The short answer
An order-created event can include transactions that never become completed sales. If those orders remain in the advertising revenue total, reported ROAS can overstate the return your business actually received. First determine which order status your current conversion event represents.
Distinguish order creation from a completed sale
Review whether conversion value is recorded when an order is placed, a payment is authorized, payment is captured, or the order is fulfilled. These events can occur at different times. Choose a documented reporting definition, and keep an order identifier that lets you follow status changes.
Recalculate an illustrative report
Suppose an initial report contains 100 orders at $80 each and $2,000 of advertising spend. Initial revenue is $8,000 and ROAS is 4×. Assume 10 of those orders are canceled before completion and the original $8,000 still includes them. Removing $800 leaves $7,200 and an adjusted ROAS of $7,200 / $2,000 = 3.6×.
If the source report already excludes those cancellations, subtracting $800 again would be wrong. Reconcile order-level records before applying an adjustment. Partial cancellations should use their actual affected value rather than removing the full order automatically.
Keep revenue and costs separate
A canceled sale can still create payment, handling, or support costs. Removing revenue does not necessarily reverse every expense. Record actual retained costs in the contribution model, and distinguish a voided authorization from a refunded completed payment.
Use a consistent cutoff
Recent campaigns may have fewer known cancellations simply because their orders have had less time to change status. Compare cohorts at a similar age or mark the newest period as provisional. Record the report date and the latest order-status update used.
Finally, audit the platform's current correction workflow before changing conversion records. Keep an internal reconciled view even when an advertising dashboard updates on a different schedule. The purpose is an explainable numerator, not making two systems agree by deleting inconvenient records.
Follow order status changes
- Gather: Check which stage triggers the conversion: placement, authorization, capture or fulfillment.
- Produce: Remove an ineligible order value only if it is still present in the source total.
Decision boundary: Voiding a payment and refunding a completed payment are not identical events.
Next reading
Examples are illustrative, not client results or benchmarks. The calculations use the inputs shown; real-world decisions depend on your records and assumptions. Report a correction.