CAC = included sales and marketing acquisition costs ÷ new customers acquiredHow to use this calculator
- Choose a reporting period and a consistent policy for allocating acquisition costs.
- Enter advertising, sales, marketing and agency or tooling costs without double counting them.
- Enter newly acquired customers for the matching population, then review the cost breakdown and scenarios.
Worked example
An illustrative period includes $2,000 in advertising, $1,500 in sales costs, $1,000 in marketing costs and $500 in other acquisition costs. Total included cost is $5,000. For 100 new customers, CAC is $50; media spend alone is $20 per new customer.
CAC versus CPA
An ad-platform CPA often divides advertising spend by attributed conversion events, which could be leads, purchases or installs. Customer acquisition cost uses your included acquisition costs and newly acquired customers. A repeat order or partial attribution credit is not automatically a newly acquired customer.
What belongs in the numerator?
Start with the acquisition-related costs your team has agreed to include. Depending on your allocation policy, that can include advertising, relevant payroll, agency fees and software. Avoid counting an agency invoice in both marketing and other costs. Document exclusions when sharing the result.
Match the timing and population
Costs and customer acquisition may not occur at the same instant. A sales-led business can have a long lag between an initial marketing expense and a closed customer. Use consistent periods or cohorts, and compare blended CAC with blended CAC rather than quietly mixing it with paid-channel metrics.
Reference: Shopify: customer acquisition cost and included costs.
Common questions
How do I calculate CAC?
Add the sales and marketing acquisition costs you intend to include, then divide by newly acquired customers for the matching period or cohort. This calculator makes the cost components visible so the policy can be reviewed.
Should I use orders or new customers?
Use newly acquired customers. If a customer places several orders, counting every order in the denominator would answer a cost-per-order question rather than CAC. Keep your new-customer definition consistent across comparisons.
Is ad spend per new customer the same as paid CAC?
Not necessarily. This tool divides your ad spend by the same new-customer count you entered. If that count includes organic customers, the figure is a media-only blended measure, not automatically a paid-channel CAC.
Does a low CAC prove profitability?
No. You also need to understand contribution margin, customer value, retention and the time taken to recover acquisition costs. The budget cards assume your observed CAC remains constant and are not forecasts of future customer volume.