Check your budget
Example, not a forecast: $1,500 a month at $60 per lead buys 25 Google conversions, 83% of 30. At $30 per result, $1,500 gives one Meta ad set about 11.5 results a week, 23% of about 50.
No account data yet?
How it decides
To check a result yourself, divide monthly spend by cost per result and compare it with 30 a month (Google) or about 50 a week per ad set (Meta).
| Step | Rule | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per result | Your cost per lead or result as you enter it. If you enter cost per click and lead rate: cost per click divided by (leads per 100 clicks divided by 100). | Arithmetic. |
| Google level | 30 conversions in a month. Conversions per month: monthly spend divided by cost per lead. Google gives 50 for Target ROAS bidding, which this checker does not use. | Google Ads Help, About Smart Bidding, read October 6, 2026. Google states it for Smart Bidding; using it as a yardstick for any search campaign is our choice. |
| Meta level | About 50 results a week per ad set. Weekly spend per ad set: monthly spend divided by ad sets, times 7, divided by 30.4. Results per week: weekly spend divided by cost per result. | Meta Business Help Center, About the learning phase, read October 6, 2026. The 30.4 days a month is the figure Google's help pages use, applied to Meta by us. |
| Verdict | Share of the level = your count divided by the level. 100% or more: meets. From 80% to under 100%: close. Under 80%: short. Counts and percents are rounded down. | Arithmetic. The 80% cut-off is ours, not a platform's. |
| Spend that reaches the level | Google: 30 times cost per lead. Meta: 50 times cost per result, times 30.4, divided by 7, times ad sets. Rounded up to the next $10. | Arithmetic. |
| Months to 30 (Google) | 30 divided by conversions per month, rounded up to 0.1. | Arithmetic. Google says to measure over longer periods that have at least 30 conversions (About Smart Bidding, read October 6, 2026). |
| Daily budget (Google) | Monthly spend divided by 30.4. Most Google may spend on one day: 2 times that. Most in a month: 30.4 times it, which is your monthly spend. | Set an average daily budget and About overdelivery, both read October 6, 2026. |
| Daily budget (Meta) | Monthly spend divided by ad sets, divided by 30.4, per ad set. | Our arithmetic, not a Meta rule. |
| Our minimum | $1,500 per channel per month in ad spend, run through the same steps with your cost per result. | Montrelia's published terms, on the pricing page. |
What it cannot tell you
- Your real costs: it uses what you type. No account yet? See the lead cost benchmarks for home services.
- Whether your cost per lead holds at another budget, or whether the leads are any good.
- Whether a lead pays for itself: the break-even jobs calculator. What our fee adds: the ad management fee calculator.
- Other choices. Which platform first: Google Ads or Meta Ads. ChatGPT Ads are not checked, see ChatGPT Ads cost.
- A requirement. Both levels are guidance for judging and learning, not a minimum to run ads.
Sources
| Source | What it says | Date read | Who publishes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads Help, About Smart Bidding | Google recommends measuring performance over longer periods with at least 30 conversions, such as a month or longer (50 for Target ROAS). You can turn Smart Bidding on without prior data. | October 6, 2026 | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Ads Help, About Target CPA bidding | For evaluation, measure the last 30 days including at least 30 conversions. Advertisers can start using Target CPA with no conversion history. | October 6, 2026 | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Ads Help, About overdelivery and your average daily budget | On a given day a campaign might spend up to twice its average daily budget. By the end of the month you will have spent no more than 30.4 times it. | October 6, 2026 | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Ads Help, Set and change an average daily budget | If you are working with a monthly budget, divide that number by 30.4. | October 6, 2026 | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Meta Business Help Center, About the learning phase | Ad sets usually exit learning after about 50 results in the week after the last significant edit. In the learning phase, ad sets are less stable and usually have a higher CPA (cost per action). | October 6, 2026 | Meta, which sells Meta Ads. |
| Meta Business Help Center, About learning limited | An ad set is learning limited when it is unlikely to get about 50 optimization events in that week. Meta lists five fixes: combine ad sets and campaigns, expand the audience, raise the budget, raise the bid or cost control, change the optimization event. | October 6, 2026 | Meta, which sells Meta Ads. |
| LocaliQ, 2026 search advertising benchmarks (updated June 1, 2026) | Home & Home Improvement: average cost per click $8.33, conversion rate 8.05%, cost per lead $90.92. All industries, in the same order: $5.42, 8.18%, $66.69. Dividing $8.33 by 8.05% gives $103.48, not $90.92, so averages do not divide cleanly. | October 6, 2026 | LocaliQ, which sells advertising services. Figures come from its own customers' Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns. |
Questions people ask
How much should a local business spend on Google Ads a month?
There is no single number. The spend that buys Google's 30 conversions is 30 times your cost per lead. For example, at $50 per lead that is $1,500 a month, and at $100 per lead it is $3,000. These are examples, not benchmarks. Our plan requires at least $1,500 per channel per month in ad spend.
What daily budget do I enter for a $1,500 monthly Google Ads budget?
$49.34. Google's help page says to divide a monthly budget by 30.4. Google may spend up to twice that on one day, $98.68, but says you will have spent no more than 30.4 times the daily budget by the end of the month, which is about $1,500.
Can a Meta ad set with fewer than 50 results a week still work?
Yes, it still runs. Meta says learning limited is not a penalty. It also says ad sets in the learning phase are less stable and usually have a higher cost per action, so treat early numbers with caution.
Does Google require 30 conversions before I can run ads?
No. Google recommends 30 conversions for evaluating results, not for starting. Its Smart Bidding page says you can turn it on without prior data, and its Target CPA page says advertisers can start with no conversion history. Until you reach 30, Google says to measure over a longer period.
Last updated October 6, 2026