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Fully-loaded CAC Calculator

Calculate fully-loaded CAC by including paid spend plus sales & marketing costs (salaries, tools, and other acquisition costs).

Fully-loaded CAC includes more than ad spend. It adds the costs required to acquire customers (sales & marketing salaries, tools, and other acquisition costs) to get a planning-grade CAC.

Use the same time window for costs and new customers, and keep the definition consistent over time so trends are meaningful.

Prefer an explanation- Read the guide.

Related definitions:cac fully loaded cac

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Paid media spend

Sales & marketing salaries (allocated)

Allocated to acquisition for the same time window (include commissions if you treat them as acquisition cost).

Tools & software (allocated)

Other acquisition costs (optional)

Agencies, creative production, list rentals, events, etc. (if you treat them as acquisition costs).

New paying customers acquired

ARPA per month (optional)

Gross margin (optional)

Tip: you can type commas (e.g., 10,000).

Example

Using the default inputs, the result is:

$1,416.67

Paid media spend: $60,000
Sales & marketing salaries (allocated): $90,000
Tools & software (allocated): $12,000
Other acquisition costs (optional): $8,000
New paying customers acquired: 120
ARPA per month (optional): $500
Gross margin (optional): 80%

How to calculate

Choose a time window (month/quarter) and a segment (paid channel, motion, plan).
Enter paid spend and other acquisition costs for the same window.
Enter the number of new paying customers acquired in the same window.
Compute fully-loaded CAC = total acquisition costs / new customers.

Formula

Fully-loaded CAC = (paid spend + salaries + tools + other) / new customers

All costs and new customers are measured over the same time window.
Salaries/tools are allocated to acquisition consistently (planning definition).
Use segment-level CAC (channel/plan) when possible; blended numbers can hide weak cohorts.

FAQ

Is fully-loaded CAC better than paid CAC-

They answer different questions. Paid CAC helps optimize paid channels; fully-loaded CAC is more useful for planning and unit economics because it includes the costs required to acquire customers.

Should I include support and COGS in CAC-

Typically no. CAC focuses on acquisition costs. Support/hosting are usually part of COGS and affect gross margin, which impacts payback and LTV.