# CAC — Customer Acquisition Cost

CAC tells you how much it costs to "buy" a customer. It only makes sense in relation to LTV: if you spend more acquiring a customer than that customer will ever generate, the business destroys value even as it grows.

## Where to find it

You don't look this one up directly — you calculate it: total marketing and sales investment for the month ÷ new customers that spend generated. Add Meta/Google Ads + prorated salespeople salaries + sales tools. For Ecommerce specifically, see the guide under "CAC per new customer" in the Ecommerce section below.

## If it's off

A high CAC is not automatically bad (it depends on LTV), but if payback exceeds 18 months you need a lot of capital to grow. Many businesses die from cash starvation, not lack of demand.

## LATAM Benchmarks

| Status | Range |
|---|---|
| Healthy | LTV:CAC > 3× and payback < 12 months |
| Alert | LTV:CAC 1.5–3× or payback 12–18 months |
| Critical | LTV:CAC < 1.5× or payback > 18 months |

## How to improve it

Calculate CAC by channel, not global average. The most efficient channel is typically 3–5× cheaper than the worst. Concentrating budget on low-CAC channels is the fastest improvement in acquisition efficiency.

Related metrics: [ARPU](https://www.uniteconomicscalculator.com/en/glossary/arpu.html) · [Monthly Churn](https://www.uniteconomicscalculator.com/en/glossary/churn-rate.html) · [Gross Margin](https://www.uniteconomicscalculator.com/en/glossary/gross-margin.html)

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