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How to build an online casino budget by department
Updated 3 Nov 2026 · IBO — iGaming Back Office
A budget that lives in one finance spreadsheet is out of date by the second week of the month. The budgets that survive are built by the people who spend the money — one department at a time — and then checked against the actual figures every month.
1. Start from the departments, not the P&L
List the teams that earn or spend: Casino, Sport, CRM, Payments, Marketing, Affiliates, SEO, Support, Product, HR, Finance. Give each a head who owns its plan. A line without an owner is a line nobody explains when it goes over.
2. Plan revenue from its drivers
Don’t copy last month’s GGR. Plan the drivers:
- Active players from retention and new FTDs.
- Turnover per player by product.
- Hold % — the long-run average, not last month’s lucky one.
GGR = active players × turnover per player × hold %. Then plan bonus cost as a share of GGR and gaming tax by market to reach NGR.
Example (invented figures): 12,000 active players × €1,700 turnover × 3.9% hold = €795,600 GGR.
3. Plan acquisition as FTDs and cost per FTD
Marketing and Affiliates plan how many first-time depositors they’ll bring and what each will cost. Spend = FTDs × Cost per FTD. This turns a marketing budget into a promise you can check at month-end.
4. Plan variable costs as rates
Payment fees as a share of deposits, game provider royalties as a share of GGR, affiliate revenue share as a share of NGR. When revenue moves, these move with it, and the budget stays honest.
5. Plan fixed costs once, check them monthly
Salaries, office, licences, software. Keep salaries in one Finance department so they’re visible only to the people who should see them.
6. Approve, lock, then compare
Each head submits; finance approves and confirms the plan, which is then locked. During the month, departments enter actual figures. Anything more than 10% off plan gets a reason. At the end, budget utilization (actual ÷ plan) by department shows where the money went.
7. Re-plan without rewriting history
When the plan has to change, make a new version from the month it applies to. Comparing against the original plan is how you learn to plan better.
In IBO
IBO starts with a 12-department template for operators, lets each head plan and enter their own lines, locks the confirmed plan as a version and shows budget utilization by department.