The Channel CAC / ROI page answers "what did each marketing channel cost me, and was it worth it?" You log what you paid for Google, Instagram, flyers, and so on, and SalesThumb sets that against the new customers and revenue each channel brought in. Any plan can log spend. The CAC/ROI report itself needs the Growth plan or higher.
Getting there
Go to Reports, then open Channel CAC / ROI under the Marketing category. It opens as its own page, with the Reports list still on the left. The page has two parts: the Spend log at the top and the CAC/ROI report underneath.
How channels are matched
Channels are the same list as the source on each customer's record (Google, Instagram, Facebook, Referral / word of mouth, Flyers, Direct mail, Text / SMS campaign, and the rest). A channel's numbers only add up if your customers have their source filled in. Customers with no source show up in the report as Unknown, highlighted in amber.
Logging spend
- In the Spend log card, click Log spend.
- Channel — pick from the list.
- Period start and Period end — the dates the money covers. They start out matching the period selected in the report below. The end date can't be before the start.
- Amount spent ($) — what you actually paid. $0 is allowed for a channel that's genuinely free.
- Notes — optional, for example a campaign name.
- Click Log spend.
Each entry shows in the log with its channel, period, amount and notes, latest periods first. There's no edit. To fix a mistake, click the trash icon on the row, confirm, and log it again.
By default only the Owner and Admin roles can log or delete spend. Seeing the log takes the "View financial reports" permission (Owner, Admin and Manager by default).
You can log spend on any plan, so your history is ready if you upgrade to Growth later.
Reading the report
Pick a period at the top of the report: This month, Last month, This quarter, Year-to-date, or Custom range (with From and To dates). The dates in use show underneath as "Showing ...".
Three tiles sum up the period: Total spend, Attributed revenue, and New customers.
The By channel table has one row per channel, sorted by revenue:
- Revenue — payments collected during the period from customers whose source is that channel. That includes repeat customers, not just new ones.
- New customers — customers with that source who were added during the period.
- Spend — the total you logged for that channel. It shows Not logged if there's no entry.
- CAC — spend divided by new customers. This is what each new customer cost you.
- ROI — revenue divided by spend, shown like "3.25x". Green means you made back at least what you spent. Amber means you made back less.
n/a means the number can't be worked out. For ROI, that's because no spend (or only $0) was logged for that channel in the period. For CAC, it's that or zero new customers. You'll never see a divide-by-zero error.
How spend lines up with the period
A spend entry counts in full for any report period it overlaps. It isn't split by day. If you log a whole month for Instagram and then view a period covering only part of that month, the full month's amount still counts. For the cleanest numbers, log spend by calendar month and read the report with This month or Last month.
Downloading the table
Click Download CSV on the By channel card. The file has Channel, Revenue, New customers, Spend, CAC and ROI (x) columns for the period you're looking at. Uncomputable values show as "n/a".
If you see a permission or upgrade message
- If your shop is on Starter, the report area shows an upgrade prompt. The Spend log still works.
- If you don't have "View financial reports", the report says you don't have permission. An owner or admin can grant it in Settings → Team → Permissions.
Related: Reading the Referral Attribution report and Finding a report and setting the date range in Reports.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do I need the Growth plan to log ad spend?
A: No. Any plan can log spend in the Spend log. Only the CAC/ROI report needs Growth or higher, and it uses everything you've already logged once you upgrade.
Q: Why does a channel show n/a for CAC or ROI?
A: No spend, or only $0, was logged for that channel in the period you're viewing. CAC also shows n/a when the channel brought in zero new customers in that period.
Q: Does revenue only count new customers?
A: No. Revenue is every payment collected during the period from customers whose source is that channel, repeat customers included. New customers is counted separately and is what CAC uses.
Q: If I log a monthly amount and look at a two-week window, is the spend split?
A: No. Any spend entry whose period overlaps the window counts in full. Log spend by calendar month and use This month or Last month for the cleanest numbers.
Q: Who can log or delete spend entries?
A: By default the Owner and Admin roles. Managers can see the log and the report but can't add or remove entries unless their permissions are changed.