# Ad budget template

> A free ad budget template with a split by job, a daily-budget floor for each ad set and a worked example in rupees, so no ad set is starved before it can learn.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-10-26
- **Category**: Planning
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-templates/ad-budget-template

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An ad budget template answers three questions: how much to spend in total, how to split it by job, and whether each ad set gets enough to learn. Copy the layout below, fill it in and check the daily floor for every ad set before you launch.

## The template

```
AD BUDGET: [Brand], [Month Year]

1. TOTAL
   Monthly budget:        INR [ ]
   Target MER:            [ ]
   Expected revenue:      budget x target MER = INR [ ]
   Target cost / order:   INR [ ]

2. SPLIT BY JOB            Share    Month     Per day
   New customers           [ ]%     INR [ ]      INR [ ]
   Retargeting             [ ]%     INR [ ]      INR [ ]
   Testing new creative    [ ]%     INR [ ]      INR [ ]
   Reserve for winners     [ ]%     INR [ ]      -

3. DAILY FLOOR PER AD SET
   target cost / order x 50 / 7 = INR [ ] a day

4. CHECK
   Ad sets planned:        [ ]
   Daily budget each:      INR [ ]   (must be at or above the floor)

5. REVIEW
   Every Monday: spend vs plan, cost / order, move reserve.
```

## Why the daily floor matters

Meta's guidance is that an ad set usually needs about 50 results in a week to leave the [learning phase](/glossary/learning-phase). Results are whatever you optimise for, such as purchases. So the daily floor is your target cost per order times 50, divided by 7 days.

## A worked example

Say you plan INR 3,00,000 for the month. Your target cost per order is INR 600, and your target [MER](/glossary/mer) is 3.0.

**Expected revenue:** INR 3,00,000 x 3.0 = INR 9,00,000.

**Daily floor:** INR 600 x 50 / 7 = about INR 4,286 a day per ad set.

**Split (30-day month):**

| Job | Share | Month | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| New customers | 60% | INR 1,80,000 | INR 6,000 |
| Retargeting | 20% | INR 60,000 | INR 2,000 |
| Testing | 15% | INR 45,000 | INR 1,500 |
| Reserve | 5% | INR 15,000 | - |

**Check:** INR 6,000 a day clears the floor for one new-customer ad set. Two ad sets at INR 3,000 each would not. Retargeting (INR 2,000) and testing (INR 1,500) sit under the floor. Run testing as one ad set with several ads, not many small ad sets, and expect retargeting to stay thin. The reserve of INR 15,000 lets you lift the winner.

One ad set, not two, is the answer to the shortage. Spreading budget across more ad sets only starves each of them.

## Check the budget against your margin

A budget is only useful if your sales cover it. Work out your [break-even ROAS](/glossary/break-even-roas) from your margin. If break-even is 1.7 and your MER target is 3.0, you have room. If break-even is 2.8, you have almost none, and no budget split will fix that. The [ROAS calculator](/roas-calculator) does this quickly.

## Tips

- **Raise budgets in steps.** Large jumps can restart learning. Move a little each week.
- **Pick a budget style.** Choose between campaign-level and ad-set-level budgets with [CBO vs ABO](/compare/cbo-vs-abo).
- **Keep the reserve.** You will find a winner. Have money ready to feed it.
- **Report against the plan.** The [monthly client report template](/templates/monthly-client-report-template) has a row for spend by job.
- **Adjust for festivals.** Costs usually rise in festive weeks, so plan a bigger budget for those weeks rather than spreading evenly.

## FAQ

### How much should I spend on ads each month?

Start from what you can afford to lose while you learn, then check it against your margin and your daily floor. A budget that cannot reach 50 results a week per ad set will keep you in the learning phase.

### What split between new customers and retargeting is right?

There is no fixed rule. Start with most of the spend on new customers, because retargeting audiences are small, and adjust as your site traffic grows.

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