Google Ads report template for clients

A Google Ads report for clients needs five things on page one: what you spent, what Google says the ads brought in, the payments that came in for the same dates, one note on what you changed, and what's next. Everything else is backup. This template lays those lines out in order, tells you which ones come from Google Ads and which from Stripe, and keeps them apart so nobody adds them up by mistake.

The template

Copy this into your sheet or slide. One row per line. The second column says where the number comes from.

Prefer a sheet? Download the template.

Clicks, CTR, Avg. CPC and impression share can go on page two. They help explain a week. They rarely answer the client's question.

How to fill each Google line

These definitions come from Google's own help page on conversion columns (Google Ads help).

Conversions. Google says the column counts conversions "across your primary conversion actions" and "may include modeled conversions in cases where you aren’t able to observe all conversions." So write down which actions are primary. If that list changes mid-month, say so on the slide.

Cost / conv. Google calculates it "by dividing your total cost by the number in your “Conversions” column." It moves when Conversions moves, even if nothing about spend changed.

Conv. value and Conv. value / cost. Conv. value is the sum of conversion values, and Google notes "You have to enter a value for your conversion actions to make this metric useful." Conv. value / cost "estimates your return on investment." It's Google's number, under Google's settings. Label it that way.

Dates. This one trips people up. Google says the main conversion columns "are calculated based on the time of the click, not the time of the conversion." A click last week that bought this week counts against last week. Stripe records a payment on the day it happens. So if you put Stripe payments next to Google's Conversions for the same week, they're measuring different things. Google also has a "Conv. value (by conv. time)" column, and says reporting by conversion time "is helpful when comparing your Google Ads data with third-party analytics". Use it for the side-by-side line (Google Ads help).

Attribution setting. Note the conversion window too. Google's default click-through window is 30 days for Search and Display if you don't change it (Google Ads help). Change the setting and every Google line moves.

A filled example

Round numbers for a made-up store, Example client acme. Not a customer and not a benchmark.

How you'd say it: "We spent €4,000. Google credits the ads with €12,000 of value. Stripe shows €9,600 in payments for the same dates. We paused two keywords mid-month and we're testing feed titles next."

Don't average the two revenue numbers or pick the bigger one. Show both, each with its source.

What clients read first

Agencies on Reddit keep coming back to the same order. On a thread about a new PPC report format, one reply said: "I like it, but this is very much an activity report and not a result report. Try to move from “here’s what we did” to “this is the results we drove”." Another: "The only thing I’d push further is making page 1 even more outcome-first." (r/PPC, January 2026)

On an older r/PPC thread asking what to report for Google Ads, a reply kept it short: "Conversions and CPA is the main thing." (r/PPC, November 2024) For a store on Stripe, add the payment line right under them.

And one thing not to do. A poster on r/DigitalMarketing had seen reports that "just put "before and after" screenshots of the Google Ads' overview chart" and asked, "That can't be standard practice, right?" (r/DigitalMarketing, February 2026) A screenshot has no dates on it and no payment line. The template does.

Three mistakes the template avoids

Adding Google and Meta together. If the client also runs Meta, one buyer can click both and pay once. Both platforms can count that sale. Keep each platform's value next to its own spend, and show payments once. More on that: when Meta and Google both claim the same sale.

Changing the conversion actions quietly. If this month counts different actions from last month, the numbers aren't comparable. The template's second line is there so you write it down.

Using click-time numbers against payment dates. Use Google's "by conv. time" columns when the payment line sits next to them, as above.

For the wider read on Google numbers versus the bank, see our Google Ads reporting guide. If the client also runs Meta and wants one pack, start from PPC reporting. To size the gap first, try the platform vs payment gap calculator.

When the template stops being enough

A sheet works for one client. With ten, the payment line is where the hours go: pulling Stripe, matching dates, working out which campaigns the money came from.

What's the line on your Google slide that clients ask about most? We'd like to hear.