Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Calculator

Calculate blended CAC, payback period, and the rough LTV : CAC ratio.

CAC Calculator
Inputs
$
$

Salaries + commissions + tools.

$
%
Results
Blended CAC
(Marketing + sales) ÷ new customers
$438
CAC payback
Target: <12 mo SMB, <18 mo mid-market
5.5 months
3-yr LTV : CAC (rough)
Healthy ≥ 3×
6.6×
Gross profit per customer / yr
$960
What it is

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the average sales and marketing spend required to acquire one new paying customer. It's the single most important number in growth — paired with LTV, it tells you whether to step on the gas or hit the brakes.

The formula

CAC = (Marketing spend + Sales spend) ÷ New customers

CAC payback (months) = CAC ÷ Monthly gross profit per customer

Why it matters

Teams that don't measure CAC always think their marketing is "working" because revenue grew. Then a paid channel softens and the unit economics collapse. CAC turns "we got a deal" into "we got a deal that pays back in 7 months at a 4× LTV ratio."

Worked examples

SMB SaaS

$35k blended quarterly spend, 80 new customers, $1,200 ARPU, 80% gross margin. CAC = $438, payback ≈ 5.5 months.

Mid-market B2B

$250k spend, 25 customers, $24k ACV, 75% gross margin. CAC = $10k, payback ≈ 6.7 months.

Common pitfalls
  • Counting only ad spend — sales salaries, BDR tooling, and content all belong in CAC.
  • Attributing all customers to paid when organic and referral did the work (use blended CAC).
  • Comparing CAC across very different segments (SMB vs enterprise need separate models).

Software based on your result

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Frequently asked questions

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