketingCount new deals Sales accepted this period where marketing was the main source. Pipeline value created by marketingTotal estimated first-year contract value of those same deals, including open deals.

Optional · Spend vs budget and win rate

What did we invest? Actual marketing spendWhat Finance recorded for this period. Approved marketing budgetThe plan for the same period and segment.

What did it produce?

For win rate, pick deals Sales accepted earlier that have had time to close. Example: Q1 deals reviewed at the end of Q3.

Earlier deals wonCount wins in that group.Earlier deals closedCount wins and losses. Leave out open deals.

Previous win rate (%)Optional. Compare deals that had the same time to close.

Your estimated results

Spend vs plan —

Win rate on earlier deals —

Blended CAC —

Estimated marketing ROI —

What should you do next?

Illustrative ROI ranges for a budget discussion. Set your own target with Finance based on risk and how long the investment takes to pay back.

Choose investment cost and extra gross profit to see the ROI guidance.

Red · Investigate
Below 0%
Gross profit fell short of cost. Check the estimate and decide what to fix or pause.
Amber · Improve
0% to under 50%
The investment covered its cost. Find one improvement and test it before adding budget.
Green · Consider a small increase
50% to under 100%
The return merits a closer look. Confirm the profit estimate, CAC and win rate before adding spend.
Green · Check if it can scale
100% or more
Test whether another round of spend could deliver a similar return. Agree a limit and a review date.

Review your results with Phil

Bring your sheet and one budget decision. We’ll discuss what the numbers support and what to check next.

Book a results review

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