What a payback report shows
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Spend | Total acquisition spend for the cohort, by campaign or channel |
| CAC | Cost per paying subscriber (spend / paying subscribers) |
| Trial conversion rate | Trials started / attributed installs |
| Renewal rate | Renewals / first subscriptions for the cohort |
| Revenue by cohort week | Cumulative subscription revenue over time |
| Payback window | Days until cohort revenue exceeds total acquisition spend |
| Projected LTV | Estimated lifetime value at 6-month and 12-month horizons |
| ROAS at 30/60/90 days | Revenue returned per dollar spent at each time window |
Reading a payback curve
A payback curve plots cumulative cohort revenue against time. The point where the curve crosses your CAC line is your payback day. Example: A campaign spending 50 CAC. If the average subscriber generates $55 in revenue over 3 months, the cohort is on a 90-day payback window — breakeven at month three, then profitable. Now compare that to a second campaign spending 100 CAC — but where the average subscriber generates $120 over 3 months. That campaign hits payback in 75 days despite twice the spend per user. Higher CAC, faster payback, more total profit. The insight: CAC alone doesn’t tell you whether a campaign is worth scaling. The payback window — and the LTV trajectory behind it — is what matters. FloKit surfaces both so you can compare campaigns on a like-for-like basis.Dimensions
Group any payback report by:- Campaign — top-level campaign.
- Ad set — ad group or ad set within a campaign.
- Creative — individual creative asset.
- Channel — paid social, search, influencer, ASA, etc.
- Country — acquisition country.
- Offer — trial length, discount, or plan type.
- Paywall variant — A/B test variant the user saw at conversion.
- Cohort week — the calendar week the cohort was acquired.
Filters
- Date range — set acquisition cohort start and end dates.
- Channel — filter to one or more acquisition channels.
- Country — filter to specific markets.
- Product — filter by subscription plan (monthly, annual, etc.).
- Minimum spend threshold — exclude cohorts below a spend floor to remove statistical noise from small tests.
Payback windows
FloKit calculates payback at five standard windows:| Window | Best for |
|---|---|
| 30 days | Monthly subscriptions |
| 60 days | Monthly subscriptions with a free trial |
| 90 days | Monthly subscriptions, quarterly cash-flow planning |
| 180 days | Semi-annual plans or high-LTV monthly subscribers |
| 365 days | Annual subscriptions |
Accessing payback reports
Dashboard Go to Reports → Payback. Select your date range, grouping dimension, and payback window. The report updates every 6 hours. APIHow long before the report populates
| Data source | Time to first report |
|---|---|
| RevenueCat or Adapty (live) | 7–14 days of subscription events |
| RevenueCat or Adapty (historical backfill) | 2–4 hours after connecting |
| Warehouse (historical cohort table) | Immediately after sync validates |
| MMP attribution (AppsFlyer / Adjust) | 2–4 hours after connecting |