With automatic payments, AdWords charges the card each time costs reach the billing threshold, or 30 days after the last charge. Download the receipt for each charge and the monthly statement, and send billing emails to the bookkeeper.

Four charges and no invoice

Reconciling the company card, the bookkeeper comes across four charges from Google AdWords in November, each for a different, slightly odd amount. None matches an invoice in the files.

The owner knows the ads are running but not how they are billed. The employee who set up the account left in the summer, and the billing emails still go to her old address.

Nothing is wrong with the charges. They follow a billing method that makes sense once someone explains it, and every one has a receipt.

How automatic payments work

Many small AdWords accounts use automatic payments. The ads run first, and the card is charged afterwards for what they cost.

A charge happens when the costs since the last charge reach the account's billing threshold, or 30 days after the last charge, whichever comes first.

Costs build up click by click through the day, so a charge is rarely a round number. It is whatever had accumulated when the threshold was reached or the 30 days ran out.

Why the threshold keeps rising

A new account starts with a low threshold. As charges go through without problems, AdWords raises it in steps, up to a ceiling.

So a young account is charged often, in small amounts, and an established one less often, in larger amounts. The pattern on the card statement changes as the account builds its history.

Spending matters too. In a busy month with a higher daily budget, the threshold is reached sooner, and the card shows extra charges for the same month.

Where the paperwork is kept

Everything the bookkeeper needs is in the billing section of the AdWords account:

The receipts are what match the card. The monthly statement suits the books better, since it adds up the whole month in one place.

Matching charges to receipts

Match each card line to a receipt by amount first, then by date. The card company may post a charge a day or two after AdWords made it.

Check the account's currency as well. An account opened in US dollars is charged in US dollars, so the card shows converted amounts, often with a fee, that never match a receipt exactly.

An AdWords account's currency is set when it is opened and cannot be changed later. Moving to Canadian dollars means a new account, which is worth planning with whoever manages the ads.

Who receives the billing email

AdWords sends billing notices to the users of the account who have chosen to receive them. In many small accounts, that is only the person who set it up.

When that person leaves, the receipts keep going to an address nobody reads. Add the bookkeeper as a user with access suited to the job, and switch billing notices on for that login.

Shared logins hide who did what, so everyone who needs the account gets their own. Remove people who have left, and make sure two people inside the business can manage the account.

A worked example

A corporate housing provider in Vancouver rents furnished suites by the month to companies placing staff on assignment, film crews and families between homes.

Its leasing manager set up AdWords two years ago with her own email address, and ran it until she left in June. The ads kept running, and the charges kept arriving on the company card.

By the fall the bookkeeper had a list of unexplained charges: two in some months, four in others, none for a round amount. Every receipt was going to the former manager's address.

The owner, whose own login had administrative access, gave the bookkeeper a login of her own, and both of them switched billing notices on. The former manager's access was removed.

On the first business day of each month, the bookkeeper now downloads the receipts and the statement and matches every card line before filing. Each odd amount has its document.

Other ways to pay

Manual payments work the other way round: you add money first, and ads run until the balance is used. Each top-up is one charge, but the ads stop when the balance reaches zero.

Larger accounts can apply for monthly invoicing, which sends one invoice a month to be paid by cheque or transfer. It has its own requirements, and many small accounts will not qualify.

For most small businesses, automatic payments with receipts filed monthly is the simplest arrangement. The aim is to understand it, not to replace it.

Before the books close

For a business whose year ends in December, unexplained charges become a real nuisance as the books are closed. Download this year's receipts and statements now, and file them beside the card statements.

If the account is charged in US dollars, keep the card statement showing each converted amount beside its receipt, since neither document alone explains the amount.

Ask your accountant how the charges should be recorded and which documents to keep. The receipts and statements can be downloaded again whenever they are needed.

The counter-case

An account spending a little each month may never reach its threshold, so it is charged once every 30 days. Its bookkeeper sees one charge a month and has nothing to untangle.

The same goes for an account whose bookkeeper already downloads the receipts. Nothing about its billing needs changing.

Both still need billing notices that reach someone who reads them, and an account that does not hang on the login of someone who might leave.

Making the charges add up

  1. Open the billing section of the AdWords account.
  2. Note the payment method and the current threshold.
  3. Check the currency the account was opened in.
  4. Add the bookkeeper as a user with a login of their own.
  5. Switch billing notices on for that login.
  6. Download receipts and statements each month.
  7. Remove the logins of anyone who has left.

Step five stops the next puzzle before it starts. Once the receipts arrive with the person who reconciles the card, every charge comes with its explanation.

The same kind of confusion from the other side, when customers cannot recognise your charge, is covered in a numbered company name on customers' card statements.

Frequently asked questions

Why does AdWords charge my card several times a month?

With automatic payments, the card is charged whenever costs reach the billing threshold. In a busy month, or with a low threshold, that can happen several times.

Why are the amounts never round numbers?

Each charge is whatever cost had built up when the threshold was reached, or when 30 days had passed. Clicks are priced one at a time, so totals are rarely round.

Why did the number of charges change?

The threshold starts low and rises in steps as payments go through. Busier months with higher budgets also reach the threshold sooner, adding charges.

Where are AdWords receipts kept?

In the account's billing section: a receipt for each charge, a monthly statement, the transaction history and the payment settings, all available to download.

Who receives AdWords billing emails?

Users who have billing notices switched on, often only the person who set up the account. Add the bookkeeper as a user and switch the notices on.

Can I get one charge a month instead?

Manual payments charge once per top-up, but ads stop when the balance runs out. Larger accounts may qualify for monthly invoicing, which has its own requirements.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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