Evaluate whether the value generated by a customer is proportionate to the cost of acquiring that customer, using a structured Excel workbook that brings CAC, lifetime value, payback time, and the LTV-to-CAC ratio into one monthly view.
Built for SaaS and subscription-focused analysis, the workbook organizes editable operating assumptions such as marketing expense, new customers, average monthly revenue per customer, and monthly churn. It then presents the related acquisition and customer-value metrics across a visible 24-month example, helping teams examine changes over time rather than relying on a single point estimate.
Assess acquisition economics
Compare customer acquisition cost with lifetime value to judge whether current growth spending is supported by customer economics.
Track payback pressure
Review CAC payback time by month and see how changes in acquisition cost or customer revenue affect the recovery period.
Connect churn to value
Examine how monthly churn relates to estimated customer lifetime, lifetime value, and the resulting LTV-to-CAC ratio.
What does the workbook help you analyze?
The template focuses on the operating relationship between acquisition spending, customer growth, recurring revenue, retention, and customer value. Its monthly layout makes it easier to identify which driver is changing when the headline ratio improves or weakens.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC): organize marketing expense and new-customer data alongside the calculated acquisition cost.
CAC payback time: review the number of months represented in the workbook for recovering acquisition cost through average monthly customer revenue.
Customer lifetime: connect monthly churn assumptions with the estimated customer lifetime shown in months.
Customer lifetime value (LTV): follow the value output produced from the workbook’s customer-revenue and lifetime inputs.
LTV-to-CAC ratio: compare customer value with acquisition cost across monthly periods to support marketing-budget and growth-quality discussions.
What is inside the workbook?
The visible workbook interface separates editable monthly assumptions from calculated metric rows and chart-based outputs. Yellow cells identify the operating values entered by the user, while gray result rows display acquisition, payback, lifetime, value, and ratio metrics for the same periods.
Editable monthly drivers
Marketing expense, new customers, average monthly revenue per customer, and monthly churn are shown as the core user-controlled inputs.
Calculated operating metrics
The model displays CAC, CAC payback time, customer lifetime in months, customer lifetime value, and the LTV-to-CAC ratio.
Time-series charts
Separate charts visualize acquisition cost, payback time, customer lifetime, lifetime value, and the ratio across the monthly example.
The workbook table places editable monthly operating assumptions beside calculated CAC, payback, lifetime, LTV, and ratio rows.
One monthly input-and-output structure
Enter the operating drivers in the highlighted cells and review the connected outputs in the same period columns. This arrangement supports quick checks of how a change in marketing spend, customer additions, revenue per customer, or churn flows through the unit-economics view.
Monthly charts show customer acquisition cost and CAC payback time together, making changes in acquisition efficiency easier to review.
Acquisition efficiency over time
The paired charts provide a direct visual comparison of acquisition cost and the corresponding payback period. They are useful for reviewing whether lower CAC is translating into faster recovery of acquisition spending across the model’s monthly periods.
Customer lifetime in months is displayed alongside lifetime value, highlighting the retention-and-value side of the analysis.
Retention translated into customer value
These charts help users examine whether changes in estimated lifetime are accompanied by similar changes in lifetime value. This is especially relevant when testing churn assumptions or reviewing periods with different recurring revenue per customer.
The LTV-to-CAC chart summarizes the balance between customer value and acquisition cost for each month shown.
A concise growth-quality indicator
The ratio chart consolidates the acquisition and retention drivers into a single monthly series. Use it as a diagnostic measure, then return to the underlying CAC, revenue, churn, lifetime, and LTV rows to understand why the ratio changed.
How do you use the template?
Set the monthly periods
Review the example timeline and align the columns with the periods you want to analyze.
Enter acquisition data
Populate marketing expense and new-customer assumptions for each month.
Add revenue and churn drivers
Input average monthly revenue per customer and the monthly churn rate used in the customer-value analysis.
Review metrics and charts
Compare CAC, payback time, lifetime, LTV, and the LTV-to-CAC ratio, then investigate the operating driver behind any material movement.
Who is this template for?
This workbook is suited to SaaS founders, finance leaders, revenue operators, growth teams, and investors who need a focused monthly view of acquisition and customer economics. It can support budget reviews, retention discussions, growth planning, and recurring analysis of whether customer value is keeping pace with acquisition cost. It is most useful when the underlying marketing, customer, revenue, and churn assumptions are prepared consistently across periods.
For deeper work on one side of the equation, use the LTV Calculator to focus on customer lifetime value. Pair this workbook with the CAC Payback template when the recovery period is the primary decision metric, or add the SaaS Quick Ratio workbook to examine recurring revenue growth and contraction from another operating perspective.
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