Building the Finance-Marketing Alliance

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

This is the final installment of our finance series. We’ve covered cash flow systems and financial metrics. Today, we’re tackling something messier (and maybe more important)…

The relationship between marketing and finance.

Here’s the scenario: Marketing’s riding high after a record ROAS day. Finance is quietly freaking out about cash flow.

Both teams are right. And that’s the problem.

At Obvi, this tension nearly broke us more than once. Growth vs. profit. Risk vs. safety. Urgency vs. caution.

Eventually, we realized the real threat wasn’t one side or the other, it was the lack of alignment. So we built a partnership model that let both sides win.

Here’s how we did it, what changed, and how your brand can end the growth vs. profit war before it takes you down.  

On the Menu

• Why these teams speak different languages

• The 3-part decision system that saved our business

• Real-time alignment beyond the spreadsheet

• How we restructured incentives to fuel both profit and growth

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Why Finance and Marketing Speak Different Languages

The first step to solving any relationship problem is understanding why it exists in the first place. Unfortunately, finance and marketing often seem like they're working on different planets…

Finance cares about cash flow, margins, and stability. They operate on longer cycles and tend to be risk-averse. 

Marketing wants to move fast, optimize daily, and chase growth.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Finance perspective ~

• Focus on profit, stability, downside protection

• Key metrics: Contribution margin, liquidity ratios, cash conversion cycle

• Work in quarterly/annual windows

Marketing perspective ~

• Focus on acquisition, growth, upside potential

• Key metrics: ROAS, CAC/CPA, conversion rates

• Optimize daily or weekly

That misalignment creates translation issues. 

A marketing win might look like a financial risk. A financial safeguard might kill a promising test.

🔑 The goal isn’t to pick a winner. It’s to build a system where both sides see the same picture and make smarter decisions together.

The 3-Part Framework That Finally Aligned Our Teams

After years of friction, we replaced debates with structure. Here is a framework that can help your marketing and finance work in harmony…

Step 1: Shared KPIs That Bridge the Gap
We found metrics that both sides could believe in:

• Contribution margin per new customer – Are we growing profitably?

• 30-day cash flow impact – Can we afford this right now?

• 90-day projected ROAS – What’s the total return across a customer’s first quarter?

These metrics bridge the gap between marketing performance and financial health. They're not perfect, but they create a common language.

Step 2: Budgeting That Flexes With Results
We moved from static quarterly budgets to a tiered system:

• Baseline Budget – Pre-approved monthly spend

• Performance-Based Budget – Unlocks if KPIs are hit

• Opportunity Budget – Reserved for special cases, with fast joint review

This gave marketing speed and the ability to act on high performance, without surprising finance.

Step 3: Business Case Templates for Unusual Bets
For anything outside the framework, we built a fast, flexible proposal format:

• What’s the bet?

• What’s the upside?

• What’s the risk to cash?

• How do we mitigate failure?

Even at a small scale, this forces internal clarity. 

Want help staying on the same page? → Download our daily P&L tracking template for Google Sheets.

How We Stay Aligned Without Waiting for Meetings

Systems only work if they’re kept alive. We use real-time visibility + weekly action.

Shared Dashboards keep us on the same page daily:

• CAC trends

• Cash position vs. plan

• Contribution margin by SKU or channel

Weekly Syncs are split in two:

• First Half of Month – Look ahead: what’s launching, what’s needed?

• Second Half – Look back: what worked, what didn’t, what changes?

These aren’t just calls where team members just share updates. They’re decision forums.

Crisis Protocols kick in automatically when:

• CAC spikes 25–30% week-over-week

• Cash drops >20% below forecast

• A supply chain issue hits critical SKUs
  

🔑 We’ve pre-agreed on a rapid playbook: meet, assess, adjust. No scrambling. Just alignment.

How we restructured incentives for growth + profit 

If your org chart says you're aligned but your incentives say otherwise, you're…not actually aligned.

At Obvi, we rewired incentives to reward collaboration, not just department wins.

Compensation Mix
We changed how bonuses and targets were structured:

• Most still came from core roles: marketing for growth, finance for margin

• But a slice was shared across both: contribution margin, CAC payback

• And another slice tied to overall company health (cash buffer, EBITDA)

Now, wins are shared, but so is the urgency to fix problems.

Cross-Team Projects That Matter
We started co-owning real work:

• Marketing + finance teamed up on product launch forecasts

• Finance helped build new channel payback models

• Together, we mapped inventory risks around promo calendars

This helped us unlock smarter planning while getting everyone on the same page. 

Proximity Builds Trust
Physical proximity and regular interaction create informal communication channels that are invaluable:

• Shared Slack channels

• Finance joined creative reviews

• Marketers learned how to read cash dashboards

• Occasional co-working sessions and informal huddles

People who know each other solve problems faster together. Period.

Metric Cross-Ownership
We asked marketers to track 1–2 financial indicators, and vice versa. This didn’t just boost empathy. It sparked fresh insights.

Example: A junior finance lead flags an LTV:CAC trend that helped our team spot a retention issue in a new cohort. 

That never would've happened before.

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