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Break-even ROAS calculator

Enter your average order and what each order costs to make, ship and process. You get the ROAS where ads stop losing money, the most you can pay for an order, and the ROAS that leaves the profit you want.

Your numbers

As a share of order value

Results Example figures. Change any field.

Break-even ROAS

1.82×

Margin before ads 55%

Break-even CPA $44

ROAS to hit your profit target 2.22×

CPA to hit your profit target $36

The formula

How it’s calculated.

Break-even ROAS = order value ÷ (order value − product, shipping and fee costs)

Worked example

An $80 order costs $24 to make, $8 to ship and $4 in fees, which leaves $44, a 55% margin before ads. Break-even ROAS is 80 ÷ 44 = 1.82×, and the most you can pay to win that order is $44. To keep 10% of the order ($8) as profit, you need 80 ÷ 36 = 2.22× and a CPA of $36 or less.

How Shopify stores measure ROAS →

Set this number before any ROAS target.

Break-even ROAS is the line where an ad’s sale pays for itself and nothing more. Above it, ads earn gross profit; below it, every first order costs you money.

Set ROAS and CPA targets from your own break-even, not from a benchmark taken from a store with different margins.

When spending below break-even makes sense.

If customers come back, a first order at a loss can still pay. A first-order ROAS under break-even is the right call when a new customer’s lifetime gross profit covers what you paid to win them.

Check that with lifetime value before you set a lower target.

Calculate lifetime value →

More calculators

Related calculators.

  • ROAS calculator

    Return on ad spend, your break-even ROAS, and the gap between platform and Shopify revenue.

    ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ ad spend

  • CPA calculator

    Cost per order, cost per new customer, and the most an order lets you pay.

    CPA = ad spend ÷ orders

  • Contribution margin calculator

    CM1 to CM4 in dollars and as a share of net revenue.

    CM3 = net revenue − product costs − shipping, fulfillment and fees − marketing

Questions

Break-even ROAS questions.

How do you calculate break-even ROAS?

Divide your average order value by what is left of it after product, shipping and payment costs. That is the same as 1 divided by your margin before ads. An $80 order with $36 of costs leaves $44, so break-even ROAS is 80 ÷ 44 = 1.82.

What is the difference between break-even ROAS and target ROAS?

Break-even ROAS leaves no profit after the ad. Target ROAS adds the profit you want to keep. At a 55% margin, break-even is 1.82×; keeping 10% of each order as profit takes 2.22×.

Should break-even ROAS include operating costs?

Usually not. Rent, salaries and software don’t rise with each order, so they are paid from total profit rather than by each ad. Put the costs that come with every order into the calculation: product, packaging, shipping and payment fees.

What is break-even CPA?

The most you can pay for an order before the ad loses money: the order value minus the costs that come with it. In the example it is $44. Pay more than that and the first order loses money.

Get these numbers from your own store.

Upstack Attribution reports ROAS, MER, new-customer CAC, LTV and CM1 to CM4, reconciled against the revenue in Shopify.

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