What Is an Ad Account Spending Limit on Meta?

An account spending limit covers every campaign in the ad account at once and keeps a running total from the moment you create it. When that total reaches your limit, your ads pause and the account stops spending. Meta calls it a flexible lifetime cap: it counts until you change it, remove it or reset the amount spent, unless you pick an automatic reset where that option is offered.

How does the account spending limit count spend?

The limit tracks the total your ad account spends across all campaigns from the time you set it. Meta says the amount spent toward it does not reset automatically after a period such as the end of the month. Meta also says you might have the option to reset it automatically on the 1st of each month, and its change article says you can choose a manual or automatic reset. You can track progress toward the limit in your payment settings.

What happens when you reach the limit?

Your ads pause and your ad account stops spending, and Meta sends you a notification. Meta warns that the ads will still be listed as active in Ads Manager, so a campaign that shows active may not be spending. To resume right away, you can change the limit, remove it, or reset the amount spent toward it to $0.

How do you set an account spending limit?

1. Go to your payment settings.
2. Click Options in the Account spending limit section.
3. Click Set limit.
4. Enter the spending limit you want to use.
5. Click Save, then click Done to confirm.

Meta says the limit takes about 15 minutes to take effect.

What rules apply before you set one?

Rule	Detail from Meta
Who can set or change it	An admin of the ad account
Time to take effect	About 15 minutes after creating or changing it
Lowest allowed value	It can’t be less than the amount already spent, unless you reset the amount spent to $0
Accounts that can’t use it	Ad accounts set up for available funds
Too many edits	If you get an error about too many changes, wait about an hour and try again

When you raise the limit, the amount you’ve already spent toward it carries over to the new limit.

How is it different from the daily spending limit?

You set the ad account spending limit. Meta sets the daily spending limit, which is the most your ad account can spend per day, based on your advertising and payment history. If your ads pause without reaching your budget or your account spending limit, Meta says you may have hit the daily spending limit instead. That one resets every day at midnight in your ad account’s time zone. Meta does not set a daily spending limit for ad accounts that use monthly invoicing.

FAQ

Why do my ads say active when the account has stopped spending?

When you reach your ad account spending limit, Meta pauses your ads and sends a notification, but the ads are still listed as active in Ads Manager. Check your payment settings, where the spend toward the limit is shown, and change, remove or reset the limit to resume.

Does the account spending limit reset every month?

Not by default. Meta says the amount spent toward the limit does not automatically reset at a period such as the month’s end. Meta also says you might have the option to reset it automatically on the 1st of each month; otherwise you reset the amount spent to $0 yourself.

Does an account spending limit affect ad performance?

No. Meta states that your ad account spending limit doesn’t affect ad delivery or performance. It only pauses ads when spending reaches the limit. Meta suggests aligning it with your overall advertising budget so the account can’t spend beyond what you planned.