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CPA calculator
This CPA calculator shows what you paid to win each customer. Enter your ad spend and the customers it produced, then add your other costs if you want the full customer acquisition cost.
Your cost per acquisition
Enter your ad spend and the number of customers it won.
Cost per acquisition
- Total acquisition cost
- Cost per lead
- Leads that became customers
- Acquisition cost as a share of the sale
- Return on acquisition spend
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What is cost per acquisition?
Cost per acquisition is the amount you spend to win one customer. It is your spend divided by the number of customers that spend produced, so 6,000 of advertising that wins 12 customers gives a CPA of 500.
Ad platforms also use the term for the cost of any conversion, including a lead or a sign-up. This cost per acquisition calculator counts paying customers, which is the figure that decides whether a campaign is worth running.
What is the difference between CPA and CAC?
CPA usually counts media spend alone, and customer acquisition cost counts everything it took to win the customer. CAC adds agency fees, sales commission, software and the wages of the people who handle leads.
Add your other costs to use the page as a CAC calculator. In the example, 1,200 of fees and commission lifts the cost of each customer from 500 to 600.
What is a good cost per acquisition?
A good cost per acquisition is one that leaves a profit after the work is delivered. Compare it with the profit on an average sale, not with the price. A CPA of 600 on a 4,000 sale is 15% of the price, which a business with a 40% margin can afford and one with a 10% margin cannot.
The break-even ROAS calculator turns your margin into the same limit expressed as a return.
How do you lower customer acquisition cost?
You lower customer acquisition cost by winning more customers from the leads you already pay for. Two rates control that. The first is the share of clicks that become leads, and the second is the share of leads that become customers.
Growform improves the first with forms built from short steps, and the second by collecting the answers your sales team needs. A lead who has stated the job, the budget and the timing on a qualification form can be quoted on the first call. Use the customer acquisition cost calculator again after a month to measure the change.
How to use the CPA calculator
Enter new customers
Count the customers who came from that spend. Your CRM can report them by campaign when each lead carries its source.
Add detail if you have it
Other costs give you CAC. Leads give you cost per lead and close rate, and the sale value shows what share of each sale went on winning it.
How Growform brings acquisition cost down
Acquisition cost falls when fewer leads are wasted between the click and the sale.
- More clicks become leads.
The form opens with an easy question and leaves the contact details to the final step.
- More leads can be reached.
Email validation and phone validation catch mistyped details while the lead is still on the form.
- Sales time goes to leads that fit.
Answers arrive with each lead, and disqualified leads can be kept out of your CRM.
- Customers can be counted by campaign.
Hidden fields store the campaign and click ID on each lead, which is what a CPA by campaign depends on.
Frequently asked questions
What is the formula for CPA?
CPA equals total spend divided by the number of customers acquired. For customer acquisition cost, add every sales and marketing cost to the spend before dividing.
Is CPA the same as cost per lead?
No. Cost per lead is what you pay for an enquiry, and CPA is what you pay for a customer. CPA equals cost per lead divided by your close rate.
Which period should I measure?
Choose a period longer than your sales cycle. A business that takes six weeks to close a job should measure a quarter, so that the customers and the spend that won them fall in the same window.
How does CPA relate to ROAS?
ROAS is your average sale divided by your CPA. A 4,000 sale won at a CPA of 500 is a return of 8x.
Why this tool is different
CPA and CAC are often confused, so the tool treats them as one calculation with an optional step.
- Ad spend alone gives CPA. Adding agency fees, software and commission gives customer acquisition cost from the same two fields.
- The sale value shows acquisition cost as a share of the sale, which is the figure to compare with your margin.
- Leads are optional, and when entered they add cost per lead and close rate so the three metrics agree with each other.
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