Buyer’s guide Sourced and dated
If you report from client exports (ad platforms, Shopify, CRMs) and want each client's data kept apart, use xmetric: it's free with no per-viewer seats, files stay in your browser, and a saved view goes to the client as a view-only link. Pick Data Studio for live Google Ads and GA4 dashboards, Preset if your clients' data sits in SQL databases, and Tableau Cloud if the client already pays for it.
Our pick
xmetric
It's free for you and for every client who looks, each client's exports stay separate in your browser, and it opens the .twbx files clients inherit from their last agency. The calculations a client asks about (blended CPA, share of spend) are the same formulas Tableau uses.
Pick something else if
Your reports run on live Google Ads and GA4 data (Data Studio), your clients' data lives in SQL databases you connect to (Preset), or the client already licenses Tableau Cloud (Tableau).
xmetric makes this page. Every vendor fact below links to the vendor’s own page and the date we checked it.
Here are eight weeks of one agency's ad spend for six clients, opened in xmetric on this page. Agency-wide cost per conversion fell from $36 in September to $24 in October, yet every single client's CPA rose. The reason is the mix: the coffee roaster's share of spend went from 9.5% to 30%.
Computed by the xmetric engine
The data
A small agency running Google and Meta ads for six clients, from a dental group to a law firm. In October the coffee roaster started its holiday push.
week_start | month | client | channel | spend | clicks | conversions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-07 | 2026-09 | Bayside Dental | Google Ads | 711.34 | 266 | 11 |
| 2026-09-07 | 2026-09 | Bayside Dental | Meta Ads | 675.36 | 310 | 15 |
| 2026-09-07 | 2026-09 | Copperleaf Coffee | Google Ads | 392.78 | 959 | 35 |
| 2026-09-07 | 2026-09 | Copperleaf Coffee | Meta Ads | 318.01 | 1061 | 39 |
Step 1
Cost per conversion across all six clients fell by a third in October. It looks like a great month.
Tableau
SUM([spend]) / SUM([conversions])The xmetric engine ran this formula and got the SQL’s Conversions column, row for row.
SQL
SELECT
month,
SUM(spend) AS spend,
SUM(conversions) AS conversions,
SUM(spend) / SUM(conversions) AS cpa
FROM input
GROUP BY month
ORDER BY monthRows
| Month | Spend | Conversions | Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09 | $29,114 | $800 | $36 |
| 2026-10 | $35,849 | $1,487 | $24 |
Step 2
Split by client, the story flips: every client's CPA went up in October, as auction prices rose before the holidays.
Tableau
SUM([spend]) / SUM([conversions])
// client on Rows, month on ColorSQL
SELECT client, month, SUM(spend) / SUM(conversions) AS cpa
FROM input
GROUP BY client, month
ORDER BY client, monthRows
| Client | Month | Conversions |
|---|---|---|
| Bayside Dental | 2026-09 | $53 |
| Bayside Dental | 2026-10 | $63 |
| Copperleaf Coffee | 2026-09 | $9.53 |
| Copperleaf Coffee | 2026-10 | $9.85 |
| Fernhill Fitness | 2026-09 | $30 |
| Fernhill Fitness | 2026-10 | $33 |
| Marlow Legal | 2026-09 | $149 |
| Marlow Legal | 2026-10 | $168 |
| Pinecrest Realty | 2026-09 | $80 |
| Pinecrest Realty | 2026-10 | $95 |
| Tidewater Kayak Tours | 2026-09 | $26 |
| Tidewater Kayak Tours | 2026-10 | $30 |
Step 3
Copperleaf Coffee, whose conversions cost about USD 10, went from a tenth of the spend to almost a third. The blend got cheaper; no client did. Set Compute Using to client: with the default (Table Across) each bar divides by itself.
Tableau
SUM([spend]) / TOTAL(SUM([spend]))
// Compute Using: client, so each month adds up to 100%SQL
SELECT
client,
month,
SUM(spend)
/ SUM(SUM(spend)) OVER (PARTITION BY month) AS spend_share
FROM input
GROUP BY client, month
ORDER BY client, monthRows
| Client | Month | Spend share |
|---|---|---|
| Bayside Dental | 2026-09 | 19.1% |
| Bayside Dental | 2026-10 | 16.1% |
| Copperleaf Coffee | 2026-09 | 9.5% |
| Copperleaf Coffee | 2026-10 | 30% |
| Fernhill Fitness | 2026-09 | 15.2% |
| Fernhill Fitness | 2026-10 | 11.6% |
| Marlow Legal | 2026-09 | 24.6% |
| Marlow Legal | 2026-10 | 21.1% |
| Pinecrest Realty | 2026-09 | 18.9% |
| Pinecrest Realty | 2026-10 | 14.6% |
| Tidewater Kayak Tours | 2026-09 | 12.7% |
| Tidewater Kayak Tours | 2026-10 | 6.7% |
This is why a client report shows each client's own numbers and never only the agency blend. It's also why the client files shouldn't share one workspace: the comparison above is yours, not something Bayside Dental should see.
Common mistake
The average of ratios gives a week of law-firm ads (at most 8 conversions, each over USD 120) the same weight as a week of coffee ads with more than a hundred. October comes out near USD 68 instead of USD 24. Divide the sums.
Tableau
AVG([spend] / [conversions])SQL
SELECT AVG(spend / conversions) AS cpa
FROM input
WHERE month = '2026-10'Tableau
SUM([spend]) / SUM([conversions])SQL
SELECT SUM(spend) / SUM(conversions) AS cpa
FROM input
WHERE month = '2026-10'Drop one client's ad export (one row per campaign and day or week, with spend and conversions) and the same steps run on it, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Drop a CSV anywhere on this page
Up to 10,000 rows. The sample, campaigns.csv, shows the shape.
If this is you
Monthly reports built from client exports: Meta and Google Ads CSVs, Shopify orders, HubSpot deals
xmetric
Free, no viewer seats, and each client's files stay in your browser. Sign in to save a workbook online and share a view-only link. Co-editing is coming. Files you don't save stay in your browser.
If this is you
Always-on dashboards on live Google Ads, GA4 and Search Console data
Data Studio
Google's own connectors are free and live. Reports can be shared with individuals, teams or the world, edited together in real time, and embedded on any web page.
If this is you
Client data sits in Postgres, Snowflake or BigQuery and a small team builds the dashboards
Preset
Starter is free for up to 5 users; Professional is $20/user/month billed annually; $25/user/month billed monthly.
If this is you
The client already licenses Tableau Cloud and wants reports inside it
Tableau Cloud
Use their seats. Each extra stakeholder who views is a Viewer at $15 per user/month, billed annually; builders need Creator at $75 per user/month, billed annually.
Each client's export is read inside your browser tab and isn't uploaded to a shared workspace. Only a workbook you choose to save online leaves your device, and you share it per client with its own view-only link.
No. xmetric is free, and the account you need to save and share a link is free too. Clients open the view-only link.
Yes. Open the .twbx or .twb in the xmetric app with its dashboards and filters, or drop it into the workbook inspector to list every sheet, data source and calculated field.
Because the blend changed. When more of the month's spend goes to a client with cheap conversions, the agency average falls even if every client's own CPA rises. Always report CPA per client next to the total.