Calculate CAC from Spend and New Customers
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is Total sales & marketing spend divided by New customers acquired for the same period. This calculator shows the formula, assumptions, intermediate values, and result from the figures you enter.
How to Use the CAC Calculator
- Choose Currency and Period. These selections label the result; they do not convert the figures. Available periods are Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Campaign total, and Custom period.
- Enter Total sales & marketing spend and New customers acquired for the same period.
- Optionally enter Average revenue per customer - optional to see a single-period revenue-to-CAC ratio.
- Optionally enter Target CAC - optional to see the per-customer and total-spend gaps.
- Click Calculate CAC. If an input is invalid, the calculator shows an error and does not produce a result.
- Use Copy result or Download result (.txt) to save the plain-text summary. Click Reset to restore USD, Monthly, and blank inputs.
Formulas and Optional Comparisons
CAC = Total sales and marketing spend ÷ New customers acquiredRevenue-to-CAC ratio = Average revenue per customer ÷ CACGap vs. target per customer = CAC − Target CACGap vs. target total spend = Gap per customer × New customers acquired
The revenue-to-CAC ratio uses one period’s average revenue and is not LTV:CAC. The target comparison describes the difference at the entered customer volume; it does not change your actual spend.
Inputs, Units, and Validation
- Total sales & marketing spend must be a number of 0 or more. Decide which sales and marketing costs belong in this total and use the same definition across periods.
- New customers acquired must be a number greater than 0. Spend and customers must cover the same period.
- Average revenue per customer - optional and Target CAC - optional accept 0 or more when entered; either field can be left blank.
- Currency changes the displayed symbol only. The calculator does not convert currencies or look up exchange rates. Period is also a label only, so no period conversion occurs.
- Invalid input stops the calculation and shows a specific error. A target warning appears when the absolute CAC difference is greater than
0.005in the entered currency; very small differences may not trigger the warning.
Read, Copy, or Download the Result
The result shows CAC, new customer count, and Total sales & marketing spend. If you entered average revenue or a target, it also shows the related ratio or comparison. The assumptions table lists your entries and intermediate values.
Copy result copies a plain-text summary. Download result (.txt) creates customer-acquisition-cost-calculator-result.txt.
Limitations and Data Handling
The calculator uses only the figures you enter. It does not fetch live rates or records, connect to a CRM, ad platform, or accounting system, or perform currency conversion. It does not calculate LTV, churn, or payback period. The calculation runs locally in your browser, and the page states that entered data is not uploaded. This is not financial, marketing, or investment advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is customer acquisition cost (CAC) calculated?
CAC is your total sales and marketing spend divided by the number of new customers acquired in the same period: CAC = Total sales and marketing spend / New customers acquired.
What should I include in sales and marketing spend?
Common practice is to include salaries, commissions, ad spend, tools, and overhead for the sales and marketing functions during the period. This tool does not decide what to include - it calculates from the total figure you enter, so be consistent about what's in that total from period to period.
Why does the tool ask for average revenue per customer?
This optional field lets the tool show a simple revenue-to-CAC ratio for the same period (average revenue per customer divided by CAC). This is not the same as a full LTV:CAC ratio, which requires a customer lifetime value estimate covering the full customer relationship, not just one period.
Does this tool fetch my actual sales or marketing data?
No. It only calculates from the spend and new customer figures you type in. It does not connect to a CRM, ad platform, or accounting system, and does not fetch live rates or records - everything is calculated locally in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
Is this a substitute for financial or marketing strategy advice?
No. This tool performs transparent arithmetic on the figures you provide. It is not financial, marketing, or investment advice, and it does not account for customer lifetime value, churn, payback period, or currency conversion.