Advertising and billing

How billing works

This guide covers an ad account you own. With this setup, the ad platform bills your ad spend and Fenceline bills your AI usage separately:

Before you start

• Marketing is active on your account. You'll see "Marketing" in the dashboard sidebar. If not, ask your Fenceline team to switch it on.
• Your role has the "Manage Integrations" permission to connect ad accounts. Owners and Admins have it by default, and they can give it to other roles. Adding funds to your Fenceline balance is limited to Owners and Admins.
• You have a Google Ads account — a regular, active account (not a manager or test account). Don't have one? Create it at ads.google.com first.

Step 1

Set up billing in Google Ads

Do this first. Fenceline can't see whether your Google Ads account has a payment method, so the Google Ads card can show "Running" even when Google can't bill you — and your ads won't deliver.

1. 1

   Open your Google Ads billing page

   Sign in with the Google login that owns your ad account. If Google asks which account to open, pick the one you will use with Fenceline.

2. 2

   Add a payment method

   A card or bank account on the Google Ads account itself. Google bills this payment method for ad spend under your campaign settings.

3. 3

   Check your access level

   In Google Ads, under Admin → Access and security, your login needs Admin or Standard access. Read-only access will connect, but campaigns will fail to launch.

Step 2

Connect your Google Ads account

This lets Fenceline build and manage campaigns inside your account. You stay the owner, and you can disconnect at any time.

1. 1

   Go to Dashboard → Marketing

   On the Ads card, click "Set up ads".

2. 2

   Under Setup, click "Set up" on the Google Ads card

3. 3

   On "Confirm your setup", click "Connect Google Ads"

   You are sent to Google to sign in.

4. 4

   Sign in to Google and approve Fenceline's access

   Use the login that owns your ad account. Approve every permission Google asks for — Fenceline needs lasting access to build and adjust your campaigns.

5. 5

   Pick your ad account

   If your login reaches more than one account, you'll see "Which account should we manage?". Choose the account for this business and click "Use this account". With only one account, this step is skipped.

6. 6

   Confirm "Google Ads is set up"

   The Google Ads card now shows "Running". Your account stays yours — Fenceline builds and manages campaigns inside it.

Step 3

Add funds to your Fenceline balance

AI campaign drafting uses your free AI credits first, then your balance. Check the "Available balance" and "Free AI credits" on the Billing page before topping up — you only need to add funds when both are running low. Skip it if you'll write campaigns yourself.

1. 1

   Go to Dashboard → Marketing and click "Billing"

   If you only have a Fenceline balance, the sidebar item is called "Billing" instead.

2. 2

   Under "Add funds", pick an amount or enter a custom one, then click "Continue"

   The minimum amount is shown under the form. Card only.

3. 3

   Enter your card details and pay

   Funds become available after a successful payment. Every top-up and charge is listed under "Receipts and activity".

Step 4

Launch your first campaign

Google may spend up to twice your daily budget on a busy day and less on others — see Google’s daily and monthly spending limits.

1. 1

   In Marketing → Ads, open Campaigns and create a campaign

   Use AI drafting (uses your free AI credits, then your Fenceline balance) or fill the campaign in yourself.

2. 2

   Set a daily budget

   At least $1/day. Your Fenceline team sets a daily cap for your account; the form tells you the most you can choose.

3. 3

   Create the campaign — it starts paused

   Nothing spends yet. You get a chance to check it first.

4. 4

   Click "Resume" in your campaigns list when you're ready

   Google can begin delivering the campaign once its review, account, and billing requirements are met. Ad spend is billed through your Google Ads payment method.

Checking what you've spent

• Ad spend: each Google campaign in Fenceline shows figures synced from Google. Click "Access your Google Ads billing" under a campaign to see invoices and charges in Google Ads.
• AI and platform charges: Marketing → Billing → "Receipts and activity".
• If Google asks which account to open, search for the account ID shown in Fenceline (it looks like 123-456-7890).

Switching or disconnecting your account

Open the Google Ads card and use "Need to change this?": choose "Choose a different account" or "Disconnect Google Ads".

• Pause your running Google campaigns first — Fenceline asks you to.
• Your Google Ads account and its history stay yours. You can reconnect later.

Facebook & Instagram ads

Works the same way as Google, with one extra step: Facebook ads are posted by a Page, so you pick the Page your ads run from. Facebook bills the payment method on your own ad account — add one in Meta Business Manager first, just as in Step 1.

1. 1

   On the Ads card, click "Set up" on the Facebook & Instagram card

2. 2

   Click "Connect Facebook & Instagram" and approve Fenceline's access

   Sign in with the Facebook login that manages your ad account.

3. 3

   Pick the ad account you want Fenceline to manage

4. 4

   Pick the Facebook Page your ads run from

   Choose it from the list of your Pages. If you leave before picking one, the card says "Your ad account is connected but has no Facebook Page." — click "Finish setup" to come back to the list.

If you see a message

"You don't have permission to connect advertising accounts."

Connecting needs the "Manage Integrations" permission. Owners and Admins have it by default; ask one of them to connect, or to give your role that permission in your team's Roles settings.

"Your marketing service isn't active yet, so there's nothing to connect to."

Marketing is switched on by your Fenceline team. Contact them to get started.

"You cancelled before granting access, so nothing was connected."

Click "Connect Google Ads" again and approve access on Google's screen.

"Google Ads didn't return a lasting permission."

Connect again and approve every permission Google asks for.

"That connection link expired before it could be used."

Start again from "Connect Google Ads" and finish the Google sign-in without leaving it idle.

"No ad account on that login"

The Google login you used has no Google Ads account. Create one at ads.google.com (and add a payment method), or reconnect with a login that already has one.

"Also on this login, but can't run ads"

Manager accounts, test accounts, and cancelled or suspended accounts can't run ads. Pick a regular, active account.

"That Google Ads account is already connected to another organization on Fenceline."

Each ad account can belong to one Fenceline account. Disconnect it there first, or use a different account.

"Your Google Ads permission expired."

Click "Reconnect" on the Google Ads card and approve access again. Your campaigns and history are kept.

"Your other Google campaigns on this account, paused ones included, already reserve your daily cap"

Paused campaigns still count toward your cap. Lower or remove one of them, or choose a smaller budget.

"Your AI credit balance is too low to generate a campaign."

Add funds to your Fenceline balance (Step 3), or fill the campaign in yourself.

Still stuck? Contact your Fenceline team or see Troubleshooting.