Ad budget pacing calculator

Budget pacing compares month-to-date spend with an even split of the monthly budget. To land the month on budget, set the daily budget to the remaining budget divided by the days left. Enter your numbers to see pace, projected spend and that daily budget.

Full days of spend so far.

28 to 31.

Pace

125%

Overpacing: on track to run out early

Projected month-end spend

3,750

Remaining budget

1,500

18 days left

Recommended daily budget

83.33

In Google Ads, a single day can spend up to 166.67 (2x) at this average daily budget.

How it's calculated

Pace % = spend to date ÷ (monthly budget × days elapsed ÷ days in month) × 100

Projected spend = spend to date ÷ days elapsed × days in month

Recommended daily budget = (monthly budget − spend to date) ÷ (days in month − days elapsed)

This page calls anything within ±10% of 100% "on pace". That band is a display convention of this calculator, not an industry standard; pick the tolerance that suits your account.

Worked example

Illustrative inputs, the same ones the calculator starts with: a 3,000 monthly budget, 1,500 spent after 12 full days of a 30-day month.

  • An even pace would have spent 3,000 × 12 ÷ 30 = 1,200 by now, so pace = 1,500 ÷ 1,200 = 125%.
  • At the current daily average of 125, the month would end at 125 × 30 = 3,750.
  • 1,500 is left for 18 days, so the recommended daily budget is 1,500 ÷ 18 ≈ 83.33.

Google Ads: daily overdelivery and the monthly limit

Google Ads budgets are average daily budgets. According to Google's help center, a campaign can spend up to 2 times its average daily budget on a given day, and over a month you are charged no more than 30.4 times the average daily budget (30.4 being the average number of days in a month). If you change the budget mid-month, the rest of the month is charged no more than the new daily budget multiplied by the remaining days, which is why the recommended daily budget above is calculated over the days left.

So a single day running well above the daily budget is not by itself a pacing problem; look at the month-to-date pace instead. Other platforms handle daily and lifetime budgets differently, so check each platform's own rules before relying on the same limits there.

Sources: Google Ads Help: About average daily budgets; Google Ads Help: About overdelivery and your average daily budget.

FAQ

Budget pacing questions, answered.

Pacing compares what you have spent so far this month with what an even spend would have reached by now. 100% means exactly on track; above 100% you will run out early, below it you will finish under budget.

Yes. Google's help center says a campaign can spend up to 2 times its average daily budget on a given day, and that over a month you are charged no more than 30.4 times the average daily budget.

Google's help center explains that after a budget change, the rest of the month is charged no more than the new daily budget multiplied by the remaining days. That is why the recommended daily budget here is the remaining budget divided by the remaining days.

Pace compares spend with an even split of the month so far. Projection extends your actual daily average to the end of the month. Both assume the days ahead look like the days behind, which a launch, a sale or a paused campaign will change.

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