Why Most Budgets Fail by March: The Missing Link Between Finance and The Rest of The Business

You know the pattern. The budget gets signed off, stakeholders agree, and by mid-Q1 the requests start coming in. New tools, unplanned hires and scope changes. The budget becomes a reference document, not a control mechanism.

The problem is the gap between approval and execution. Finance sets the numbers, procurement tries to enforce them, and business teams operate in their own reality. No visibility, no handoff owner, and by the time finance sees the damage, it's already done.

This webinar is a practical conversation between Wassia Kamon (CFO at ACE) and Michael Keller (Procurement Director at Vertice) about what actually breaks down between January and March, and what finance leaders can do differently.

What you will learn

• Why budgets drift in Q1 and which gaps between finance, procurement, and the business create the biggest exposure
• How to build real-time spend visibility and accountability without adding layers of approval or slowing teams down
• Practical steps finance leaders can take now to tighten control over discretionary spend and prevent budget creep before it compounds
• What good looks like when finance and procurement actually partner on execution, not just planning

Who should attend

• CFOs and finance leaders responsible for budget oversight and spend control, especially those dealing with budget drift or lack of visibility once execution begins
• Heads of FP&A and finance business partners who own budget allocation and need to enforce discipline without blocking operational teams
• Senior procurement leaders tasked with executing finance policies on the ground and managing the gap between approved budgets and actual spend requests