All Collections
LocalAds
Best Practices
Understanding Google and Facebook Billing
Understanding Google and Facebook Billing

A quick guide to understanding how Facebook and Google handle ad charges and invoicing

D
Written by Dennis Pacon Spielberg
Updated over a week ago

Invoicing

Facebook:

When a new credit card is added to Facebook, the account will start by receiving new invoices that are small (between $5 and $30). This means you will be charged at $5, which may occur several times in any given day depending on the spend, or you may have to wait until the $30 is spent if that is what Facebook provides as the threshold. 

The amount you're billed increases over the coming weeks. It starts out as a small increase (around $10), but over time it may double or triple from bill to bill. While this is occurring, there is still a hard billing date that typically occurs within 1 month of each other. You will be charged at both instances, with each date being charged the balance of the bill at each time.

For example, your hard billing date may be the 10th of every month, alongside a $200 limit. This means you may pay the $200 on the 7th of that month, but once the 10th is hit, whatever remainder will also be paid. Even if you have only spent $20, this amount will be charged to you.


Google

You are charged for Google when either your account reaches a billing threshold similar to Facebook (which also increases over time) or when you land upon a date within the month where Google takes payment. This date is based on the activation date of your account.

Since payment dates are set based on account activation, a balance will transfer over from one month into the next. What this means is if Google received payment on the 10th of the month, everything afterwards is moved over to the following month’s bill. Unless of course the payment amount threshold is reached.

Summary

Facebook & Google take payments at two different points: if a payment amount or date threshold is met. This means you could be charged twice or more in a month, based on the threshold Facebook & Google set for both date and amount.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us! 

Did this answer your question?