ROAS Calculator
Calculate Return on Ad Spend and check whether your campaign is actually profitable after gross margin and management fees. Most ROAS calculators ignore margin — this one doesn't.
Your Inputs
Projected Results
A ROAS of 4x sounds great — but if your gross margin is 25%, you need at least 4x to break even before management fees. Always check ROAS against your margin floor.
How to Use This Calculator
Most agencies report on ROAS without context. A ROAS of 3x can be brilliant for one business and a disaster for another — gross margin determines which.
Monthly Ad Spend
Total platform spend on Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, or programmatic. Use the actual spend reported by the platform, not the budget you set. Pay attention to platforms that allow over-spend (Meta) vs strict daily caps (Google Ads).
Monthly Revenue from Ads
Revenue attributable to the campaign — not blended revenue. Use the platform's reported revenue (with proper conversion tracking) cross-checked against GA4 last-click. Brand-search revenue should be tracked separately if you're running it.
Gross Margin
Revenue minus COGS, as a percentage. This is the line that matters most for ROAS interpretation. AU ecommerce DTC brands typically sit at 40–70% gross margin, services 60–90%, SaaS 70–90%, low-margin retail 15–35%. Get this from your accountant if unsure.
Management Fee
Cost of running the campaign — agency fee or salary cost of in-house team. Australian agencies charge 10–20% of ad spend or fixed monthly fees ($499–$3,500). For small spend (<$3,000/month), a fixed fee usually beats percentage.
ROAS Benchmarks by Industry (AU)
"Good" ROAS depends entirely on gross margin. Use these benchmarks to set realistic targets for your business.
E-Commerce DTC (60% margin)
Low-Margin Retail (25%)
SaaS (80% margin)
Services (70% margin)
What Influences ROAS
ROAS is the output of dozens of variables. The biggest lifts come from creative refresh, audience targeting, and landing-page conversion improvements — not from bid changes alone.
Revenue Drivers
Cost Drivers
Conversion Drivers
Creative & Audience
ROAS vs Profit-Based Reporting
Most agencies report ROAS because it looks good. Mature brands report on contribution margin or first-purchase profit, which tells the truth.
ROAS
- Simple, easy to communicate to stakeholders
- Doesn't account for COGS, fees, or LTV
- A 3x ROAS can be unprofitable on low-margin products
- Good for trend monitoring; bad for go/no-go decisions
Contribution Margin
- Revenue minus COGS minus ad spend, per unit
- Only positive margin campaigns survive
- Better signal than ROAS for bid and budget decisions
- Industry standard at $5M+ revenue brands
LTV / CAC
- Lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost
- Right metric for subscription, SaaS, and high-LTV products
- Allows higher first-purchase ROAS targets
- Requires 12+ months of post-purchase data
Want a ROAS-Positive Campaign?
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- Transparent reporting
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