Free tools / True ROAS calculator
Free calculator · runs in your browserYou report 3.8x ROAS. You keep 1.5x.
ROAS counts revenue; the bills are paid in margin. Enter your spend, revenue and contribution margin to see your real profit on ad spend (POAS), your break-even ROAS, and the gap between what the dashboard shows and what you keep.
Your numbers
HealthyAround 2x profit on ad spend.Profit-on-ad-spend convention: 1x break-even on margin, ~2x healthy.
Reported ROAS
3.76x
What the dashboard shows
Profit on ad spend (POAS)
1.54x
Margin returned per ad dollar
Break-even ROAS
2.44x
Below this, you lose money
Profit after ads
A$22,821
Contribution minus spend
Profit on ad spend
0x1x break-even3x+
ROAS counts revenue; POAS counts the margin you keep. The same campaign can look like 3.76x and actually return 1.54x once cost of goods, shipping and fees come out. POAS is the number that pays the bills.
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How this is calculated
ROAS = revenue ÷ ad spend
POAS = (revenue × contribution margin %) ÷ ad spend
break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ contribution margin %
target ROAS = 1 ÷ (contribution margin % − target net margin %)
POAS = (revenue × contribution margin %) ÷ ad spend
break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ contribution margin %
target ROAS = 1 ÷ (contribution margin % − target net margin %)
POAS bands follow the standard convention: 1x is break-even on margin, around 2x is healthy. The point is simple, and it is the heart of why ROAS lies: a campaign can post a strong ROAS and still lose money once cost of goods, shipping and fees are counted.
Go deeper in the ROAS vs POAS guide, or see the definitions of POAS and break-even ROAS.
Questions
ROAS (return on ad spend) is revenue divided by ad spend. POAS (profit on ad spend) is contribution margin divided by ad spend. ROAS can look healthy while the campaign loses money, because it counts top-line revenue, not the margin left after product, shipping and fees. POAS counts the money you actually keep.
1x is break-even on margin: each ad dollar returns exactly its cost in margin. Around 2x is healthy. Below 1x the campaign is losing money even if its ROAS looks fine.
Break-even ROAS is one divided by your contribution margin. At a 40% margin, break-even ROAS is 2.5x. Anything below that loses money once costs are counted.
Target ROAS is the ROAS you need to hit a chosen net margin after ads: 1 ÷ (contribution margin % − target net margin %). It tells you what to actually aim for, not just where you stop losing money.
Use the Blufire contribution margin calculator: enter price, COGS, shipping and fees and it returns your CM. Then drop that percentage in here.
See POAS on every campaign, automatically.Blufire reconciles spend to margin across your accounts and shows the profit each channel really returns.