Fully-Loaded CAC
Fully-loaded CAC is typically 40-60% higher than media-only CAC when including headcount, tools, and allocated overhead (SaaStr 2024).
💡TL;DR
Fully-loaded CAC includes: (1) Media/ad spend, (2) Sales & marketing salaries + benefits, (3) Tools & software, (4) Agencies & contractors, (5) Events & content, (6) Allocated overhead (office, IT). Formula: Sum of all acquisition costs / New customers. A $50 media CAC often becomes $150-200 fully loaded. Always use fully-loaded for payback calculations—anything else understates true recovery time.
Definition
Customer acquisition cost that includes all direct and indirect costs: advertising spend, sales and marketing salaries, tools/software, agencies, events, and allocated overhead. Unlike simple CAC (ad spend ÷ customers), fully-loaded CAC reveals the true cost of acquiring a customer.
🏢What This Means for SMB Teams
SMBs often underestimate CAC by excluding founder time and tools. A founder spending 20 hours/week on sales at $150/hour equivalent adds $12k/month to acquisition costs. Include this to get honest unit economics.
Track MRR, churn, CAC payback—AI acts when metrics slip.
Metrics that matter, actions that move them.
📋Practical Example
A 20-person B2B SaaS ($3M ARR) reported $120 CAC to their board (ad spend only). Full audit revealed: $120 ads + $80 SDR time + $40 tools + $25 content + $15 overhead = $280 fully-loaded CAC. This changed their LTV:CAC from 8x to 3.4x and payback from 5 months to 12 months—completely different investment picture.
🔧Implementation Steps
- 1
List all acquisition-related costs: ads, salaries, tools, agencies, events, overhead.
- 2
Allocate shared costs (e.g., 60% of marketing manager to acquisition, 40% to retention).
- 3
Include fully-loaded headcount cost: salary × 1.25-1.4 for benefits and taxes.
- 4
Calculate: Total Acquisition Costs / New Customers Acquired.
- 5
Compare to media-only CAC—the gap reveals hidden costs in your GTM.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of overhead should I allocate to acquisition?
A common approach: allocate overhead proportionally to headcount. If 40% of your team focuses on acquisition, allocate 40% of office, IT, and admin costs. Be consistent across periods for trend analysis.
Should I include customer success in fully-loaded CAC?
Only include CS costs that directly drive acquisition (referrals, case studies, reviews). Exclude ongoing retention and support activities—those belong to cost-to-serve or retention metrics.
⚡How Optifai Uses This
Optifai integrates with HRIS and accounting systems to calculate fully-loaded CAC automatically, including allocated headcount and overhead. Monthly reports show the gap between media CAC and fully-loaded CAC.
📚References
- •
- •
Related Terms
Blended CAC
The weighted average customer acquisition cost across all channels—paid, organic, referral, and partner. Unlike channel-specific CAC, blended CAC gives a single number that represents your true cost to acquire a customer from any source. Formula: Total Sales & Marketing Spend ÷ Total New Customers.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers gained in a period. It includes media, tools, payroll, agencies, and overhead allocated to acquisition. Teams track CAC alongside payback period and LTV to know whether growth is profitable.
CAC Payback Period
The number of months it takes to recover the cost of acquiring a customer through their gross margin contribution. CAC Payback = CAC ÷ (Monthly ARPU × Gross Margin). Shorter payback means faster reinvestment into growth.
CAC to LTV Ratio
The ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost, measuring the return on acquisition investment. LTV:CAC = Customer Lifetime Value ÷ Customer Acquisition Cost. A ratio of 3:1 means you earn $3 for every $1 spent acquiring a customer.