CalcLibrary

Customer Lifetime Value Calculator

Estimate how much gross profit one typical customer generates from your own order value, repeat rate, gross margin, and customer lifespan assumptions. Add CAC only if you want the same model to show LTV:CAC, payback months, and orders needed to recover acquisition cost.

Currency
$
/mo
%
mo
$
Examples

A $65 order, 0.6 orders per month, 58% gross margin, 18-month lifespan, and $40 CAC produces about $407.16 in lifetime gross profit and roughly 1.8-month payback.

Lifetime gross profit / CLV
$407.16
Monthly revenue per customer
$39.00
Monthly gross profit per customer
$22.62
Lifetime orders
10.8 orders
Lifetime revenue
$702.00
LTV:CAC ratio
10.18 :1
Modeled orders to recover CAC
1.06 orders
Estimated CAC payback period
1.8 months

Planning model only. Results depend entirely on the averages you enter and represent gross-profit customer economics, not accounting advice, not a retention forecast, and not proof that a channel or business is healthy. Taxes, discounting, financing, cohort curves, and benchmark thresholds are intentionally out of scope.

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Examples

How It Works

Formula

m=GM%100m = \dfrac{GM\%}{100}

Rm=AOV×fmR_m = AOV \times f_m

GPm=Rm×mGP_m = R_m \times m

OL=fm×LmO_L = f_m \times L_m

RL=Rm×LmR_L = R_m \times L_m

CLV=RL×mCLV = R_L \times m

LTV:CAC=CLVCACLTV:CAC = \dfrac{CLV}{CAC}

OCAC=CACAOV×mO_{CAC} = \dfrac{CAC}{AOV \times m}

TCAC=CACGPmT_{CAC} = \dfrac{CAC}{GP_m}

Variables

AOVAOV

Average order value(currency/order)

fmf_m

Average orders per customer per month(orders/month)

GM%GM\%

Gross margin percent entered by the user(percent)

mm

Gross margin converted to a decimal share(decimal share)

LmL_m

Average customer lifespan in months(months)

RmR_m

Monthly revenue generated by one customer(currency/month)

GPmGP_m

Monthly gross profit generated by one customer(currency/month)

OLO_L

Total modeled orders across the customer lifespan(orders)

RLR_L

Total modeled revenue across the customer lifespan(currency)

CLVCLV

Lifetime gross profit / customer lifetime value(currency)

CACCAC

Customer acquisition cost used for CAC comparisons(currency)

The page first turns one customer into monthly economics: average order value times monthly order frequency gives monthly revenue, and monthly revenue times gross margin gives monthly gross profit. It then scales those same monthly assumptions across the average customer lifespan to show lifetime orders, lifetime revenue, and lifetime gross profit / CLV. If you add CAC, the same ledger extends into LTV:CAC, orders needed to recover CAC, and CAC payback months. The math is planning math based on your own averages, not a retention forecast or channel verdict.

Frequently Asked Questions

01What does this calculator count as customer lifetime value?
Here CLV means lifetime gross profit from one typical customer under the assumptions you enter. It starts with average order value and order frequency, then applies gross margin and lifespan. It does not claim to be net profit, cash flow, or a booked accounting result.
02Why can CAC payback be blank even when CLV is shown?
CLV can still be zero or positive while monthly gross profit is zero under your model. If gross margin is 0%, or monthly purchase frequency is 0, the page can still show the lifetime math you entered but it cannot divide CAC by monthly gross profit to produce an honest payback month figure.
03How are the CAC recovery outputs estimated?
They reuse the same averages already in the CLV ledger. Modeled orders to recover CAC divides CAC by gross profit per order, while estimated CAC payback divides CAC by monthly gross profit. Both outputs assume those averages stay steady long enough to recover acquisition cost.
04What is intentionally outside the model?
This is a narrow planning model for one typical customer. It does not include cohort retention curves, discounting, taxes, financing costs, benchmark databases, or built-in judgments about what a “good” ratio should be. It is not a forecast engine and it is not accounting advice.

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