Free tool

Break-Even ROAS Calculator: Find the Minimum ROAS You Need

Seed Light built this free break-even ROAS calculator so you know the exact return your ads have to clear before they make you any money, worked out from your own margin.

Enter your price and your costs, and get the return your ads have to clear to break even.

Your product or job

What you charge for one sale

One order, one job or one booking.

Variable cost to fulfil one sale

The cost that only exists because the sale happened. Product cost, materials, the labour on that job, delivery and payment fees.

Margin you want left after advertising

Out of every 100 in sales. Put 0 to see pure break even.

Your result

Enter your numbers and your result will appear here. The calculation runs in your browser.

Talk through your result

Book a free 15-minute call and we will help you read the numbers and decide what is worth improving first.

We record the result band you reach, not the numbers you enter.

Free to use, with no sign up. The calculation runs in your browser, so the values you enter are not sent to our server or stored.

The maths

How this calculator works

01
Price minus cost is your profit
What you charge, less the variable cost of fulfilling that sale. Include payment fees and delivery, because both come straight off the same number.
02
Profit divided by price is your margin
Shown as a percentage. This is the only figure that decides your break even, which is why two businesses charging the same price can need very different returns.
03
One hundred divided by margin is the bar
A twenty five percent margin needs four times. A fifty percent margin needs two times. That is the whole formula.
04
Then aim above it
Break even is where you stop losing, not where you start winning. The tool also gives the return you need to keep the profit you actually want.

A worked example

A skincare brand sells a product and keeps forty in every hundred after the cost of goods and payment fees. Example only. Replace these assumptions with your own numbers.

Price: 1 unit
Variable cost to fulfil it: 0.6 units
Profit on the sale: 0.4 units
Margin: 40 in 100
Break even ROAS: 2.5 times
To keep 10 in 100 after ads: 3.3 times

See how we run ads

Straight answers

Common questions

Common questions about the calculation and how to use the result.

Break-even return on ad spend is set entirely by margin. A software company that keeps ninety in each hundred breaks even at just over one times, so its margin provides the figure needed to calculate that threshold.

Yes. Include costs that come directly from each sale, such as card fees, packaging, delivery and marketplace commission. The break-even ROAS will be understated if those costs are left out because the calculator will overstate the margin available for advertising.

Repeat purchases can support a lower return on the first sale because later orders may not carry the same acquisition cost. Base this on real retention data.

Only if you are deliberately accepting no profit on the first sale to win customers who return. Otherwise, aim above the break-even figure.

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