roas calculator.
revenue ÷ ad spend, plus target roas and profit-on-ad-spend
- roas (revenue ÷ spend)
- 4.00×
- poas (gross profit ÷ spend)
- 2.60×
- break-even roas
- 1.54×
- spend ceiling to hit 4×
- $2,500
> worked example
You ran $2,500 of Meta ads last week and drove $10,000 in attributed revenue. Your blended COGS is 35% of revenue. The widget returns 4.00× ROAS, but the more honest number, POAS, is 2.60× (gross profit of $6,500 ÷ $2,500 spend). Break-even ROAS sits at 1.54×, so you're well clear of burning cash on goods. If you wanted to hit a 4× target at the same revenue, the max spend is $2,500, exactly where you are.
takeaway, ROAS alone flatters low-margin products. Always pair it with POAS and your break-even ROAS before scaling spend.
> when operators reach for this
- DTC operators deciding whether to scale a Meta or Google campaign that looks green on ROAS but might be flat on actual profit.
- Media buyers setting tROAS targets in Advantage+ / Performance Max that reflect real margin, not a round number picked by someone above them.
- Finance / CMO reviews where you need to sanity-check an agency's reported ROAS against what the P&L actually shows.
- Planning a spend ceiling for a new-customer prospecting campaign that's allowed to run at a lower ROAS than retention.
> the calculation
- roas
revenue ÷ ad spend - poas (profit on ad spend)
(revenue × (1 − cogs %)) ÷ ad spendGross profit divided by spend, the version that accounts for cost of goods. - break-even roas
1 ÷ (1 − cogs %)The minimum ROAS needed to cover COGS before fixed costs. 35% COGS ⇒ 1.54× break-even. - spend ceiling at a target
revenue ÷ target roas