ROAS Calculator: Return on Ad Spend and Break-Even ROAS
Enter your ad spend and the revenue those ads brought in to get your ROAS. Add gross margin and average order value to see whether the ads make money, your break-even ROAS, profit after ad spend, cost per order and the minimum target ROAS to set in Google Ads. Free, no signup.
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- Updated October 2026
Key Takeaways
ROAS (return on ad spend) is revenue from ads divided by ad spend. $3,000 in revenue from $1,000 in ads is a ROAS of 3x, or 300%. Whether that is profitable depends on margin: break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ gross margin, so a business with a 40% margin needs at least 2.5x before its ads make any money.
- ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ ad spend, so $3,000 from $1,000 of ads is 3x, shown as 300% in Google Ads.
- Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ gross margin: 5x at a 20% margin, 2.5x at 40% and 1.67x at 60%.
- Break-even revenue = ad spend ÷ gross margin, so $1,000 of ads at a 40% margin needs $2,500 in revenue to break even.
- Max cost per order = average order value × gross margin, so a $60 order at a 40% margin can carry $24 of ad spend.
- Google Ads takes Target ROAS as a percentage: its own example of $5 in sales for every $1 spent is a 500% target.
How to Use the ROAS Calculator
Enter ad spend and revenue
Use the same date range for both. In Google Ads, revenue is the Conv. value column. The calculator loads with example numbers; press Clear to start from zero.
Add your gross margin
What you keep from each sale after product cost, shipping and fees, as a percentage. This unlocks the verdict, break-even ROAS, profit and break-even revenue.
Add average order value
Optional. The calculator estimates orders and shows your cost per order next to the most you can afford to pay per order.
Read the verdict
Profitable, Losing money or Around break-even, with a bar showing how far your ROAS sits from break-even. Switch currency at any time.
Set your bid target
Copy the Minimum Google Ads tROAS into your Target ROAS bid strategy as a floor, then raise it toward your profit goal in steps.
How do you calculate ROAS?
Divide the revenue your ads produced by what you spent on them:
ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ ad spend
Worked example, using the sample numbers the calculator loads with: you spend $1,000 on Google Ads in a month and the Conv. value column shows $3,000. $3,000 ÷ $1,000 = 3. That is a ROAS of 3x, also written 3:1 or 300%. Every $1 of ad spend brought back $3 in revenue.
Google Ads works in percentages. Its Target ROAS help page uses the example of $5 in sales for every $1 in ad spend: $5 ÷ $1 × 100% = a 500% target ROAS.
ROAS only measures revenue. A 3x ROAS loses money for a store with a 25% margin and makes good money for one with a 60% margin, which is why the calculator asks for gross margin before it gives a verdict.
What does each result in the ROAS calculator mean?
With the sample inputs ($1,000 ad spend, $3,000 revenue, 40% gross margin, $60 average order value), the calculator returns these results:
| Result | How it is calculated | Sample result |
|---|---|---|
| ROAS | Revenue ÷ ad spend | 3x (300%) |
| Revenue per $1 spent | Revenue ÷ ad spend, shown as money | $3.00 |
| Break-even ROAS | 1 ÷ gross margin | 2.5x (250%) |
| Profit after ad spend | Revenue × gross margin, minus ad spend | $200 |
| Break-even revenue | Ad spend ÷ gross margin | $2,500 |
| Minimum Google Ads tROAS | Break-even ROAS × 100 | 250% |
| Orders | Revenue ÷ average order value | 50 |
| Cost per order | Ad spend ÷ orders | $20 |
| Max cost per order | Average order value × gross margin | $24 |
The verdict compares your ROAS with break-even ROAS. It reads Profitable when your ROAS is higher, Losing money when it is lower, and Around break-even when the two are within 2% of each other. A bar shows the gap, with a marker at break-even.
Margin and order value are optional. Without margin you get ROAS only. Enter spend and margin but leave revenue empty, and the calculator tells you how much revenue that spend needs to break even.
The order numbers tell the same story as the ROAS numbers. Cost per order is also average order value ÷ ROAS ($60 ÷ 3 = $20), and max cost per order is average order value ÷ break-even ROAS ($60 ÷ 2.5 = $24). The $4 of headroom on each of 50 orders is the $200 profit. Orders is an estimate, so if you know your real order count, use it. If you bid with Target CPA, max cost per order is the ceiling for your target, and our max CPC calculator turns it into a click bid.
What is break-even ROAS and how do you calculate it?
Before you pay for a single click, each sale has already cost you the product, shipping and payment fees. Break-even ROAS is the point where ad spend uses up all of the gross profit that is left. Below it, every sale the ads bring in loses money.
Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ gross margin
The margin has to include every cost that comes with a sale. Worked example for a $100 order:
- Product cost $45, shipping $8, payment fees $3 and an average $4 lost to returns: $60 of costs.
- Gross margin = ($100 minus $60) ÷ $100 = 40%.
- Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ 0.40 = 2.5x, or 250% in Google Ads.
Count product cost alone and margin looks like 55%, with a break-even ROAS of 1.82x. Campaigns running between 1.82x and 2.5x would then look profitable while losing money on every order.
| Gross margin | Break-even ROAS | Minimum Google Ads tROAS | ROAS for a 10% profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 5.00x | 500% | 10.00x (1000%) |
| 25% | 4.00x | 400% | 6.67x (667%) |
| 30% | 3.33x | 333% | 5.00x (500%) |
| 40% | 2.50x | 250% | 3.33x (333%) |
| 50% | 2.00x | 200% | 2.50x (250%) |
| 60% | 1.67x | 167% | 2.00x (200%) |
| 70% | 1.43x | 143% | 1.67x (167%) |
The lower your margin, the higher the ROAS you need just to stand still. A store with a 20% margin loses money at 4x, while a store with a 60% margin is profitable at 2x.
