What does Meta Ads ROAS measure?
Meta purchase ROAS divides the purchase value Meta attributes to ads by ad spend. Attribution rules and reporting dates affect which purchase value appears in Ads Manager. Review it alongside Shopify sales, where organic and other channels may also contribute revenue.
Store profit uses store revenue and costs. Treat Meta’s attributed purchase value and Shopify’s revenue as two views of sales. Adding them together would count some purchases twice.
Use the same store, period, and currency
- Choose a dedicated ad account when possible. For an account shared between stores, confirm how the spend is allocated before treating the entire amount as one store’s expense.
- Align the reporting period. Use the same date range and confirm the time zones. A late-evening order can land on a different day across the two systems.
- Align the currency. Use an agreed conversion rate when necessary and record its source and date. A report with A$1,900 in sales and US$600 in spend needs currency reconciliation before it can calculate a profit or ROAS.
- Check provider coverage. Confirm the ad account and read permissions are in scope. Compare total spend with Ads Manager before acting on a result.
Meta’s Insights API provides account and campaign reporting for an authorized account. Meta Ads Insights API.
Find your break-even ROAS
For the ad-level threshold, use revenue and pre-ad contribution on the same per-order basis. Subtract variable order costs from net order value to find the contribution available to acquire that order, then divide net order value by that contribution.
Break-even ROAS = net order value ÷ contribution before ads.
A$110 in net order value minus A$54 in variable costs leaves A$56 for customer acquisition. The break-even ROAS is 1.96× and that order can absorb up to A$56 in ad cost before fixed overhead.
For a store-level view, total all included costs for the same period. Compare Shopify revenue to Meta spend to spot trends when Meta is your sole paid ad channel. Use Meta’s attributed purchase reporting to see the orders it credited to your ads. Try the break-even ROAS calculator.
Check profit before scaling spend
If attribution shows a strong ROAS but tracked store profit falls, inspect contribution per order, promotions, returns, shipping costs, and other acquisition costs. Recheck data coverage on both systems when a number moves unexpectedly.