Free Business Tool
Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Enter your monthly marketing spend across Google Ads, D2D, Angi, and referrals to see exactly what it costs to acquire each new roofing, HVAC, or solar customer — and whether your LTV:CAC ratio is healthy.
See How SubcontractorHub Lowers Your Cost Per CloseWhat Does It Actually Cost to Acquire a Customer?
Break your spend down by channel and enter your closed customers. CAC and LTV:CAC ratio update instantly.
Monthly marketing spend by channel
Count only first-time customers, not repeat jobs.
Use our LTV calculator to find this. Enables LTV:CAC ratio.
Customer acquisition cost
$364
$5,100 total spend ÷ 14 customers
Total marketing spend
$5,100/mo
LTV : CAC ratio
32.9 : 1
Excellent
Estimates only. Accurate CAC requires consistent attribution — knowing which channel each closed job actually came from. Many contractors overcount lead sources or miss D2D labor costs, making CAC appear lower than it really is.
How to Use This Calculator
Break down spend by channel
Enter what you spent last month across each acquisition channel. Google Ads and LSA should be easy — pull from the dashboard. D2D canvassing is trickier: estimate the hourly cost of your canvassing reps (wages + burden × hours canvassing). Angi/HomeAdvisor lead costs are often understated — include the per-lead fee plus the percentage of leads that go unanswered.
Count new customers only
Only count first-time customers — not repeat jobs from existing customers. A returning HVAC customer who books a second system replacement has near-zero acquisition cost and shouldn't dilute your CAC calculation. Track new vs. repeat jobs separately for clean unit economics.
Add your LTV for the ratio
Use the Customer Lifetime Value calculator to find your LTV, then enter it here. The LTV:CAC ratio tells you whether your acquisition spend is justified. Below 3:1 means you're acquiring customers too expensively relative to what they're worth. Above 5:1 may mean you're under-investing in marketing.
CAC by Channel: What Actually Works for Contractors
Google Local Services Ads
LSA (the 'Google Guaranteed' listings) typically delivers the lowest paid CAC for home services contractors — $150–$400 per job for roofing and HVAC. Charges per lead, not per click. High-intent homeowners who searched your exact service.
D2D canvassing
Variable CAC depending on rep quality and territory. Experienced canvassers in storm-affected areas can generate roofing jobs at $300–$600 CAC. New canvassers in untargeted areas can run $1,000+ per job. Track canvassing CAC separately from inbound CAC.
Angi / HomeAdvisor leads
Often the highest CAC channel because the same lead is sent to 3–5 contractors simultaneously. Close rates on Angi leads average 10–18% for home services, vs. 25–40% on owned inbound leads. Factor the full cost including unanswered leads.
Referral programs
Consistently the lowest CAC channel: $50–$200 per job when you have a structured referral incentive program. Referred customers also close at higher rates and have higher LTV than any other channel. Solar and roofing companies with systematic Ambassador programs often acquire 20–30% of jobs through referrals.
Organic SEO
Near-zero marginal CAC once the content is built. A roofing contractor ranking for 'roof replacement [city name]' can generate 10–20 inbound leads/month with no per-lead cost. Investment is upfront in content creation and technical SEO; payback period is typically 6–18 months.
Social media ads
Facebook and Instagram ads typically generate awareness and soft leads for home services — higher funnel than Google search. CAC tends to be 20–40% higher than Google LSA because intent is lower. Best used for remarketing and referral amplification rather than cold acquisition.
The Fastest Way to Lower CAC: Close More of the Leads You Already Have
If you're spending $6,000/month to generate 40 leads and closing 12, your CAC is $500. Improve your close rate to 17 jobs on the same leads and your CAC drops to $353 — a 30% reduction with zero additional marketing spend.
SubcontractorHub's EasyQuote builds proposals on a tablet at the home with financing embedded — the single highest-impact change most contractors make to improve close rates on the leads they're already generating.
See How It WorksPresent proposals and financing at the home — same visit
Close rate improvement typically 20–35% for installation contractors
GoodLeap, Service Finance, LightReach embedded in every proposal
Track close rate by rep, channel, and job type in real time
Ambassador referral program built in to lower CAC further
Common Questions About Customer Acquisition Cost
What is customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total marketing and sales spend divided by the number of new customers acquired. If a roofing company spends $6,000/month on Google Ads, D2D canvassing, and Angi leads and closes 12 new jobs, the CAC is $500. CAC is one of the most important unit economics metrics for a home services business — it tells you what it actually costs to bring a customer in the door, before you've earned a dollar.
What is a good customer acquisition cost for a roofing or HVAC company?
For residential installation contractors, acceptable CAC depends heavily on average job value and customer lifetime value. A roofing company with a $9,000 average job can afford a higher CAC than an HVAC tune-up company with a $150 average ticket. Healthy benchmarks: roofing $400–$900 CAC on a $9,000 average job; HVAC replacement $300–$700 CAC on a $8,000 job; solar $800–$2,500 CAC on a $25,000 job. The LTV:CAC ratio should be at least 3:1 — ideally 5:1 or higher.
Should I include sales rep salaries in my CAC calculation?
Yes — if your sales reps do outbound prospecting (D2D canvassing, cold calling, appointment setting), their time cost should be included in CAC. If reps only close inbound leads that marketing generates, their cost is more accurately counted as a selling expense separate from marketing CAC. Most contractors running a D2D model should include rep wages + burden in the CAC calculation for canvassed jobs. For inbound jobs, marketing spend alone is sufficient.
What is the LTV to CAC ratio and why does it matter?
The LTV:CAC ratio compares customer lifetime value to the cost of acquiring that customer. A ratio of 3:1 means every dollar spent on acquisition returns $3 in lifetime gross profit — a widely accepted healthy baseline. A ratio below 1:1 means you're losing money on every customer. Home services businesses with strong referral programs often achieve 5:1 or higher because each referred customer effectively costs nothing to acquire.
How do I lower my customer acquisition cost?
The highest-leverage CAC reduction levers for home services contractors: (1) Improve close rate — the same marketing spend closes more jobs. Going from 28% to 35% close rate on the same leads cuts CAC by 20%. (2) Build a referral program — referred customers have near-zero CAC. (3) Improve lead quality — fewer low-intent leads, more high-intent ones. (4) Retain existing customers — repeat jobs have lower or zero acquisition cost. (5) Improve attribution — knowing which channels actually close, not just generate leads, lets you cut waste.
What marketing channels have the best CAC for home services contractors?
Referral programs consistently deliver the lowest CAC for home services contractors — often $50–$200 per job including referral incentives. Organic SEO (ranking for 'roofing contractor near me') has near-zero marginal CAC once content is built. Google Local Services Ads (LSA) typically deliver lower CAC than Google search ads for installation contractors. D2D canvassing has variable CAC — low for experienced canvassers, high for new reps with high turnover. Angi/HomeAdvisor leads are often the highest-CAC channel because the same lead is sold to 3–5 contractors.
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Book a Free DemoAll calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user.