Ad Profit Calculator
Find the return on ad spend your online store needs to cover costs. Enter your average order revenue, expenses, and advertising results to calculate your break-even ROAS and contribution after ads.
Sales Are Good.
Profitable Sales Are Better.
Find The Return On Ad Spend Your Store Needs—And What You Keep After Advertising.
What Is Break-Even ROAS?
Return on ad spend (ROAS) is the revenue attributed to your ads divided by what you spent on those ads. A ROAS of 3X means $3 of attributed revenue for every $1 of advertising spend.
Break-even ROAS is the return needed to cover your variable order costs and advertising. It does not cover fixed overhead or income tax.
Break-even ROAS = revenue per order ÷ contribution before ads
A Worked Example
Using the same figures as Load Example: an order brings in $100. Product cost ($35), shipping ($10), percentage fees ($3), fixed fees ($0.30), expected refunds ($5), and other variable costs ($1.70) total $55. That leaves $45 before advertising, so you can spend up to $45 to acquire that order before its contribution reaches zero.
Break-even ROAS = $100 ÷ $45 ≈ 2.22X
At the unrounded break-even ROAS, $45 of ad spend brings in $100 of attributed revenue. After $55 in variable costs and $45 in advertising, the order contributes $0 toward overhead and tax. To retain $15 per order instead, your target ad cost is $30 and your target ROAS is $100 ÷ $30 ≈ 3.33X. With the sample campaign’s $500 spend and 20 attributed orders, revenue is $2,000, ROAS is 4.00X, and contribution after ads is $400.
Use this break-even ROAS calculator with your own average order figures. Attribution is an estimate: ad platforms may count orders that would have happened anyway.
Frequently Asked Questions
A good return on ad spend depends on your margins and how much you want to retain after advertising. Start with your break-even ROAS, then aim higher to leave money for overhead, tax, and profit.
For example, an order with $100 in revenue and $45 in contribution before ads has a break-even ROAS of approximately 2.22×. To retain $15 per order after advertising, the target ROAS rises to approximately 3.33×.
Include your average product cost, shipping and fulfillment, payment and platform fees, expected return and refund losses, and other costs that vary with each order. Enter advertising spend separately in the campaign section.
Use one currency, exclude sales tax, and avoid counting the same expense twice. Fixed expenses such as rent and monthly salaries are not included in this calculation.
An ad platform may credit an order to an advertisement even when the customer would have purchased anyway. Multiple platforms may also claim credit for the same order, depending on their attribution settings.
Use attributed ROAS as an estimate. Compare it with your store’s actual orders, total advertising spend, and overall contribution before making spending decisions.
No. It estimates contribution after advertising: revenue minus variable order costs and advertising spend.
You still need to deduct fixed overhead and income tax to understand your business’s net profit. The calculator also excludes future repeat purchases and customer lifetime value.