Why the report says it's working.
Same month, same business as the example above. Both numbers are true. Only one of them pays your bills.
$40,600 in sales for $4,250 of ads.
After the agency's fee, the cost of the work and tax: $2,036 lost that month.
Judged on sales, not profit
ROAS counts revenue against ad spend. It ignores the fee, the cost of doing the job and what's left after tax.
Paid more when you spend more
Many agencies charge a share of spend, so "raise the budget" is the easy advice, even when each sale loses money.
Tracking counts the wrong things
One caller counted twice, a page view counted as a lead, leads counted that never booked. The platform then buys more of the wrong thing.
Every channel claims the same sale
Google and Meta both take credit for one booked job. Add their reports together and you've "made" sales that never happened.
What we check.
View-only access. We change nothing. Every point is scored by written rules that don't change with who might win your account.
- What each sale makes or loses you, after every cost
- Leads the platforms counted against jobs you booked
- Conversion tracking: double counts, wrong goals, junk
- Which channel really gets credit for each sale
- Spend in places that rarely book
- Changes Google made to your account on its own
- Your invoices against what the platforms really spent
- Who owns the ad account, the billing and the data
Ask your agency first. It's free.
Your agency can run a check like this. Here's what to ask. If the answers are vague, that's an answer too.
- What did each booked job cost us last month, including your fee?
- How many of the leads you report became booked jobs?
- Which conversions are we optimizing for, and is any counted twice?
- When Google and Meta both claim a sale, which one gets the credit?
- How much went to Display, partner sites or Performance Max?
- What did Google change in our account on its own this quarter?
- Does your invoice match what the platforms charged, line by line?
- If we left tomorrow, would we own the account, the data and the tracking?
What only the full check gives you.
Your agency's audit tells you what's wrong. Ours goes further: exactly what to fix, what to improve and where it's safe to scale, written for your business.
Profit or loss by channel, campaign and ad
Not one average: every place your money goes, and what each sale from it really leaves you.
The tracking you should have
What to count as a sale, how to credit it to the right channel, and the exact setup to give your agency.
Your targets
The most you can pay to win a sale and still make money, set from your margins, not an industry average.
Your decision matrix
A template for every campaign: cut, fix or scale, and why. Yours to keep and update every month, with your agency or ours.
| Campaign | Spend | Sales | Per sale | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display: brand awareness | $1,100 | 0 | No sales | Cut |
Every campaign, with the reason and the next step. In your check.
See your priceExample rows. Your matrix uses your own campaigns and numbers.
- Everything on the checklist, in writing, in dollars
- Profit or loss by channel, campaign and ad
- Your tracking setup, targets and decision matrix
- 3 business days after access. View-only: we change nothing
Clear answers, or your money back. "It's all fine" counts as a clear answer.
Want help with the fixes?
The same team runs an ad agency. If you'd like the fixes done for you, they can do it, and your check's price comes off your first month.
Or hand the matrix to your own agency and update it together. The check's rules don't change either way, and nobody calls you unless you ask.
Order your check.
Three minutes now. Your answers three business days after access.
- TodaySend this form.
- Next dayWe email your payment link and how to give view-only access.
- 3 days laterYour check arrives by email, signed by the person who did it.
Fair questions.
Can't my agency do this?
They can run an audit, and the questions above are a good start. Ours adds what each sale really leaves you, the tracking setup you should have, your targets and a decision matrix for every campaign, scored by rules that don't change with who runs your ads.
What if everything checks out?
Then the first line of your check says so, with the evidence. That's a clear answer, not a failure.
What do you need from me?
View-only access to Google Ads or Meta, your last three agency invoices, and booked jobs from ads by month with your average sale.
Will my agency know?
Only if you tell them, though view-only access does show in your account's user list. Some owners give it themselves; some ask the agency to.
Is this just a pitch for your agency?
The same team runs one, and we say so. The check is scored by written rules that don't change with who might win your account, the matrix works with any agency, and nobody follows up unless you ask.