Apply a hard channel cap before allocating the remainder
A preferred allocation can conflict with a concentration cap. A reproducible illustrative example with editable inputs and explicit limits.
A preferred allocation can conflict with a concentration cap. This two-channel worksheet limits the first channel and leaves the balance in a second planning row. Its weights are preferences supplied by the reader, not an optimisation derived from measured marginal returns.
Define the calculation before using it
Allocate the smaller of channel A’s requested share and its maximum authorised amount. Subtract that result from the envelope for the B residual. Check B’s capacity and restrictions independently: the fact that two rows sum to the budget does not prove that both are executable or commercially sensible.
Work through the synthetic example
With 50,000 total, a requested 60% A share and a 20,000 cap, A receives 20,000 instead of 30,000. The B planning row contains the remaining 30,000. Ten thousand of the original A request is constrained. The worksheet exposes the conflict rather than silently violating the stated concentration rule.
| Output | Worked-example result |
|---|---|
| A allocation | 20000.0000 |
| B planning residual | 30000.0000 |
| Constrained A request | 10000.0000 |
Use the artifact and preserve its assumptions
Open the editable calculator to change the inputs and inspect the sensitivity view. The CSV records synthetic inputs and expected outputs; the JSON fixture keeps the equations available for reproduction. These calculations have been checked against the stated example. No measured campaign data is included.
The sensitivity rows vary only cap by 20% below and above the entered value. They are scenarios, not confidence limits or a forecast distribution. A row outside the model’s constraints is labelled rather than turned into a plausible-looking result. Save the chosen inputs with the decision so another reader can distinguish a changed assumption from a changed formula.
Evidence and limits
Google distinguishes average daily budgets from campaign total budgets. This planning worksheet does not itself set a platform limit; verify the campaign’s actual budget mechanism before translating a plan into account settings. See Budgets overview, especially “Average daily budgets and spending limits; Other types of budgets”.
This is not a portfolio optimiser and handles neither multiple caps nor response curves. If B cannot absorb the residual, keep that money explicitly unallocated.
Background: Annual and quarterly UA budget planning and A Q4 UA Budget Planning Checklist Before the Rush. These existing articles provide context; the present calculation does not verify every archived claim.
