Calculate what a campaign stop can and cannot still save
Stopping a campaign does not erase incurred spend or non-cancellable commitments. A reproducible illustrative example with editable inputs and explicit limits.
Stopping a campaign does not erase incurred spend or non-cancellable commitments. This worksheet separates those amounts from the part of an envelope that remains avoidable. It makes a stop discussion concrete without allowing sunk cost to become an argument for further unproductive spending.
Define the calculation before using it
Add spend already incurred to future costs that cannot be cancelled under the relevant agreements. Subtract that exposure from the total envelope to show uncommitted capacity. Distinguish actual obligations from a forecast that can still be changed; otherwise a planning preference can be mislabeled as an unavoidable cost.
Work through the synthetic example
A 40,000-unit programme with 15,000 spent and 8,000 committed has exposure of 23,000 and uncommitted capacity of 17,000. Stopping cannot recover the incurred 15,000. It may prevent use of the 17,000, while treatment of future committed work depends on the agreements rather than the calculator.
| Output | Worked-example result |
|---|---|
| Committed exposure | 23000.0000 |
| Uncommitted envelope | 17000.0000 |
Use the artifact and preserve its assumptions
Open the editable calculator to change the inputs and inspect the sensitivity view. The CSV records synthetic inputs and expected outputs; the JSON fixture keeps the equations available for reproduction. These calculations have been checked against the stated example. No measured campaign data is included.
The sensitivity rows vary only committed by 20% below and above the entered value. They are scenarios, not confidence limits or a forecast distribution. A row outside the model’s constraints is labelled rather than turned into a plausible-looking result. Save the chosen inputs with the decision so another reader can distinguish a changed assumption from a changed formula.
Evidence and limits
Google distinguishes served cost from billed cost after adjustments. Choose and document the cost basis used in this worksheet; its production, contribution and cash assumptions are our teaching examples, not provider benchmarks. See Manage your spend in Google Ads, especially “Access your billing and cost data; View costs from reports”.
Cancellation clauses and termination fees are not interpreted here. Confirm invoices and contractual obligations with accountable owners before treating an amount as unavoidable.
Background: Annual and quarterly UA budget planning and A Q4 UA Budget Planning Checklist Before the Rush. These existing articles provide context; the present calculation does not verify every archived claim.
