Facebook Ads account audit from a spreadsheet
Drop in an ad set export and get a grade, the likely waste and what to check first.
A Facebook Ads account audit does not have to start with a login. Export the ad sets view from Ads Manager as CSV or XLSX, drop it in, and you get a grade from A to F based on the share of spend that looks wasted or at risk, plus the specific ad sets behind it. This checks spend and delivery from an Ads Manager export. It does not check pixel setup, targeting, creative quality or landing pages, so treat the result as a list of places to look first. Before you pause anything, confirm in Ads Manager, because a flagged ad set may be new or still learning. The facebook ads wasted spend patterns guide covers the common causes.
1. Export from Ads Manager (about 30 seconds, one file per client)
- Open Ads Manager for the client and pick the ad sets view. Choose a date range such as the last 30 days, the same for every client.
- Use the export option to download the table as CSV or Excel. Menu names change, so look for Export or Reports.
- Include amount spent, impressions, frequency, results and link clicks (or click-through rate). Exports from the reports tool, split by placement or country, work too.
CSV or XLSX, one per client. Read in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded.
Or paste a table
Runs in your browser. Nothing you load is sent to us or stored. Closing the tab clears it.
Cofoundr runs these checks every morning on every connected account and alerts you, so you never have to export a file.
How it decides
- Each file is one client account. An ad set level export gives the most precise result.
- Rows are rolled up to ad sets. Files split by placement or country are combined, and only one level is used, so campaign, ad set and ad rows are never counted twice.
- Each ad set is tested for a broken funnel (50 or more clicks and no results), no results with spend well above the account's usual cost per result, a cost per result more than 1.5 times a typical or target cost, audience fatigue (frequency above 4 and a click rate under 70% of the account's), rejected ads, ads not delivering now and weak video hooks when the export has the column.
- The grade comes from flagged waste as a share of spend: A up to 5%, B up to 10%, C up to 20%, D up to 35%, F above. An account with plenty of clicks and no results anywhere gets a question mark, because that usually points to tracking.
How to use the result
These are rules of thumb that point to where to look, not verdicts. Check an ad set in Ads Manager before pausing it, because a flagged ad set may be new, still learning or doing a job such as retargeting. Use the same date range for every account so the grades are comparable.
Common questions
What does the grade mean?
It is the share of spend flagged as wasted or at risk. A is up to 5 percent and F is above 35 percent. It is a rule of thumb, not a verdict.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Files are read in your browser tab and every calculation happens there. Nothing is sent to us or stored, and closing the tab clears the results. You can confirm in your browser's network tab.
Which export should I use?
In Ads Manager, open the ad sets view, pick a date range, and use the export option to download CSV or Excel. Include amount spent, impressions, frequency, results and link clicks or click-through rate. Exports from the reports tool with breakdowns by placement or country also work.
Why was my file not read?
The file needs an amount spent column and campaign or ad set names. Old .xls files cannot be read: open them in Excel and save as CSV or xlsx. The tool reads English column names.
How is the grade decided?
By the share of spend flagged as wasted. A is up to 5 percent, B up to 10, C up to 20, D up to 35, and F above that. These bands are rules of thumb.
Does it work with any currency?
Yes. The currency is read from the amount spent column. Accounts in different currencies are ranked by the share of spend flagged, never by amount, and totals are shown per currency.
Related
Find the budget your clients are wasting
Connect Meta. Cofoundr scores every client account and flags wasted spend. 50 free credits for 7 days, MCP included, no card.
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Where the time goes for an agency running 4 Meta ad accounts
Scenario: 15 minutes of checking and 30 minutes of diagnosing per account per day over 22 working days, plus 2 reports per account at 3.5 hours each. Your numbers may differ.