This article is about how your automatic payments charges work.
Refer to these links to learn other information about Google Ads charges:
In this article
Before you begin
With automatic payments, we charge you whenever your account reaches your payment threshold, and on the first day of the month. Your charge covers your advertising costs, any unpaid balance from the previous month, and any applicable taxes and fees for your country.
How Google Ads automatic payments charging works
Current costs + Outstanding balance = Charged amount
Your charge includes:
- Current costs from this billing period
- Taxes and fees, if applicable for your country
- Unpaid costs from previous billing periods
If you have any adjustments or promotional credits, these will be subtracted from your total charge.
If your total advertising costs are greater than your payment threshold, the extra costs will be added to your current balance for the next charge. Note that your first day of the month charge may sometimes exceed your payment threshold.
Your current balance is made up of any balance carried over from previous billing periods and your net cost for the current month. Your net cost includes advertising costs, taxes, fees, and if applicable, adjustments and promotional credits subtracted from the total.
Example 1
Your monthly spend is less than your payment threshold, such as in the following circumstances:
- Your last payment date was on August 1.
- Your payment threshold is $50 USD
- Your monthly spend for August is $49 USD
- In the above example you’ll be charged for $49 USD on September 1
Example 2
If your monthly spend is greater than your payment threshold, such as in the following circumstances:
- Your last payment charge was August 1.
- Your payment threshold is $250 USD
- Your monthly spend for August is $275 USD
- In the above example you’ll be charged for $250 USD in August, on a date when your balance crosses the $250 USD payment threshold. Additionally, you’ll be charged for the remaining balance of $25 USD on September 1
Charge frequency
Charges don't usually happen once a month or at the end of the month. They can happen multiple times throughout the month, and are based primarily on payment thresholds—or the set amount of costs that your account reaches. This amount triggers a charge, so it means you might be charged more than once in a month.
If you never cross your payment threshold amount within a month, you'll get automatically charged on the first date of the month (there may be changes to your automatic payment date to allow for shorter months or leap years).
Example 1
If your threshold is $500 USD, then you'll be charged every time that your costs reach $500 USD within the same month. If your costs total $1,500 USD in a month, you'll be charged $500 USD thrice (3 x 500 = 1,500).
Example 2
If your last automatic payment was a threshold charge of $500 USD on August 25, and you don’t reach your threshold again before the end of August, then your next automatic payment will be on September 1.
If you have multiple charges that you still believe are incorrect, learn more about how to Troubleshoot unidentified Google Ads charges. If you still need to reach out to support, provide the following information when you reach out so they can properly investigate and assist you:
- Screenshot of your bank statement showing the charges in question, clearly showing the date, amount, currency and last 4 digits of the card used.
- Your Google Ads Customer ID (this is a 10 digit number usually found on your bank statement).
- If you have multiple Google Ads accounts, specify the account you believe the charge(s) relate to.
