Amazon PPC Audit Checklist for Australian Sellers

An Amazon PPC audit is a structured review of your ad account that checks profit maths, eligibility, campaign structure, search terms, bids, budgets and the listings behind the ads. Work through it in that order, because a bid change cannot fix a listing that is not buyable. Amazon requires an active Professional seller account for ads, and Sponsored Products needs Featured Offer eligibility. The checklist below is built for Amazon.com.au sellers; tick each item, record the finding, and act on the biggest leaks first.

How do I prepare for the audit?

Pull a report covering the last 30 and 60 days for each ad type, plus the search term report and a sales report at ASIN level. Open a sheet with one row per product: selling price, profit per unit before ads, break-even ACoS, current stock days, ad spend, ad sales, orders. Note your goal for each product, such as launch, defend, grow or clear stock. The audit judges campaigns against that goal.

Checklist 1: profit and goals

[ ] Profit per unit before ads is calculated for every advertised product, with GST removed from the price and fees counted (Amazon quotes plan and FBA fees excluding GST).
[ ] Break-even ACoS is written down per product (profit before ads divided by selling price).
[ ] Target ACoS or TACoS is set below break-even, or a planned launch loss is stated with an end date.
[ ] Each product has a goal (launch, defend, grow, clear).
[ ] Price changes in the last 60 days are recorded, because a discount changes break-even.

Checklist 2: account and eligibility

[ ] The account is an active Professional plan, which Amazon requires for all Amazon Ads.
[ ] Every advertised ASIN holds the Featured Offer. Sponsored Products needs Featured Offer eligibility. See Buy Box.
[ ] No advertised ASIN is suppressed, out of stock or about to be. Check suppressed listings.
[ ] Brand Registry is active if you use Sponsored Brands or Stores, which need it.
[ ] Billing is working and no campaign is paused for a payment or policy reason.
[ ] Account health shows no open warnings that could limit advertising. See account health.

Checklist 3: campaign structure

[ ] Campaigns are named so you can tell type, product group and match type at a glance.
[ ] Automatic and manual campaigns are separate, and each ad group has a tight group of related products.
[ ] Branded, generic and competitor-ASIN targeting are in separate campaigns, so their results are not blended. See campaign structure.
[ ] No ad group holds dozens of unrelated products or hundreds of keywords with one bid.
[ ] Every active product is in at least one campaign, and no discontinued product still has live ads.
[ ] Duplicate keywords across campaigns are found and removed, or intentionally separated by match type, so campaigns do not compete against each other.

Checklist 4: search terms and keywords

[ ] The search term report is reviewed for the period; terms with enough clicks and no sales are listed.
[ ] Irrelevant terms are added as negative keywords at campaign or ad group level.
[ ] Converting search terms from automatic campaigns are copied into manual campaigns, using the right match type.
[ ] Keywords with spend and no orders after your chosen click count are paused or lowered.
[ ] Your own brand terms are targeted and defended, and competitor brand terms are used only if you have decided to.
[ ] No ads are showing for terms that your product page does not match (for example, a size or feature you do not offer).

Pick your click count in advance. Amazon does not publish a universal number, so a common rule is to wait until a keyword has clicked about as many times as it would need to produce one order at your normal conversion rate, doubled or tripled. For a product converting at 10%, that is 20 to 30 clicks.

Checklist 5: bids and placements

[ ] Bid strategy is chosen deliberately per campaign. Amazon describes dynamic bidding as raising bids on impressions more likely to convert. Check whether "up and down" or "down only" suits each goal; see bidding strategy.
[ ] Bids on profitable keywords are not so low that they lose impressions.
[ ] Bids on unprofitable keywords have been cut, not left on autopilot.
[ ] Top-of-search and product page placement results are checked, and any bid adjustments are justified by data.
[ ] Cost per click by keyword is compared with your unit profit and conversion rate. Amazon publishes no minimum bid for Australia, so use your own history.

Checklist 6: budgets

[ ] No best-performing campaign is capped by budget for a large share of the day.
[ ] No poor campaign gets budget that would earn more elsewhere.
[ ] Daily budgets are at least Amazon's recommended minimum (15 in local currency for Australia, A$15; confirm in your ads console). Read how to set a budget.
[ ] Total ad spend as a share of revenue (TACoS) is tracked monthly.
[ ] Budgets are adjusted before sale events and stock changes.

Checklist 7: listings and stock

[ ] Main image, title, bullets and price are competitive against the top results for your target term.
[ ] Conversion rate for each product is compared with its own history. A fall often points to price, reviews or stock, not ads.
[ ] Stock covers at least the lead time plus a buffer.
[ ] A+ Content and Store are live if you are Brand Registered. See A+ Content.
[ ] Review count and rating are checked for each advertised ASIN. A rating drop is a reason to pause spend while you fix the cause.

How do I score and act on the audit?

Rank findings by dollars. Most audits find that a small number of search terms or campaigns hold most of the wasted spend. Fix those first: add negatives, cut bids, move budget. Then work through structure and listing issues. Record every change with a date and the reason, and judge it after a fair period, usually two weeks at modest budgets.

FAQ

How often should I audit my Amazon PPC account? A quick check weekly on spend, orders and budget-capped campaigns, a full checklist monthly, and a structural review each quarter. Sale events and launches deserve an extra audit before and after.

What is the first thing to check in an Amazon PPC audit? Profit per unit and break-even ACoS. Without them you cannot tell whether an ACoS figure is good. After that, check that the advertised offers are buyable and in stock.

What ACoS counts as bad? There is no universal figure. Anything above the break-even ACoS for that product loses money on the first sale. Compare each product with its own break-even and goal, not a general benchmark.

Do I need special tools for a PPC audit? No. The console's reports, a spreadsheet and your sales data are enough for most sellers. Software helps at scale but is not required.

How many clicks before I pause a keyword? Amazon sets no rule. Decide in advance based on your conversion rate, for example 20 to 30 clicks at a 10% conversion rate, and apply it consistently across keywords.

Should I audit listings as part of PPC? Yes. Ads buy traffic, and the listing decides whether it converts. A weak main image or price often explains poor ad results better than any bid does.

Turn the audit into a routine

Put the weekly, monthly and quarterly checks in your calendar and keep the findings sheet. If you prefer an outside review, Blooprint's Amazon Ads management service can audit an Amazon.com.au account remotely. More guides are in the Australia hub.

Amazon PPC Audit Checklist for Australian Sellers: Seven Checklists From Profit Maths to Listings