Importing Data
Import actual spend data to compare against your planned budgets. Once actuals are in, the dashboard shows pacing variance, budget health scores, and channel performance breakdowns in real time.
Actuals are the real spend numbers reported by your ad platforms — what you actually spent, as opposed to the budgets you planned. Importing actuals lets AdBudgetBuddy calculate pacing (are you on track?), variance (over or under?), and health scores for each advertiser and channel. If you connect platforms via OAuth, actuals can sync automatically without manual imports.
Pull a daily spend report from Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, or any other platform. Export to CSV. You can combine data from multiple platforms into a single file — use the Channel Name column to distinguish them.
In your AdBudgetBuddy dashboard, go to Import in the sidebar. Select Actuals as the import type.
Copy all rows including the header row from your spreadsheet, then paste into the import area (Cmd+V or Ctrl+V). Or upload the CSV file directly. The wizard will auto-detect tab-separated and comma-separated formats.
The importer will auto-match columns with recognizable names. For any unmatched columns, use the dropdowns to assign them. The Date column is required; all other columns are optional but recommended for accurate pacing calculations.
Review the preview table to verify the data looks correct. Click Import to load the rows. Actuals are automatically matched to budget entries by date, advertiser, and channel.
| Column | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Date | Required | The date the spend occurred. Accepted formats: YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YYYY, MM/DD/YY. | 2026-04-01 |
Advertiser Name | Optional | Name of the advertiser or client. Must match an existing advertiser in your account. | Acme Corp |
Channel Name | Optional | The ad channel (e.g., Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads). | Google Ads |
Cost | Optional | Actual cost/spend for this date and channel. Numeric, no currency symbols. | 4850.20 |
Revenue | Optional | Actual revenue attributed to this channel for this date. | 23400 |
Impressions | Optional | Total ad impressions delivered on this date. | 124500 |
Clicks | Optional | Total clicks generated on this date. | 3210 |
Conversions | Optional | Total conversions (purchases, leads, etc.) attributed to this channel. | 87 |
Notes | Optional | Optional free-text notes for this row (e.g., campaign context or anomalies). | Holiday sale week |
Date,Advertiser Name,Channel Name,Cost,Revenue,Impressions,Clicks,Conversions 2026-04-01,Acme Corp,Google Ads,4850.20,23400,124500,3210,87 2026-04-01,Acme Corp,Meta Ads,2975.50,14200,98000,1850,52 2026-04-01,Globex Inc,TikTok Ads,1420.00,7600,210000,4400,31
Actuals don't appear in pacing calculations
Pacing is calculated per advertiser and channel. Make sure the Advertiser Name and Channel Name in your actuals file match exactly (case-insensitive) the names used in your budget entries.
Health score isn't updating after import
Health scores refresh after each successful import. If the score looks stale, try refreshing the page. If it still looks incorrect, verify that actuals and budgets cover the same date range.
“Only first 1,000 rows imported” warning
Each import batch is capped at 1,000 rows. For larger datasets, split your file into multiple imports by date range (e.g., one import per month).