Short answer
Google Local Services Ads use a weekly budget, and Google's help pages say the monthly maximum is the weekly budget times 30.4 divided by 7. You pay only for valid leads, so spend can land below the cap. Enter your weekly budget and the price per lead from your own dashboard to estimate leads and cost per booked job.
Local Services Ads are availability-dependent: Google offers them only for certain trades, cities and countries, so confirm eligibility first (see our categories guide). This calculator assumes you can run them.
Use the calculator
The starting numbers are round placeholders, not industry averages. Replace every one with your own figures. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Worked example with the arithmetic
These are example numbers, not benchmarks. I made them round so the arithmetic is easy to follow. Replace them with your own figures from your Local Services Ads dashboard.
- Monthly cap: weekly budget x 30.4 / 7. With an example weekly budget of $700, that is 700 x 30.4 / 7 = $3,040 a month at most.
- Leads: budget / cost per lead = leads. With an example price of $40 per valid lead, 3,040 / 40 = 76 leads.
- Booked jobs: leads x booking rate = jobs. With an example booking rate of 25%, 76 x 0.25 = 19 jobs.
- Cost per booked job: budget / jobs. 3,040 / 19 = $160 per booked job.
- Revenue: jobs x average job value. With an example job value of $500, 19 x 500 = $9,500.
To see how much one input matters, change only the booking rate. At an example 12.5% instead of 25%, the same 76 leads give 9.5 jobs, and the cost per booked job doubles to $320. The price per lead did not move, yet the economics did.
How to read the result
- Treat the monthly figure as a ceiling. You pay for valid leads, so real spend can land below the cap, and the calculator assumes the whole cap is used. Compare it with your account's actual charges after a few weeks.
- Compare cost per booked job with profit, not revenue. If a job brings in $500 but leaves you $200 after materials and labor, a $160 cost per booked job leaves little. Use your own margin.
- The booking rate is yours to improve. It depends on how fast you answer calls and messages and how many leads are in your service area, so test it with real leads.
- Change one input at a time. Move the price per lead, then the booking rate, then the budget, and see which one swings the answer most for your business.
- Treat the output as a planning estimate. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a prediction of what Google will charge or deliver.
How Local Services Ads charge
From Google's Local Services Ads help pages: you pay for valid leads, not clicks. A lead can be a phone call, a message or a booking, depending on your account. Prices vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode. Google reassesses charged leads and can credit some automatically, and you can dispute some leads in your account. Rules and features change, so read the current help pages for your country.
Setting a sensible weekly budget
- Pick a budget that can cover several leads a week, not one. Google's bidding help suggests a budget that can cover about ten leads a week while the system learns.
- Expect a learning period of around two weeks before results settle.
- Answer every call and message fast. Response time is part of how your ad ranks.
- Review the leads in your dashboard each week and rate them.
For a wider view, see Local Services Ads cost and Local Services Ads vs Google Ads.
Mistakes to avoid
- Assuming the price per lead you pay is fixed. It changes with competition and job type.
- Ignoring the move of Local Services Ads into Google Ads for some accounts. Check your account and Google's notices.
- Judging by lead count alone. Track booked jobs.
Want this checked against your real account?
These calculators give you a first read on your own assumptions. They cannot see your account, your market or how quickly your phone is answered. LiveLeadsLane is a new, founder-led remote practice run by Prakhar Kirsali from India. Paid ads management starts at $375 a month for one platform, with ad spend paid by you directly to the platform, and a recommended minimum of $1,500 a month per platform. Book a free call and bring your numbers, or see the published prices. Nothing here is a promise of leads or revenue.
