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Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Calculator

Calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and compare it against Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) to evaluate marketing efficiency and business sustainability.

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Fill in the fields above and click Calculate to see your results.

How to use

This free and easy-to-use tool helps businesses evaluate the overall efficiency of their marketing and sales efforts by accurately calculating the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and comparing it against the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

Start by inputting your Total Marketing and Sales Spend for a specific period, which should include all related expenses such as digital ad spend, software subscriptions, agency fees, and sales team salaries. Next, enter the total number of New Customers Acquired during that exact same timeframe to ensure an accurate calculation.

The calculator will automatically combine your costs and divide them by the number of new customers, instantly outputting your CAC. A lower CAC generally indicates higher marketing efficiency, but it should always be analyzed alongside your LTV to ensure sustainable long-term business growth and profitability.

How it's calculated

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

total_marketing_spend / new_customers

Average cost to acquire one new customer

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

avg_order_value * purchase_frequency_per_year * customer_lifespan_years * gross_margin_percent / 100

Total profit generated by a customer over their lifetime

LTV : CAC Ratio

(avg_order_value * purchase_frequency_per_year * customer_lifespan_years * gross_margin_percent / 100) / (total_marketing_spend / new_customers)

How much lifetime value you get per dollar of acquisition cost

CAC Payback Period

(total_marketing_spend / new_customers) / (avg_order_value * purchase_frequency_per_year * gross_margin_percent / 100 / 12)

Months to recover the acquisition cost from a customer

Examples

E-commerce store monthly campaign

  • New Customers Acquired:150
  • Average Order Value:500,000
  • Gross Margin:40
  • Total Marketing & Sales Spend:30,000,000
  • Average Customer Lifespan:3
  • Average Purchases Per Year:4

Result

  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):500,000
  • total_cost:50,000,000

Spending 30M VND on marketing and 20M VND on sales to acquire 100 new customers means you spent a total of 50M VND. Dividing this by 100 gives a CAC of 500,000 VND per customer.

B2B SaaS subscription model

  • New Customers Acquired:50
  • Average Order Value:2,000,000
  • Gross Margin:60
  • Total Marketing & Sales Spend:25,000,000
  • Average Customer Lifespan:2
  • Average Purchases Per Year:3

Result

  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC):500,000
  • Customer Lifetime Value (LTV):7,200,000
  • LTV : CAC Ratio:14.4

For a B2B SaaS business spending 25M VND to acquire 50 customers, the CAC is 500,000 VND. With a high lifetime value of 7.2M VND, the LTV to CAC ratio is very strong.

Industry Benchmarks

Metric Typical Range
In Vietnamese e-commerce, CAC typically ranges from 150,000 to 500,000 VND depending on the product margin. 500000 VND (E-commerce Avg)

Data source: Vietnam Digital Marketing Industry Estimates

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a healthy LTV:CAC ratio?

A ratio of 3:1 is the standard benchmark — meaning you earn $3 in lifetime profit for every $1 spent acquiring a customer. Below 1:1 is unsustainable. Above 5:1 may indicate under-investment in growth.

What costs should I include in CAC?

Include all marketing and sales costs: ad spend, agency fees, content creation, sales team salaries, CRM tools, and any other costs directly tied to acquiring new customers. Divide by the number of new customers in the same period.

What costs should I include in 'Marketing Spend'?

Include ad spend (Facebook, Google), agency fees, marketing software subscriptions, content creation costs, and salaries of the marketing team.

Is a high CAC always bad?

Not necessarily. If your product is a high-ticket item or has a high Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) like a SaaS subscription, a higher CAC can still be very profitable.
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