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ROAS calculator. Are your ads making money?

Enter what you spent, what it brought in and your margin. You get your ROAS, the ROAS you need to break even, and the profit or loss after ad costs.

PennyMoney and ads
ROAS0
Break-even ROAS0
Profit after ads£0
Cost per sale-
Result

How to read the result

ROAS on its own does not tell you whether ads are working. A clothing shop with a 60% margin breaks even at a ROAS of 1.67, so a ROAS of 3 is healthy. An electronics shop with a 15% margin needs a ROAS of 6.67 just to stand still, so the same ROAS of 3 loses money on every sale.

That is why this calculator asks for your margin. The profit line is what matters: sales times margin, minus what the ads cost.

The formulas

  • ROAS = sales from ads ÷ ad spend
  • Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ profit margin
  • Profit after ads = sales × margin − ad spend
  • Cost per sale = ad spend ÷ number of sales

Planning a new campaign?

Our free Google Ads planner works backwards from your margin to the most you can pay per click, and builds ad groups, negative keywords and draft ads you can import into Google Ads Editor.

Questions

What is ROAS?

Return on ad spend: the sales your ads brought in divided by what the ads cost. Spend £500 and make £2,000 of sales and your ROAS is 4, often written 4x or 400%.

What is a good ROAS?

It depends on your margin. A ROAS that looks high can still lose money if your margin is thin. The number that matters is your break-even ROAS, which is 1 divided by your profit margin. Anything above it makes money, anything below it loses money.

How do I work out break-even ROAS?

Divide 1 by your profit margin before ad costs. With a 25% margin, break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.25 = 4. With a 50% margin it is 2.

Should I include VAT?

Use sales figures without VAT, because the VAT is not yours to keep. Google Ads reports conversion values as you send them, so check whether your tracking includes VAT.

What is the difference between ROAS and ROI?

ROAS compares sales to ad spend. ROI compares profit to the total cost. A campaign can have a ROAS of 3 and still lose money if your margin is 25%.

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