SaaS CAC Calculator

SaaS CAC should be fully-loaded: marketing spend plus sales salaries and tools, divided by new customers. Under-loading CAC is one of the most common ways SaaS metrics quietly flatter themselves.

Inputs

Marketing spend

Ads, content, events, tools.

Sales costs

Salaries, commissions, SDR/AE costs.

New customers

Results

Fully-loaded CAC

$421.05

Marketing-only CAC: $189.47
Total S&M spend: $40,000

The gap between marketing-only and fully-loaded CAC shows how sales-heavy your motion is — important context for pricing and payback.

Formula

CAC = (Marketing Spend + Sales Costs) ÷ New Customers

FAQ

Should commissions be in CAC?

Yes — they're a direct cost of acquiring each customer. Fully-loaded means every cost that wouldn't exist without acquisition.

What period should I use?

Match numerator and denominator to the same period, and mind the lag between spend and closed customers — quarterly is a common compromise.