Free Tool for Local Businesses

Ad Spend Waste Calculator

Find out how much of your monthly ad budget is getting wasted on bad targeting, weak ads, and leads that never get called back. Then see what that adds up to over a full year.

No signup needed Answers in seconds Built on 2026 benchmarks

Your numbers

Rough guesses are fine. Move the sliders and your results update as you go.

A well-run home services account in 2026 runs around $75 per lead and closes about 30% of them.

$3,000
$

Everything you put into Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads each month.

25

The calls, form fills, and messages your ads bring in. Not sure? Take your best guess.

$600
$

What one new customer is worth to you (a single job, or their first year with you).

18%
%

Out of those leads, how many turn into paying customers.

What this is costing youCAccountleaking
Wasted ad spend
$1,125 /mo
That works out to about $13,500 a year.
+$1,800 /mo
Revenue left on the table. That's the extra business you'd win by closing leads the way top shops do (around 30%).
Your cost per lead
$120
60% over benchmark
Benchmark: $75
Cost per customer
$667
$417 over target
Target: $250
Return on ad spend
0.9x
Losing money
Every $1 makes $0.90
Your close rate
18%
12 points behind top shops
Top performers: 30%
Where your budget goes63% working
Working spend $1,875 Wasted spend $1,125

Right now every $1 you spend on ads brings back about $0.90. You're losing money before a single job is booked, and tightening up your targeting and follow-up is the quickest way to turn that around.

Get my free ad audit

15 minute call. We'll show you exactly where the money is leaking.

Think these numbers look bad?
The real ones are usually worse.

Everything above is an estimate. Hop on a quick call and we'll pull your actual ad data, find exactly where the budget is leaking, and show you the fastest way to fix it. No pitch, no pressure.

How we crunch these numbers

Cost per lead is your monthly ad spend divided by your leads. We hold that up against a 2026 blended benchmark (paid search and paid social) for your industry. Anything you're paying above that benchmark counts as wasted ad spend, because a tighter account would have gotten those same leads for less.

Revenue left on the table is what you'd add if your close rate matched the businesses that follow up fast. Companies that call a new lead back within five minutes are far more likely to win the job, and roughly 78% of customers end up buying from whoever gets to them first.

Return on ad spend is your revenue (customers times average value) divided by what you spent. The account grade blends how close your cost per lead and close rate are to benchmark.

These are ballpark estimates meant to get you thinking, not a promise. Your real results depend on your offer, your market, the season, and your creative. Want the exact picture? Book a free audit and we'll dig into your actual account.