CAC Formula
The Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) formula quantifies the total expenditure required to acquire a new customer, serving as a vital metric for evaluating the efficiency of sales and marketing efforts.
Formula
Copy the exact expression or work through it step by step below.
CAC = Sales And Marketing Spend / New Customers Variables
CAC
CAC
The cac value plugged into the cac calculation.
SMS
Sales And Marketing Spend
The sales and marketing spend value plugged into the cac calculation.
NC
New Customers
The new customers value plugged into the cac calculation.
Step By Step
- 1
Set the baseline case with the real calculator inputs.
Sales Marketing Spend = $32,000, New Customers = 40, Arpu Monthly = 129, Gross Margin Percent = 78.0%
- 2
Translate rates, periods, and cash values onto the same footing before combining them.
Keep the cac assumptions consistent instead of mixing monthly and annual views.
- 3
Apply the formula and read the first calculator outputs, not just the headline assumption.
The calculator lands with customer acquisition cost at $800 and payback period at 7.95.
- 4
Run one changed scenario so the formula is stress-tested before it is trusted.
The cac calculator page is the fastest way to compare that second case.
Worked Example
CAC sample case
Sales Marketing Spend
$32,000
New Customers
40
Arpu Monthly
129
Gross Margin Percent
78.0%
CAC = Sales And Marketing Spend / New Customers using sales marketing spend $32,000, new customers 40, arpu monthly 129, gross margin percent 78.0%.
The calculator lands with customer acquisition cost at $800 and payback period at 7.95.
Common Variations
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Sources & References
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) — Investopedia
- Customer Acquisition Cost: The Ultimate Guide — HubSpot Blog
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