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Why don't my TrueROAS numbers match Meta or Shopify?

TrueROAS counts the orders it can follow back to an ad click, so its numbers differ from what Meta reports and from Shopify's store total.

Why TrueROAS and Meta show different sales

Attribution is how TrueROAS decides which ad gets credit for a sale. TrueROAS starts from the orders in your store and credits each order to the ad the customer came from.

Meta counts sales its own way:

  • Meta also counts people who only saw an ad and bought later without clicking it.
  • Meta counts people who clicked an ad days before, even when they came back through another channel to buy.
  • Google and TikTok do the same, so two platforms can both claim the same order. Added up, the platforms often report more sales than your store actually had.

TrueROAS gives each order to one source, so the total never goes above your real orders. That is why Meta usually shows more sales than TrueROAS for the same campaigns. A gap of 30 to 60% is common.

Why TrueROAS and Shopify show different totals

Your Shopify total includes every order: from ads, email, search engines, people typing in your address and returning customers. TrueROAS splits that same total by where each order came from. The orders that did not come from a paid campaign are under Organic & Unassigned in the Ads Manager.

In the first days after you connect your store, TrueROAS has only seen the orders placed since then, so its totals for earlier dates can be lower than Shopify's. Shopify and WooCommerce stores can bring in their earlier orders. See How do I bring in orders from before I installed TrueROAS?.

TrueROAS also has its own rules for which orders count:

  • Orders with a total of 0, such as free samples, never count in your sales or order numbers. To hide them from your order lists too, see How do I hide free orders from my reports?.
  • A Shopify store counts every order, whatever its status, so cancelled and refunded orders count too. When Hide Draft & In-Store (POS) Orders is on, TrueROAS leaves out draft orders and sales made in person, and also orders with a pending payment and most cancelled or fully refunded orders. See What do Show IDs and Hide Draft & In-Store (POS) Orders do?.
  • A WooCommerce store leaves out orders that are pending payment, on hold, failed, cancelled or in the trash.
  • Refunds are only taken off your sales when Subtract refunds from sales is on. While it is off, a refunded order that counts is counted at its full total. When it is on, a fully refunded order comes to 0, so like any order with a total of 0 it no longer counts in your sales or order numbers. See Can TrueROAS take refunds off my sales?. For Shopify orders placed after you installed TrueROAS, the Ads Manager shows the refunded amount in the Refunds column.
  • Sales include tax and the shipping your customer paid, unless you leave them out. See Does TrueROAS include tax and shipping in my sales?.
  • Orders in another currency are converted to your store currency. See Which currency and time zone do my numbers use?.

Product Attribution follows its own rules for which orders count and what an amount includes. See Why is a product missing from Product Attribution? and What do the numbers in Product Attribution mean?.

When a gap is a sign that something is wrong

  • TrueROAS shows almost no orders while your store is selling. Check that your visits and orders are reaching TrueROAS, as explained in Why are my newest orders or ad spend not showing yet?.
  • One campaign shows far fewer sales than usual from one day to the next.
  • The gap to Meta is much larger than 60%, or TrueROAS shows more sales than Meta for most campaigns.

In those cases, click Book a setup check (first 45 days) or Book a numbers review at the bottom of the left menu. Rasmus, the founder, goes through your numbers with you in 15 minutes. See How do I book a call with Rasmus?.

Good to know