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Profitability calculator

Break Even ROAS Calculator

Find the minimum ROAS your ecommerce offer needs to cover product, fulfillment, payment, and other variable costs. Use this free break-even ROAS calculator before you scale a campaign.

Free to useNo sign-upPrivate by default
Find your break-even ROAS

Add your per-order costs to see the minimum ROAS and maximum CPA you can afford.

Changes display currency only; it does not convert your inputs.

Example values are prefilled. Replace them with your own numbers.

USD

Your total spend for the campaign or period.

USD

Revenue attributed to the ads you are measuring.

#

Used for CPA, AOV, and contribution calculations.

USD

Used when orders or revenue do not determine AOV.

USD
USD
USD
USD

Your results

Calculated from your inputs.

USD

ROAS

3.2x

320% of ad spend

Revenue per $1 spent

$3.20

Basic ROAS interpretation

Break-even ROAS

2.17x

Minimum ROAS before entered costs are covered.

Profit after entered costs

$472.00

14.8% margin after ads

Contribution margin / order

$36.80

Revenue after entered variable costs

Maximum ad cost / order

$36.80

Break-even CPA when costs are complete

Entered variable costs

$1,728.00

Estimated across entered orders

ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. It does not include product, shipping, payment, refund, tax, or overhead costs unless you enter them.

Need a reusable spreadsheet? Download the free ROAS template.Download CSV template

How it works

Use the tool in three steps

Keep the reporting period consistent across ad spend, attributed revenue, orders, and costs. The calculator updates the result when you calculate again.

1

Enter your ad spend and attributed revenue so the calculator can show your current ROAS.

2

Add product cost, shipping, payment fees, and other variable costs per order.

3

Review break-even ROAS, contribution margin, maximum CPA, and profit after ads.

Practical decision guide

How to use this break even roas calculator

The break even roas calculator is most useful when it supports a specific decision: whether to scale, change the offer, reduce an acquisition cost, or pause a campaign for better data. Keep the inputs visible and explain what the result includes before sharing it with a client or team.

Use this break even roas calculator when the real question is not only how much revenue came back, but how much revenue is required to pay for every variable cost in an order. Start with one reporting window and use the same average order value, ad spend, and order count across the inputs.

The result gives you a financial floor for campaign decisions. When actual ROAS is below break-even ROAS, additional spend can increase the amount of contribution profit at risk. When actual ROAS is above the floor, compare the gap with refunds, overhead, desired profit, and attribution uncertainty before calling a campaign scalable.

For a practical decision, calculate the floor for each important product or offer instead of applying one store-wide average. Review the result whenever prices, fulfillment costs, discounts, or refund behavior change, because the minimum profitable ROAS moves with those assumptions.

Before making a budget change, compare the calculated result with the full business context. Attribution can move, costs can change, and a result based on a short window may not represent mature customer behavior. Use the break even roas calculator as a clear starting point, then validate the assumptions with order and financial data.

For recurring reviews, create a simple habit around the output. Check whether the numbers are complete, compare actual ROAS with the break-even or target threshold, and then inspect the cost lines that changed. If the result moves sharply, identify whether the cause was ad spend, conversion rate, average order value, supplier cost, or attribution. Recording the campaign name, date range, currency, attribution window, and whether the result is platform-attributed or blended makes later comparisons much safer.

Checks that improve the result

Use comparable numbers

Choose one channel, campaign, product group, and reporting window. Consistent inputs make the result useful for comparing decisions instead of mixing unrelated totals.

Start with attributed revenue

Use the revenue that belongs to the campaign or channel you are reviewing. Total store revenue can answer a business question, but it should not be confused with platform-attributed revenue.

Add costs in the right unit

Enter order-level costs per order and period-level costs for the same reporting period. This keeps revenue, margin, CPA, and profit connected to the same calculation.

Check empty and boundary states

A zero spend, zero order count, missing revenue, or margin below the desired target should be treated as a data-quality or feasibility signal, not forced into a misleading result.

Read ratios with dollar impact

ROAS is a ratio, while contribution profit is a dollar result. Review both so a high efficiency percentage does not hide low order value, thin margin, or limited scale.

Save the assumptions

Download the CSV template or record the assumptions beside the result. A future review should show what changed in price, costs, attribution, refunds, or campaign mix.

Transparent methodology

How the break-even ROAS formula works

Break-even ROAS = revenue per order ÷ contribution margin per order. Contribution margin is revenue after COGS, shipping, payment fees, refunds, discounts, and other variable costs. A lower break-even ROAS usually means you have more room to buy traffic profitably.

The important distinction

Basic ROAS tells you how much attributed revenue came back for each currency unit spent on ads. Break-even and target ROAS add your unit economics, so they are more useful when the question is “can I scale this profitably?”

Metrics explained

ROAS

Attributed revenue ÷ ad spend.

Contribution margin

Revenue per order after entered variable costs.

Break-even ROAS

Revenue per order ÷ contribution margin per order.

Target ROAS

A financially grounded goal after desired profit margin.

Worked example

Break-even ROAS example

Use this example to sanity-check your inputs before you compare campaigns.

If your average order value is $80 and your non-ad variable costs total $43.20, your contribution margin is $36.80. The break-even ROAS is $80 ÷ $36.80 = 2.17x. A campaign below that level cannot cover the costs included in the model.

Accuracy and limitations

This tool is designed for planning and decision support. Use consistent numbers, check attribution settings, and compare the result with your full business P&L before making a large budget change.

  • The result only includes costs you enter. Add taxes, refunds, overhead, and agency fees separately when they materially affect your margin.
  • Attribution windows and platform reporting can make measured ROAS different from blended business ROAS.

FAQ

Questions about ROAS calculations

What is a good break-even ROAS?

A good break-even ROAS is low enough to leave room for your target profit, testing budget, and attribution variance. The correct value depends on your contribution margin, not on a universal benchmark.

Is BEROAS the same as break-even ROAS?

Yes. BEROAS, BE ROAS, and break-even ROAS describe the revenue-to-ad-cost ratio at which the costs entered in the calculator are covered.

Does break-even ROAS include product cost?

It does when you enter product cost or COGS per order. Basic ROAS does not automatically include product, shipping, payment, refund, or overhead costs.

Can I use this for Meta Ads or Shopify?

Yes. Use your attributed revenue and per-order costs. For platform-specific metrics such as CTR, CPC, and conversion rate, use the Meta Ads ROAS Calculator page.