CAC Payback Calculator
Enter CAC per customer, monthly revenue per customer, gross margin %, monthly S&M salaries, S&M tools and ad spend not already in CAC, new customers per month, and monthly churn. See gross profit per customer, fully-loaded cost, total CAC, base payback months, churn-adjusted payback, efficiency rating, and annual profit after payback. Use it to know if your growth is efficient before you scale spend.
Best for
Make the next pricing or planning decision with context
Check whether the campaign or investment behind your business offer earns back its cost before you scale it. It covers how many months it takes to recover your customer acquisition cost — the gold standard SaaS efficiency metric.
Instant calculations · Editable fee assumptions · Export-ready results
Inputs
Values update results instantly. Adjust fee assumptions to match your seller dashboard.
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Costs
Total cost to acquire one customer — ads, sales, tools
Monthly salaries for SDRs, AEs, marketers
CRM, outreach tools, ad spend not in CAC
Revenue
Monthly revenue per customer
Revenue minus COGS/hosting divided by revenue
Volume
Customers acquired monthly
Retention
Monthly churn rate
Results
Live estimates based on your inputs and editable fee assumptions.
Gross profit per customer / mo
$66.75
Revenue × margin.
Fully loaded S&M per customer
$766.67
(Salaries + tools) / new customers.
Total CAC (base + fully loaded)
$1,616.67
True cost to acquire.
Payback months (base)
24.22
Total CAC ÷ gross profit.
Payback months churn-adjusted
88.58
Payback with churn drag.
Efficiency rating
needs work
Excellent <12mo, Good <18, Okay <24.
Annual profit per customer after payback
-$815.67
Gross profit × (12 − payback).
Months revenue needed to be profitable
24.22
Same as payback for cohort.
What this means
Gross profit $66.75/mo. Fully loaded $767 + base $850 = $1617 total CAC. Payback 24.2 months base, 88.6 months churn-adjusted. Rating needs work. Annual profit after $-816 per customer.
Cumulative profit vs CAC payback crossover
Interactive breakdown of fees, costs, and remaining profit.
Distribution
- Total CAC$1,616.6789.0%
- Monthly gross profit$200.2511.0%
Total $1,816.92 · 2 segments · interactive
Line-item breakdown
Dollar amounts, share of revenue, and visual proportion.
- Base CAC
- $850.00
- Fully loaded S&M per customer
- $766.67
- Total CAC
- $1,616.67
- Avg monthly revenue
- $89.00
- Gross profit / mo
- $66.75
- Payback months base
- 24.22
- Churn waste / mo
- $48.50
- Effective monthly after churn
- $18.25
- Payback churn-adjusted
- 88.58
- Annual profit after payback
- -$815.67
Assumptions used
- • Gross $66.75 = $89.00×75.0%
- • Fully $766.67 = ($8000.00+$1200.00)/12
- • Total CAC $1616.67 = $850.00+$766.67
- • Payback 24.2 = 1616.67/66.75
Your next best moves
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Explore General BusinessCAC Payback Calculator
Generated 9/16/2026, 7:45:53 AM · Currency USD
Inputs
- CAC per customer (ads, sales): 850
- Avg monthly revenue per customer: 89
- Gross margin %: 75
- Monthly S&M salaries: 8000
- Monthly S&M tools and extra ad spend: 1200
- New customers per month: 12
- Monthly churn %: 3
Results
- Base CAC: $850.00
- Fully loaded S&M per customer: $766.67
- Total CAC: $1,616.67
- Avg monthly revenue: $89.00
- Gross profit / mo: $66.75
- Payback months base: 24.22
- Churn waste / mo: $48.50
- Effective monthly after churn: $18.25
- Payback churn-adjusted: 88.58
- Annual profit after payback: -$815.67
Interpretation
Gross profit $66.75/mo. Fully loaded $767 + base $850 = $1617 total CAC. Payback 24.2 months base, 88.6 months churn-adjusted. Rating needs work. Annual profit after $-816 per customer.
How it works
Methodology & formulas
This calculator is transparent by design. Review the steps and formulas so you can trust the estimate and adjust assumptions when your dashboard differs.
Calculation steps
- 1Calculate gross profit per customer from revenue and margin.
- 2Spread monthly S&M fixed costs over new customers for fully loaded cost.
- 3Add to base CAC for total CAC.
- 4Divide total CAC by gross profit for base payback.
- 5Subtract estimated churn waste (CAC×churn) from monthly profit for adjusted payback.
- 6Rate efficiency by industry benchmarks: under 12 excellent, 18 good.
Formulas
- grossProfit = avgRevenue × margin%/100
- fullyLoaded = (salaries+tools)/newPerMonth
- totalCAC = baseCAC + fullyLoaded
- payback = totalCAC / grossProfit
- effective = grossProfit − totalCAC×churn%
- paybackAdj = totalCAC / effective
- annualProfitAfter = grossProfit×12 − totalCAC
Important assumptions
- Gross profit per customer = avgMonthlyRevenue × margin%/100.
- Fully loaded S&M per customer = (salaries + tools)/newCustomersPerMonth.
- Total CAC = cacPerCustomer + fullyLoaded.
- Base payback = totalCAC / grossProfit.
- Churn drag monthly = totalCAC × churnRate/100 ; effective monthly = grossProfit − churnDrag approximated.
- Churn-adjusted payback = totalCAC / max(effective, 1) to avoid divide by zero.
- Annual profit after payback = grossProfit×12 − totalCAC if payback <12 else grossProfit×12 − totalCAC prorated negative if not yet recovered.
Sources & review
Know what this estimate is built on
This calculator is intentionally platform-agnostic, so it does not attach a platform fee URL.
Official references
No single official fee page is attached here. The model keeps these inputs editable so you can use the terms that apply to your situation.
Use the current terms
This model uses editable planning assumptions. Confirm tax, payment, financing, or operating terms with the relevant provider, official authority, or adviser for your situation.
Defaults are editable estimates. Match them to your current account, provider statement, official authority, lender, or adviser before making a pricing or investment decision.
Calculator model reviewed: August 9, 2026. This date covers the page and calculator guidance, not a guarantee that every live platform rate or term was re-audited on that date.
Worked example
$850 CAC, $89 MRR, 75% margin, $9.2K S&M
$850 base CAC, $89 revenue, 75% margin = $66.75 gross/mo. S&M $8K salaries + $1.2K tools over 12 customers = $766.67 fully loaded. Total $1,616.67. Payback 24.2 months. 3% churn waste $48.51, effective $18.24, adjusted 33.3 months.
FAQ
Common questions
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