Paid-channel decision and break-even worksheet
Work out what you can afford to spend to win a customer before you set a Google or Meta ad budget. Everything runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere.
How to use it. Enter your own figures below and select Calculate. The worksheet shows your contribution margin, your allowable acquisition cost, the cost ceiling for each earlier stage, and how your observed results compare. Compare channels on cost per qualified enquiry and cost per customer, not on cost per click or per impression.
Your results
| Item | How it is worked out | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution margin | Sale value minus variable delivery cost | - |
| Allowable acquisition cost | Chosen share of margin | - |
| Cost per qualified enquiry ceiling | Allowable cost times qualified-to-sale rate | - |
| Cost per conversation ceiling | Qualified ceiling times conversation-to-qualified rate | - |
| Observed cost per qualified enquiry | Ad spend divided by observed qualified enquiries | - |
| Observed cost per customer | Ad spend divided by observed customers | - |
| Verdict | Observed cost per qualified enquiry against the ceiling | - |
Assumptions and limits
This worksheet is a planning model, not a forecast or a promise. The conversion rates you enter are assumptions until your own campaign data replaces them. A sensible verdict only comes after you have observed a readable number of qualified enquiries and customers. Nobody can guarantee a cost per customer, a cost per click, or a ranking. Confirm the current conversion-tracking controls in each ad account before relying on named steps, because the interfaces change.
Static version (works without JavaScript)
If scripting is off, use these formulas by hand. The worked example is fictional and for illustration only.
- Contribution margin = average sale value minus variable delivery cost. Example: AED 500 minus AED 200 = AED 300.
- Allowable acquisition cost = margin times your chosen share. Example: AED 300 times 50 percent = AED 150.
- Cost per qualified enquiry ceiling = allowable cost times qualified-to-sale rate. Example: AED 150 times 20 percent = AED 30.
- Cost per conversation ceiling = qualified ceiling times conversation-to-qualified rate. Example: AED 30 times 50 percent = AED 15.
- Observed cost per qualified enquiry = ad spend divided by qualified enquiries. Example: AED 1,000 divided by 12 = about AED 83.33, which is above the AED 30 ceiling, so the test would need adjusting or stopping.
- Observed cost per customer = ad spend divided by customers. Example: AED 1,000 divided by 2 = AED 500, which exceeds the AED 300 margin, so each customer currently costs more than it earns.