Cost data sync — the ROI integrity checklist

Cost data sync — the ROI integrity checklist

If cost is wrong, every ROI, profit, and optimization decision downstream is wrong. Validate cost flow before trusting a single profit number.

— Identify the cost source per campaign. Auto from postback macro, S2S cost pull, API integration, or manual. Document which method each campaign uses.
— For auto sources, confirm the cost macro resolves to a real number in the tracker log, not 0 or a literal macro. Push networks pass {{cost}}; confirm yours does.
— For API integrations, confirm the sync is running and check the last successful pull timestamp. A stalled API sync freezes cost at yesterday's number.
— For manual sources, set a fixed update cadence and a person responsible. Manual cost updated weekly on a daily-optimized campaign is malpractice.
— Spot-check: pull one campaign's tracker cost against the source platform's reported spend for the same window. They must match within rounding.
— Confirm currency alignment. Source in EUR, tracker in USD, no conversion configured equals silently wrong profit.

Validation:
— Pick one live campaign, reconcile its tracker cost against the platform for yesterday. If it matches, the pipe is clean.

A campaign you cannot trust the cost on is a campaign you cannot optimize.

Save this SOP. Run it before trusting profit data.