How to Monitor Ad Spend Payments

Set up monitoring so finance can reconcile ad charges against invoices quickly.

10 minutesIntermediate

Why this matters

Without monitoring, ad charges appear as unexpected debits and invoices fall out of sync with spend reports.

Step-by-step instructions

1

Enable invoice emails

Google and Meta both send PDF invoices if enabled in billing settings.

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2

Forward invoices to finance

Use a shared alias such as finance@yourdomain.

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3

Create monthly reconciliation sheet

Platform, invoice number, spend, VAT, matching card charge.

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4

Schedule weekly check

Finance or ops reviews balance vs. spend every Monday.

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5

Escalate anomalies

Any >10% variance between card debit and invoice is investigated same day.

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Pro tips

  • Tag ad charges in accounting software for clean reporting.
  • Keep 90 days of PDFs archived.
  • Share the reconciliation template across clients.

Common mistakes

  • Relying on card statements alone - no VAT detail.
  • Ignoring small variances that compound.
  • No owner for reconciliation.

What happens next

Finance has full control and zero surprise ad charges.