What to Know When Ad Spend Doesn’t Show for Today
If you’ve opened your Profit & Loss report and noticed that today’s marketing spend isn’t showing up yet - don’t worry, that may be expected. Here’s why it happens and what you can do about it.
It Comes Down to Time Zones
Most ad platforms, like Facebook (Meta), track your ad spend based on the time zone of your Ad Account, not where you are.
By default, most marketing integrations return data keyed to the Pacific Standard Time (PST) timezone - unless you’ve gone in and changed it yourself. That means your “day” according to Facebook/Snapchat/etc might not match your local time, and your current day spend may appear empty.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re located in Australia (AWST, AEST, etc.) and it’s already midday.
However, in Pacific Standard Time (PST) - the default used by your Meta Ad Account - the same calendar day has not started yet.
As a result, Meta is still counting all spend as part of your previous day. It will only track spend against your current day once once the date in PST matches the date in your time zone.
What This Means for You
Your ad spend will show up in your reports - just not until the day finishes in the Ad Account’s time zone.
The good news is most marketing integrations allow you to update the time zone of your Ad Account to match your time zone, fixing this issue.
Want Your Reports to Match Your Local Time?
Meta Ads
👉 Here’s how to change your time zone in Meta Ads Manager
Snapchat Ads
Unfortunately Snapchat does not allow you to update your Ad Account's time zone once it is already set. But you can view the current time zone in your Snap Ad Account Settings to confirm this is the cause of delayed spend.
TikTok Ads
Likewise, TikTok does not allow you to update your Ad Account timezone once created. However they do provide instructions on understanding your timezone and how it may impact your reports. Take a look here.
Need Help?
If you have questions about your marketing reports or want a hand with updating your ad account settings, our support team is here to help.