Customer acquisition cost after refunds

Most dashboards divide spend by every first payment. A customer who was refunded cost you the acquisition and returned nothing. This calculator counts only customers you kept.

Ad spendOther acquisition costs (agency, tools, sales time)New paying customersOf those, fully refundedOf those, charged back

Total acquisition cost: $7,500.00
CAC, every first payment: $62.50
Customers kept: 100
CAC after refunds: $75.00
Understated by: 20%

Why it matters for budget

If you scale a campaign on gross CAC, you scale its refund rate too. Compare campaigns on CAC after refunds, and set your stop rule on that number.

A rule worth writing down

Pause for diagnosis when a campaign's CAC after refunds stays above your target for one full conversion window, not after a single bad day. Our own rule: an intent group that spends $300 with no first payments, once its conversion window has matured, is paused and examined.

Use this with your own numbers. Keep the evidence private, attach a budget and a review date.

Review my ad budget