Tracking audit checklist
An audit is only useful if it runs in a fixed order, because the order is what makes findings comparable between accounts and stops the obvious cause being missed while someone investigates an exotic one. This is the sequence we use on every engagement: reconcile first, inventory firing paths second, walk the funnel live third, read payloads fourth, test consent fifth. By the last step there's usually a single explanation standing.
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Tracking audit · what breaks
Where teams get this wrong — Tracking audit
- 01
Starting with the tag manager
Start with the numbers. The container tells you what someone intended, not what's happening.
- 02
Auditing without a source of truth
Then there's nothing to measure findings against and the audit becomes opinion.
- 03
Reporting everything as a fault
Attribution overlap is expected. Listing it as a problem destroys the credibility of the real findings.
Tracking audit · the fix
What a correct implementation looks like — Tracking audit
A fixed diagnostic order
Same sequence every time, so findings are comparable.
Reconciliation before inspection
The numbers tell you where to look.
Expected behaviour separated from faults
Explicitly, in the report.
Undetermined items listed as undetermined
Rather than guessed at.
Tracking audit · architecture
The diagnostic order — Tracking audit
Five steps, always in this sequence. Each rules out a class of cause so the next one has less ground to cover.
- 1
Reconcile
Your own records against each platform, per record, over a closed window. Direction and size of the gap narrow the causes immediately.
- 2
Inventory firing paths
Every system that could be sending. Usually more than the team believes, and the previous agency's container is often still live.
- 3
Walk the funnel live
A real transaction on a real device. Preview mode shows intent, not delivery.
- 4
Read payloads
Field by field, from the live journey. Configuration is what someone meant; the payload is what happened.
- 5
Test consent
Deny it and capture what leaves. Nothing carrying identifiers should.
- 6
Categorise findings
Fault, expected behaviour, or undetermined. All three are legitimate outcomes.
Tracking audit · diagnose
Common mistakes and how to validate each — Tracking audit
Ordered by how often we find them. Each one has a specific check rather than a general instruction to be careful.
- 01
Container opened first
Restart with the reconciliation. You'll spend less time and find more.
- 02
Firing paths under-counted
List every app, integration and container. Then check the ones nobody mentioned.
- 03
Preview mode mistaken for verification
Repeat on a live transaction. Consent and blockers sit between the two.
- 04
Overlap reported as a fault
Two platforms claiming one order is expected. Say so, or your real findings lose credibility.
- 05
Guessing at undetermined items
List them as undetermined. It's a more useful finding than a confident wrong one.
Tracking audit · prove
How to prove your implementation is right — Tracking audit
Against your own records and a live payload, not against a preview screen.
Source of truth
whichever system holds the records, agreed before the audit starts
- Reconciliation completed before any container was opened.
- A complete firing-path inventory, including inherited setups.
- Payload evidence captured from a real transaction.
- Consent verified by capture under every state.
- Findings categorised as fault, expected, or undetermined.
- Checked on a live conversion, not in preview mode.
- Reconciled over a fully closed window, matched per record.
- Re-checked 30 days later.
Tracking audit · free audit
What we check in the free audit
- Container opened first
- Firing paths under-counted
- Preview mode mistaken for verification
- Overlap reported as a fault
- Guessing at undetermined items
Checked against
whichever system holds the records, agreed before the audit starts
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Tracking audit · when not to buy
What this reference deliberately leaves out — Tracking audit
Stated openly, because a reference that's silent about its own gaps is the dangerous kind.
- This is the order, not every possible check. Platform-specific audits have their own additional steps.
- Ad account structure and bidding configuration are adjacent and audited separately.
- Privacy and compliance review is a different discipline with different expertise, and this isn't it.
- Vendor documentation is the authority, not this page. Where the two disagree, the vendor is right and we'd like to know so we can correct it.
- Parameter names and behaviour change. Anything here is accurate as we last verified it; verify against the current documentation before you rely on it for a build.
Tracking audit · what we deliver
The checklist — Tracking audit
Source of truth agreed and reconciled
Before opening any container.
Every firing path inventoried
Container, apps, native integrations, previous agency's tags.
The funnel walked on a real transaction
On a real device, not in preview.
Live payloads read field by field
Not compared against configuration.
Consent tested under every state
By network capture.
Pricing
Pick the package that fits your ad spend
Browser-side starter
$400One-time fee · lifetime ownership
Repairs and verifies your existing browser-side setup against this reference, on a live conversion.
- Implementation checked against the spec
- Verified on a live conversion
- Reconciled against your own records
- Written handover
1st-party server-side
Recommended$800One-time fee · most popular
Money events sent from your own records through a first-party container on your subdomain, built to this specification.
- First-party server container on your own subdomain
- Events from your records, not the browser
- Deduplicated on a shared event ID at every destination
- First-party cookies beyond Safari's 7-day cap
- 95%+ accuracy and 8+ Meta EMQ, guaranteed in writing
Full 1st-party stack
$1,800One-time fee · lifetime ownership
Every paid channel server-side plus the offline loop, documented to this standard.
- Everything in 1st-party server-side
- Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit and LinkedIn CAPI
- CRM and offline conversion loop
- Refunds and cancellations corrected wherever each platform allows it
- Monitoring so the next break surfaces in days
FAQ
Tracking audit questions, answered
With the reconciliation, not the container. The direction and size of the gap eliminates most possible causes before you inspect anything.
The measurement is a day once access is granted. What varies is fixing what it finds.
That's a legitimate and valuable finding. An auditor who always finds something is telling you about their incentives, not your setup.
It makes findings comparable across accounts and stops the obvious cause being missed while someone chases an interesting one.
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Get an audit that runs in a fixed order
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