Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
$
%
%/mo
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
$
months
LTV : CAC Ratio
Customer LTV
lifetime value
CAC
to acquire 1 customer
CAC Payback
months to recover CAC
Avg. Customer Life
months before churn
Industry Benchmarks
< 1:1
Losing money on every customer Critical
1:1 – 3:1
Marginal — needs improvement Below target
3:1 – 5:1
Healthy — SaaS gold standard ✅ Healthy
> 5:1
Excellent — may be under-investing in growth Excellent
💡 Formula: LTV = (ARPU × Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate  ·  CAC = Monthly S&M Spend / New Customers  ·  Payback = CAC / (ARPU × Gross Margin %)