ROAS calculator

Return on ad spend tells you what a campaign returned per dollar. Break-even ROAS tells you what it had to return to be worth running. This calculates both, from revenue, spend, and gross margin.

Calculate ROAS

$

Attributed revenue for the same period as the spend.

$
%

Revenue left after cost of goods, before ad spend.

ROAS
4.00x

Revenue returned per dollar of ad spend.

Break-even ROAS
1.82x

The multiple your gross margin has to clear.

ROI
300.00%

Return above the spend itself.

ACOS
25.00%

Ad cost as a share of revenue — ROAS inverted.

Gross profit after ads
$14,400.00

Margin on the revenue, less what the ads cost.

What is ROAS and how is it calculated?

Return on ad spend is a ratio, usually written as a multiple: $48,000 of attributed revenue on $12,000 of spend is a 4x ROAS. ACOS is the same relationship the other way up — ad spend over revenue — and 4x ROAS is a 25% ACOS.

A break-even ROAS calculator uses 1 ÷ gross margin. At a 55% margin, every dollar of revenue leaves 55 cents to cover the ads, so the campaign has to return about 1.82x before it stops losing money. A target ROAS calculator should use this result as the minimum, not guess a target in isolation.

ROAS counts revenue, not profit, and it counts only what the platform attributes. Two campaigns at the same ROAS are not equally good if one sells a product you make 70% on and the other sells one you make 20% on, which is why gross margin is an input here rather than an afterthought.

ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ ad spendWHAT IS ROAS AND HOW IS IT…$48K$12K4.0×ROAS1.82×Break-even ROAS

How to calculate ROAS

Three numbers you already have, and one comparison most reporting tools do not make for you.

  1. 01

    Match revenue and spend periods

    Take revenue and spend from the same window and the same attribution setting, or the ratio measures your reporting, not your campaign.

  2. 02

    Enter your gross margin

    Revenue after cost of goods, before advertising. This is what turns a ROAS number into a pass or fail.

  3. 03

    Compare ROAS with break-even

    Compare the ROAS against the break-even multiple underneath it. Above it, the campaign contributes; below it, scaling spend loses money faster.

  4. 04

    Set a target ROAS

    Use break-even as the floor and set the campaign target above it with room for the costs the platform does not see.

Why use a ROAS calculator?

The same ratio, read at four different altitudes.

  • Campaign ROAS decisions

    Decide which campaigns get more budget this week and which get cut, against a break-even you can defend.

  • ROAS by marketing channel

    Put paid search, paid social, and retail media on one basis, including channels billed on ACOS instead of ROAS.

  • Client ROAS reporting

    Agencies report ROAS monthly. The break-even line is what turns the number into a recommendation.

  • Blended ROAS targets

    Work out the blended ROAS the whole account needs when some campaigns run on prospecting and others on retargeting.

How to automate ROAS reporting

One campaign takes a minute. A whole account, every week, with the recommendation written up, is the workflow below.

Weekly paid ads optimization
How to automate ROAS reportingROAS1×WEEKLY PAID ADS OPTIMIZATION52×

Get better results with connectors

Okou can pull spend and revenue by campaign, compare each one against its break-even ROAS, and draft the recommendation you would have written.

Useful connectors

  • Google Ads
  • Google Sheets
  • Meta Ads

Weekly paid ads optimization

Connect the apps that contain the latest source material. Reuse the steps as a workflow. Add an automation only when the workflow should start from a trigger or schedule.

View workflow exampleBrowse workflow examples

ROAS calculator FAQs

How do I calculate ROAS?

Divide the revenue attributed to the ads by what you spent on them. $48,000 of revenue on $12,000 of spend is 4x, sometimes written 400%.

What is a good ROAS?

Whatever clears your break-even multiple with margin to spare. At a 55% gross margin that floor is about 1.82x, so a 3x ROAS is healthy; at a 20% margin the same 3x barely covers the cost of goods.

What is the difference between ROAS and ROI?

ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. ROI subtracts the spend first, so it measures the return above it: 4x ROAS is a 300% ROI on the media cost. Neither accounts for fixed costs.

What is ACOS and how does it relate to ROAS?

ACOS is advertising cost of sale — spend divided by revenue, expressed as a percentage. It is the inverse of ROAS: 4x ROAS equals 25% ACOS. Retail media platforms tend to report ACOS where social platforms report ROAS.

Why is my platform ROAS higher than my accounting?

Ad platforms attribute conversions they touched, within their own lookback window, and two platforms will both claim the same sale. Treat platform ROAS as directional and reconcile against actual revenue before making budget decisions on it.

Okou also has the CPM calculator and the engagement rate calculator.

Automate weekly ROAS analysis

Okou can pull spend and revenue by campaign, compare each one against its break-even ROAS, and draft the recommendation you would have written.

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