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LTV:CAC Payback

Cumulative contribution margin against acquisition cost, marking the payback month and the probability of recovering CAC within the horizon.

State
Size
Mode

CAC payback · Q1 2026

10.1 mo

Payback · 1.2× LTV:CAC

CAC has a 100% chance of being recovered by month 11.

Acme analytics · updated daily

Demo data is illustrative. Replace with your own typed data prop.

How it computes

Cumulative-margin payback: months until cumulative contribution margin recovers CAC, with LTV and LTV:CAC.

cumᵢ = Σ₀ⁱ marginⱼ;  payback = first crossing of CAC (linear-interpolated);  LTV = cum_end;  LTV:CAC = LTV/CAC

Assumptions

  • Monthly margin per customer is constant (no churn or expansion baked in).
  • Contribution within a month accrues linearly (for the interpolation).
  • CAC is a positive number.

Honest about

  • Payback is reported as ">N mo" when the curve never recovers CAC within the horizon — it isn't faked.
  • A risk band uses std(margin)·√horizon as the spread and a Gaussian threshold for P(recovered) — an approximation, surfaced as such.
  • LTV:CAC is 0 when CAC ≤ 0 (divide-by-zero guard).