Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Calculate customer acquisition cost using your marketing spend, sales spend, and new customers acquired during a period. CAC helps measure how much it costs to win a new customer.
Enter advertising, campaigns, tools, and other marketing costs for the period.
Enter salaries, commissions, software, and other sales-related costs for the period.
Enter the number of new customers acquired during the same period.
How This Calculator Works
This calculator adds your marketing and sales costs together and then divides that total by the number of new customers acquired. The result is your customer acquisition cost for the period.
Formula
Customer Acquisition Cost = (Marketing Spend + Sales Spend) / New Customers
Example
If you spend $8,000 on marketing and $4,000 on sales and acquire 120 new customers, your total spend is $12,000. Your customer acquisition cost is $100 per customer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer acquisition cost?
Customer acquisition cost, or CAC, measures how much it costs to acquire one new customer during a specific period.
Why is CAC important?
CAC helps businesses understand marketing and sales efficiency and compare acquisition cost to customer value and profitability.
What costs should I include?
Many businesses include ad spend, salaries, commissions, tools, software, contractors, and campaign costs tied to acquisition.
Should I compare CAC to customer lifetime value?
Yes. Comparing CAC to customer lifetime value is a common way to evaluate whether acquisition costs are sustainable.
Can CAC vary by channel?
Yes. Paid search, paid social, referrals, email, and outbound sales can all have different customer acquisition costs.