Seller and business calculators: guides

216 guides in this section. Pick the question closest to yours, or browse by tool. Page 7 of 9

• Should the revenue I enter for ROAS include VAT or exclude it?The VAT you collect is not yours, so revenue before tax gives the honest ROAS. Example: 11,500 including tax shows 5.75x; the same sales before tax give 5x.
• I expect 20,000 in sales from a Ramadan campaign at a 30% margin: what is the most I can spend on ads without losing money?Maximum spend without a loss = expected sales × margin before ads. At 20,000 in sales and a 30% margin that is 6,000, where profit is zero. Test lower budgets too.
• Is it safe to type my campaign spend, revenue and margin into an online ROAS calculator?The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent. The tool never asks you to connect an ad account or log in. You type only the totals you choose.
• Which Google Ads columns give me ROAS, and why might conversion value not equal my actual sales?Conversion value ÷ cost is ROAS. But conversion value is whatever your tracking sends: it may include tax and shipping. Example: 3.25x becomes 2.75x once corrected.
• Why does my real return on ads drop once I remove refused cash-on-delivery orders and returns?Ad platforms count an order when placed, not when paid. Removing 20% refused or returned orders takes ROAS from 5x to 4x and flips a 22% margin campaign to a loss.
• I gave an influencer her own discount code: how do I work out the return on her fee from the orders that used it?Total the discounted value of orders that used the code, treat her fee as spend, and use your margin at the code price. Example: 52 orders worth 7,800 for a 3,000 fee.
• Should I judge my campaigns by ROAS or by cost per acquisition?Two campaigns with a 50 cost per order: one makes 50, the other 1,100. CPA ignores basket size and ROAS captures it. Here is when to use each.
• My campaign got clicks but no attributed sales: what does a ROAS of zero tell me, and why is the ad share blank?With no attributed revenue ROAS is exactly zero, and ad share is undefined because it would divide by zero revenue. Check tracking and timing before you judge.
• The calculator warns that my clicks are higher than my impressions: did I copy the report wrong?The clicks-over-impressions warning almost always means the two figures came from different rows or date ranges. Find the mistake and see which metrics it broke.
• Why is my conversion rate above 100% when conversions are higher than clicks?View-through and repeat conversions can push conversions above clicks. What a conversion rate over 100% means, and which figure to use for cost per order.
• My Snapchat campaign is for reach, not sales: how do I calculate CPM and compare two creatives on it?When a campaign is about reach, not sales, CPM is the fair yardstick. A worked example comparing two Snapchat creatives that ran on the same budget.
• Why is my conversion rate here different from the one Shopify analytics shows?The calculator divides conversions by ad clicks; store analytics usually divide orders by sessions. See the gap in a worked example and learn to compare like with like.
• My campaign brought no orders: why is cost per conversion shown as undefined and not zero?With zero conversions, spend cannot be divided by them, and a zero would suggest free orders. What still gets calculated, and how to report a campaign that sold nothing.
• My Instagram ads report shows both link clicks and all clicks: which one should I enter?All clicks include profile taps, photo opens and 'see more'; only link clicks reach your store. See how the choice moves CTR, CPC and conversion rate.
• One ad has double the click-through rate of another but both brought the same number of orders: which is actually better?Two ads with the same spend and orders, one with twice the click-through rate. A worked example shows why their CPA is identical and what CTR is really telling you.
• My ad opens a WhatsApp chat: how do I work out the cost per conversation and the cost per real order?The platform only sees a chat starting; the sale happens inside WhatsApp. Work out cost per conversation, cost per order and how many chats close, with real numbers.
• What is the highest cost per order from ads I can afford before I start losing money?Your CPA ceiling is your profit per order before advertising. Work it out, check your real CPA against it, and see how many orders get you under.
• My ad gets plenty of clicks but hardly anyone buys: what do the numbers reveal about where the problem is?A strong CTR next to a weak conversion rate usually means the problem is after the click, not in the ad. How to read both figures and what to check on your page.
• My Meta ad account bills in USD but I think in AED: which currency should the spend be in?CPC, CPM and CPA inherit the spend's currency; CTR and conversion rate have none. Why mixing USD spend with AED prices makes your CPA look impossibly cheap.
• Google Ads shows fractional conversions like 12.4: why does the calculator ask for whole numbers?Some attribution models split one sale across several ads, giving fractional conversions. What to enter in the calculator, and how far rounding moves CPA on small counts.
• My TikTok campaign goal is store visits: which of the five metrics should I watch, CPM, CPC or CPA?Judge a campaign by what its objective pays for: reach by CPM, traffic by CPC and CTR, sales by CPA. A worked example from a TikTok traffic campaign.
• I manage ads for clients: is it safe to put their campaign numbers into this calculator?For freelancers and agencies: no ad-account connection, no upload, calculated in your browser. What you actually enter, and what stays your responsibility to the client.
• I averaged the CTRs of my two ad sets, so why does it not match the campaign's overall CTR?A simple average gives a small ad set the same weight as a large one. Add up the raw totals first, then calculate: a worked example for CTR, CPC and CPA.
• I tested an ad with a small budget and got only 3 clicks: why should I not trust the rates from such small numbers?With tiny counts, one click or one order swings every rate. A worked example shows CTR and CPA flipping on a single event, and what to do before judging the ad.