ROAS profit calculator
ROAS is not profit. Set your spend and the ROAS you're running, layer in your real costs, and see the dollar profit you actually keep — plus what changes at every ROAS from breakeven up.
| ROAS | Revenue | Net profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.00× | $10,000 | -$5,273 | -53% |
| 1.50× | $15,000 | -$2,910 | -19% |
| 2.00× | $20,000 | -$546 | -3% |
| 2.50× · | $25,000 | $1,817 | 7% |
| 3.00× | $30,000 | $4,181 | 14% |
| 4.00× | $40,000 | $8,908 | 22% |
| 5.00× | $50,000 | $13,635 | 27% |
How profit is calculated from ROAS
ROAS reports revenue against spend and nothing else. To get profit you have to run the revenue back through your unit economics: how many orders that revenue represents, what each order contributes after product and fulfillment costs, and what is left once the ad spend and any fixed costs are paid.
revenue = spend × ROAS
orders = revenue ÷ AOV
contribution/order = AOV − COGS − shipping − (AOV × fee %)
gross contribution = orders × contribution per order
net profit = gross contribution − spend − fixed costs
POAS = gross contribution ÷ spend
breakeven ROAS = AOV ÷ contribution per orderSpend $10,000 at a 2.5 ROAS and you have generated $25,000 of revenue. On a $65 AOV that is roughly 385 orders. If each order contributes about $24 after a 40% COGS, $6 shipping, and 3.5% fees, that is around $9,240 of gross contribution — which, after the $10,000 you spent to get it, is a small loss before you even count fixed costs. The ROAS looked fine; the profit did not exist.
Read the profit-across-ROAS view
Because spend is fixed, profit rises in a straight line as ROAS climbs, crossing zero at your breakeven ROAS. The scenario table makes the same point in numbers: at each ROAS step it shows the revenue you would generate, the net profit you would keep, and the margin on revenue. It answers the question every operator actually has — “if I hold this spend, what am I left with at 2×, at 3×, at 4×?”
Why POAS beats ROAS as a decision metric
Two campaigns can report the same ROAS and earn wildly different profit if their products carry different margins. POAS — profit on ad spend — divides the contribution your ads produce by what you paid for it, so a 1.0 POAS is the true self-funding line regardless of catalog. Bidding to margin rather than revenue is the single highest-leverage change most ecommerce accounts can make, and it starts with knowing the profit behind the ROAS you already run.
How do I turn ROAS into actual profit?
Multiply spend by ROAS to get revenue, divide by AOV to get orders, then multiply orders by your contribution margin per order (AOV minus COGS, shipping, and fees). That is gross contribution. Subtract the ad spend itself and any fixed monthly costs, and what remains is net profit. A 3.0 ROAS sounds strong, but if your contribution margin is only 30% of AOV, that spend barely breaks even — the ROAS number alone never tells you whether you made money.
What ROAS do I need to be profitable?
Your breakeven ROAS is AOV divided by contribution margin per order — or, including fixed costs, a little higher. Below it you lose money on every order; above it you keep the difference. This calculator shows the exact breakeven line for your inputs and how far above or below it your entered ROAS sits, so you can see the profit headroom at a glance.
What is POAS and why does it matter more than ROAS?
POAS (profit on ad spend) divides the contribution margin your ads generate by the ad spend, rather than dividing revenue by spend. A POAS above 1.0 means each dollar of spend returns more than a dollar of margin before fixed costs — the honest signal of whether advertising is funding itself. Two campaigns with identical ROAS can have very different POAS if their products carry different margins, which is why margin-aware bidding beats revenue-ROAS bidding.
Should I include fixed costs like retainers and software?
For a true net-profit picture, yes. Contribution margin tells you whether each order pays for itself; net profit after fixed costs tells you whether the business makes money at this spend level. Leave fixed costs at zero to see pure contribution profit, or enter your monthly retainers, software, and agency fees to see the number that actually lands in the bank.
Why does my profitable-looking ROAS still lose money?
Because platform ROAS ignores everything between revenue and profit: product cost, shipping, payment and platform fees, and fixed overhead. A 2.5 ROAS on a thin-margin catalog can sit below breakeven while the dashboard reports it as a win. This calculator forces those costs into the picture so the profit you see is the profit you keep — the same margin-first math behind POAS bidding.
Want these numbers computed from your actual account?
The free audit reads your real data and shows where the economics leak — no generic benchmarks, no sales theater.