Campaign Budget Calculator

Build a campaign budget from a target number of conversions, expected CPA and a contingency.

About Campaign Budget Calculator

The base cost is unit cost times quantity; the overhead percentage adds the contingency that real projects need, and the result is divided back out to give a fully loaded cost per conversion. Quoting the bare unit cost is how budgets get overrun — the loaded figure is the one to plan against.

Formula

Campaign Budget

Campaign Budget = Expected cost per acquisition × Target conversions × (1 + overhead %)

Expected cost per acquisition: Cost of a single conversion
Target conversions: How many are required

Worked example

With the default values below, Campaign Budget Calculator returns Campaign Budget of $49,500.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Expected cost per acquisitionminimum 0: 90
Target conversionsminimum 0: 500
Overhead or contingencyaccepts 0–100 %: 10 %

Results

Campaign Budget: $49,500.00
Base Cost Before Overhead: $45,000.00
Overhead Applied: $4,500.00
Fully Loaded Cost per Conversion: $99.0000

Step by step

1Values used
2Campaign Budget
3Campaign Budget= 49,500.00
4Base Cost Before Overhead= 45,000.00
5Overhead Applied= 4,500.00
6Fully Loaded Cost per Conversion= 99.0000

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Campaign Budget calculated?

Campaign Budget = Expected cost per acquisition × Target conversions × (1 + overhead %) The base cost is unit cost times quantity; the overhead percentage adds the contingency that real projects need, and the result is divided back out to give a fully loaded cost per conversion.

Why does Campaign Budget matter?

Quoting the bare unit cost is how budgets get overrun — the loaded figure is the one to plan against.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 3 inputs: Expected cost per acquisition, Target conversions, Overhead or contingency. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.