How do you set a target ROAS in Google Ads?
The calculator's Minimum Google Ads tROAS is your break-even ROAS as a percentage, ready to paste into the bid strategy. Treat it as the floor. To keep a share of revenue as profit, aim higher:
Target ROAS for a profit goal = 1 ÷ (gross margin minus profit goal)
Worked example: a 40% margin and a 10% profit goal give 1 ÷ 0.30 = 3.33x, or 333% in Google Ads. Check it: $3,000 of revenue at 3.33x means $900 of ad spend. Gross profit is 40% of $3,000 = $1,200, and $1,200 minus $900 leaves $300, exactly 10% of revenue. The profit goal must be lower than your margin, or no ROAS can reach it.
Before you change the bid strategy, check these points from Google's Target ROAS guidance:
- Start from your history. Google says to base the target on your business goals and your historical ROAS. A target that is too high may limit your traffic, so if a campaign runs at 3x today, move toward 3.33x in steps rather than jumping to 500%.
- Have enough data. Search and Shopping campaigns need at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days to use Target ROAS.
- Look for the new name. From June 2026, "Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS" is labeled simply "Target ROAS". Bidding works the same.
What is a good ROAS?
There is no universal number. Rules like "aim for 4x" are misleading: for some businesses 4x is a loss, and for others it means they are spending too little and missing sales. The quickest way to see why is profit per $1 of ad spend = ROAS × gross margin minus 1.
| ROAS | 25% margin | 40% margin | 60% margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2x (200%) | -$0.50 | -$0.20 | +$0.20 |
| 3x (300%) | -$0.25 | +$0.20 | +$0.80 |
| 4x (400%) | $0.00 | +$0.60 | +$1.40 |
| 5x (500%) | +$0.25 | +$1.00 | +$2.00 |
A 3x ROAS loses 25 cents on every ad dollar at a 25% margin and earns 80 cents at a 60% margin. So a good ROAS is one comfortably above your break-even ROAS. How far above depends on your goal: a higher target means more profit per sale but fewer sales, and a target closer to break-even buys more volume at a thinner margin.
An example from our own work: for a Christmas ecommerce retailer, spend rose 110% year over year while ROAS still improved from 535.90% to 566.84%. The full case study shows how, and our Google Ads management page explains how we work.
Why can the ROAS in Google Ads differ from your real ROAS?
Platform ROAS is only as good as the conversion values the platform receives. Check these before you trust it or change bids:
- Only purchases should count. Google's help page on primary and secondary conversion actions explains that only the primary actions a campaign optimizes toward appear in the Conversions and Conversion value columns. If add to carts or checkout starts are set as primary, reported ROAS is far higher than reality.
- Use the same period. Spend and revenue must come from the same date range and the same campaigns.
- Tax and shipping in the value. If your tag sends the order total including tax and shipping, platform ROAS is higher than the revenue you keep. Use the same definition of revenue as your margin.
- Returns and cancellations. The sale is counted when it happens. Build returns into your margin, as in the worked example above.
- Attribution overlap. Google and Meta each credit themselves for sales they touched, so adding their ROAS together usually counts some sales twice.
- Broken or duplicate tags. A tag firing twice doubles ROAS overnight, and a missing tag halves it. Our guide to Google Ads conversion tracking covers the setup.
When in doubt, compare a month of platform revenue with the orders in your store or CRM for the same campaigns.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the formula for ROAS?
ROAS equals revenue from ads divided by ad spend. If you spend $1,000 and the ads bring in $3,000, ROAS is 3x, which Google Ads shows as 300%.
How do I calculate break-even ROAS?
Divide 1 by your gross margin as a decimal. A 40% margin gives 1 ÷ 0.40 = 2.5x, or 250%. Include product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns in the margin, or your break-even ROAS will look lower than it really is.
What is a good ROAS for Google Ads?
A good ROAS is one comfortably above your break-even ROAS, and that depends on your margin. At a 25% margin you need 4x just to break even, while at a 60% margin 1.67x breaks even. A fixed rule like 4:1 ignores margin and can be wrong in both directions.
Where do I find revenue in Google Ads?
Use the Conv. value column for the same campaigns and date range as your cost. You can also add the Conv. value/cost column, which is ROAS as a multiple. Multiply it by 100 for the percentage Google Ads uses for Target ROAS.
Is ROAS the same as ROI?
No. ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend and ignores your costs. ROI compares profit with cost. With the sample numbers, $3,000 revenue at a 40% margin is $1,200 gross profit, minus $1,000 ad spend leaves $200, so ROAS is 3x but ROI on ad spend is 20%.
What is max cost per order?
It is the most you can pay in ad spend for one order before that order loses money: average order value × gross margin. A $60 order at a 40% margin allows $24. If your cost per order is below it, you are profitable on each order.
Should I include agency fees in ROAS?
Keep ROAS as revenue divided by ad spend so it matches what Google Ads and Meta report. To judge profit, subtract agency fees, tools and creative costs from the calculator’s profit after ad spend for the same period.
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