> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.adalysis.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.adalysis.com/tools/budget/pacing.md).
# Pacing
Manage your target pacing without the spreadsheets
Define a monthly target budget to track pacing at the **account or group level** ([budget groups](/tools/budget/budget-groups.md)). The **Monthly budget** column on **Budgets** > **Manage** only sets a budget's daily amount once; to track pacing for a single campaign over the month, put it in its own budget group. This doesn't allow Adalysis to make any changes to your budget unless you enable [Auto manage](/tools/budget/auto-manage.md).
You can view your pacing data at several levels:
**Account**
**Budget group**
**Multi-account**
You can see the pacing information for all accounts on your **Audit & budget view**. Click on the colored bars/circles for details.
#### **Color coding**
* **Grey** = no target budget set
* Blue = underpacing
* Orange = overpacing
* Green = within the acceptable range of the target (5% by default; choose 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or 25% from the gear icon, as shown below)
Pacing uses spend up until yesterday. On the 1st of the month, it still shows last month: last month's spend against the target that month closed on.
### Setting a target budget at the account level
Define a monthly target track your pacing and enable pacing alerts.
There are also two additional options you may want to consider when defining your target budget:
1. View a recommended breakdown of how the target should be split into daily budgets for the relevant campaigns. [Find out more](/tools/budget/daily-budget-recommendations.md)
2. You can also enable the *Auto manage* tool, which reviews your spend daily and adjusts the daily campaign budgets so that you come as close as possible to the target without going over it. It can't guarantee this: Google can spend up to twice a daily budget in a day. Once the target is reached, Auto manage lowers the budgets to the minimum but doesn't pause anything. To stop spend at the target, also turn on [Auto pause](#auto-pause). [Find out more](/tools/budget/auto-manage.md)
### Setting a target budget at the Budget group level
Setting target budgets for [budget groups](/tools/budget/budget-groups.md) works in the same way as the above. Once the budget group is created, the target can be added/edited as shown below.
### **Pacing alerts**
Pacing alerts let you know when your budgets are underpacing and/or overpacing. They become available on the **Budgets** > **Manage** screen once you've set a target budget. They're checked once a day, after the account refresh.
> **Example**: If your monthly budget is $1000, you would expect to spend $500 by day 15. If your overpacing alert is set to 10% from day 15, you'll receive an alert if you've spent over $550 by day 15 of the month.
### **Spend threshold alerts**
Spend is checked every hour. There are two alerts:
* **Threshold exceeded**: alert me when the spend is X% of my target budget. Example: with a $1000 target and 80%, you're alerted when spend reaches $800.
* **Threshold not met**: alert me if the spend is less than X% of the target budget by day N onwards. Example: with a $1000 target and 50% by day 15, you're alerted if spend is under $500 on day 15. This is useful when Auto manage limits stop it catching up.
Alerts always show in Adalysis. Tick **Send me an additional notification when the alert is triggered** to also get an email and/or Slack message.
{% hint style="info" %}
Budget alerts need to be set up for each account (and budget group) separately.
{% endhint %}
### **Auto pause**
Auto pause stops your campaigns once your month-to-date spend reaches your budget cap, and can re-enable them at the start of the next period.
You'll find it on the **Budget** > **Manage** screen, in its own section next to **Monthly target** and **Auto manage**. Click **Edit** to set it up. On the **Budgets** > **Budget groups** screen it has its own **Auto pause** column.
There are two settings:
* **Pause campaigns at budget cap** — choose the percentage of your target budget at which campaigns are paused. Enter any value from 1 to 100. Set it below 100% to give yourself a safety margin, for example pausing at 95% of target.
* **Re-enable campaigns next period** — optional. Campaigns paused by this rule are re-enabled on the first day of the next budget period. This option only applies when pausing is switched on.
{% hint style="info" %}
Paused campaigns are labelled "Autopaused" followed by the date, for example "Autopaused 05 Nov". Once re-enabled, the label is removed automatically.
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="info" %}
Google doesn't allow Video campaigns to be paused through its API. When Auto pause is triggered, Adalysis pauses the other campaigns and emails your team a list of the Video campaigns to pause in Google Ads yourself.
{% endhint %}
### **Real-time spend**
Pacing is calculated from your spend up until **yesterday**, which is the point at which your account data is fully settled. That's why the pacing figure won't match the spend showing live in your ads account.
To see where you stand right now, click the spend icon underneath the pacing bar. The **Spend details** popup shows both figures: the spend your pacing is based on, and your full month-to-date spend including today.
This is available on the account budget panel and on every row of the **Budget groups** screen.
### **Ask AI why a budget is underpacing**
When a budget is underpacing, an **Explain** button appears next to the pacing figure. Adalysis reviews the campaigns behind that budget — their settings and their daily budget history — and explains why they're behind and what you can do to spend faster.
You'll find it on the account budget panel, on the **Budget groups** screen, and in the budget popup on your multi-account view.
{% hint style="info" %}
The **Explain** button only appears when a budget is actually underpacing. You won't see it on a budget that's on track or overpacing.
{% endhint %}
