CAC Calculator

CAC is evaluated from Total Sales & Marketing Spend, New Customers Acquired and Monthly Revenue per New Customer. The calculation reports Customer Acquisition Cost, CAC Payback Period and Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer.

Results

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About the CAC Calculator

CAC is treated here as a quantitative relation between Total Sales & Marketing Spend, New Customers Acquired, Monthly Revenue per New Customer and Gross Margin% and Customer Acquisition Cost, CAC Payback Period, Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer and S&M as% of Revenue.

The calculator uses a multi formula configuration. Each reported value is read as a direct evaluation of the stored rules with the declared field formats and units.

Formula basis:
CAC = total S&M spend / new customers
Payback = CAC / (monthly revenue per customer x gross margin%)
S&M efficiency = total spend / (new customers x annual revenue per customer)

Interpret the outputs in the order shown by the result fields. Optional inputs affect only the outputs that depend on those variables.

Formula & How It Works

The calculation applies the following relations exactly as recorded in the metadata:

CAC = total S&M spend / new customers
Payback = CAC / (monthly revenue per customer x gross margin%)
S&M efficiency = total spend / (new customers x annual revenue per customer)

Each output field is produced by substituting the supplied inputs into the relevant relation and then applying the declared rounding or text format.

Worked Examples

Example 1: B2B SaaS: $180,000 quarterly S&M spend, acquired 45 new customers at $299/mo, 72% margin

Inputs

total_sm_spend: 180000 new_customers: 45 mrr_per_customer: 299 gross_margin2: 72
Customer Acquisition Cost: $4,000. CAC Payback Period: 18.6 months. Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer: $4,000/customer. S&M as% of Revenue: 111.5%

With Total Sales & Marketing Spend = 180,000, New Customers Acquired = 45, Monthly Revenue per New Customer = 299 and Gross Margin% = 72 as the stated inputs, the result is Customer Acquisition Cost = $4,000, CAC Payback Period = 18.6 months and Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer = $4,000/customer. Each value corresponds to the declared output fields.

Example 2: D2C e-commerce: $45,000/month ad spend, acquired 750 new customers, AOV $85, 45% margin

Inputs

total_sm_spend: 45000 new_customers: 750 mrr_per_customer: 28.33 gross_margin2: 45
Customer Acquisition Cost: $60. CAC Payback Period: 4.7 months. Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer: $60/customer. S&M as% of Revenue: 17.6%

With Total Sales & Marketing Spend = 45,000, New Customers Acquired = 750, Monthly Revenue per New Customer = 28.33 and Gross Margin% = 45 as the stated inputs, the result is Customer Acquisition Cost = $60, CAC Payback Period = 4.7 months and Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer = $60/customer. Each value corresponds to the declared output fields.

Example 3: Insurance agency: $28,000/month in leads, marketing, outreach; acquired 18 new policies at $280/mo avg premium

Inputs

total_sm_spend: 28000 new_customers: 18 mrr_per_customer: 280 gross_margin2: 15
Customer Acquisition Cost: $1,555.56. CAC Payback Period: 37 months. Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer: $1,556/customer. S&M as% of Revenue: 46.3%

With Total Sales & Marketing Spend = 28,000, New Customers Acquired = 18, Monthly Revenue per New Customer = 280 and Gross Margin% = 15 as the stated inputs, the result is Customer Acquisition Cost = $1,555.56, CAC Payback Period = 37 months and Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer = $1,556/customer. Each value corresponds to the declared output fields.

Example 4: Startup tracking blended CAC: $55k/month burn on S&M across 3 channels, 92 customers acquired this month

Inputs

total_sm_spend: 55000 new_customers: 92 mrr_per_customer: 149 gross_margin2: 68
Customer Acquisition Cost: $597.83. CAC Payback Period: 5.9 months. Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer: $598/customer. S&M as% of Revenue: 33.4%

With Total Sales & Marketing Spend = 55,000, New Customers Acquired = 92, Monthly Revenue per New Customer = 149 and Gross Margin% = 68 as the stated inputs, the result is Customer Acquisition Cost = $597.83, CAC Payback Period = 5.9 months and Avg Monthly S&M Spend per Customer = $598/customer. Each value corresponds to the declared output fields.

Common Use Cases

  • Calculate CAC from total sales and marketing spend
  • Determine CAC payback period from monthly revenue per customer
  • Analyze marketing efficiency and compare to LTV