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+# Financial Unit Economics Templates
+
+Quick-start templates for calculating CAC, LTV, contribution margin, and cohort analysis.
+
+## Unit Definition Template
+
+**Business model**: [Subscription / Transactional / Marketplace / Freemium / Enterprise]
+
+**Unit of analysis**: [What are you measuring?]
+- Customer (entire relationship)
+- Subscription (per subscription period)
+- Transaction (per purchase)
+- Product SKU (per product sold)
+- User (active user)
+
+**Time period**: [Monthly / Quarterly / Annual cohorts]
+
+**Segments** (if analyzing by segment):
+- [ ] Acquisition channel (paid search, organic, referral, etc.)
+- [ ] Customer type (B2B vs B2C, SMB vs Enterprise)
+- [ ] Geography (US, EU, APAC)
+- [ ] Product tier (Free, Pro, Enterprise)
+
+---
+
+## CAC Calculation Template
+
+**Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)** = Total acquisition costs ÷ New customers acquired
+
+### Fully-Loaded CAC
+
+**Sales & Marketing Costs** (period: [Month/Quarter/Year])
+
+| Cost Category | Amount | Notes |
+|---------------|--------|-------|
+| **Marketing spend** | $[X] | Paid ads, content marketing, events, tools |
+| **Sales team salaries** | $[X] | Base + commission + benefits |
+| **Sales tools & software** | $[X] | CRM, sales engagement, analytics |
+| **Marketing team salaries** | $[X] | Marketers, designers, contractors |
+| **Overhead allocation** | $[X] | % of office, admin costs attributable to S&M |
+| **Other** | $[X] | [Specify] |
+| **Total S&M Cost** | **$[X]** | Sum of above |
+
+**New customers acquired** (same period): [N]
+
+**CAC = $[Total Cost] ÷ [N customers] = $[CAC per customer]**
+
+### CAC by Channel
+
+Break down CAC by acquisition channel to identify most/least efficient channels.
+
+| Channel | S&M Spend | New Customers | CAC | Notes |
+|---------|-----------|---------------|-----|-------|
+| Paid Search | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Google Ads, Bing] |
+| Paid Social | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.] |
+| Content/SEO | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Organic, blog, SEO tools] |
+| Referral | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Referral program costs] |
+| Direct | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Type-in, brand awareness] |
+| Other | $[X] | [N] | $[X/N] | [Specify] |
+| **Total** | **$[X]** | **[N]** | **$[Blended CAC]** | Fully-loaded blended CAC |
+
+**Insight**: [Which channels are most/least efficient? Where to increase/decrease spend?]
+
+---
+
+## LTV Calculation Template
+
+**Lifetime Value (LTV)** = Revenue over customer lifetime × Gross margin %
+
+Choose calculation method based on business model:
+
+### LTV (Subscription Model)
+
+```
+LTV = ARPU × Gross Margin % ÷ Monthly Churn Rate
+```
+
+**Inputs**:
+- **ARPU** (Average Revenue Per User): $[X]/month
+- **Gross Margin %**: [X]% (Revenue - COGS) ÷ Revenue
+- **Monthly Churn Rate**: [X]% (customers lost ÷ starting customers)
+
+**Calculation**:
+- **Customer Lifetime** = 1 ÷ Churn Rate = 1 ÷ [X]% = [Y] months
+- **LTV** = $[ARPU] × [Y months] × [Gross Margin %] = **$[LTV]**
+
+### LTV (Transactional Model)
+
+```
+LTV = AOV × Purchase Frequency × Gross Margin % × Customer Lifetime (years)
+```
+
+**Inputs**:
+- **AOV** (Average Order Value): $[X] per transaction
+- **Purchase Frequency**: [Y] purchases/year
+- **Gross Margin %**: [Z]%
+- **Customer Lifetime**: [N] years
+
+**Calculation**:
+- **Annual Revenue per Customer** = $[AOV] × [Frequency] = $[X]/year
+- **LTV** = $[Annual Revenue] × [Lifetime years] × [Gross Margin %] = **$[LTV]**
+
+### LTV (Marketplace / Platform)
+
+```
+LTV = GMV per user × Take Rate × Gross Margin % ÷ Churn Rate
+```
+
+**Inputs**:
+- **GMV per user** (monthly): $[X]
+- **Take Rate**: [Y]% (platform's % of GMV)
+- **Gross Margin %**: [Z]% (after variable costs)
+- **Monthly Churn Rate**: [C]%
+
+**Calculation**:
+- **Monthly Revenue per User** = $[GMV] × [Take Rate] = $[X]/month
+- **Customer Lifetime** = 1 ÷ [Churn] = [Y] months
+- **LTV** = $[Monthly Rev] × [Lifetime] × [Gross Margin %] = **$[LTV]**
+
+### LTV by Cohort (Observed Retention)
+
+More accurate: Use actual retention data from cohorts.
+
+**Example Cohort Retention Table** (% of customers remaining):
+
+| Month | Cohort Jan | Cohort Feb | Cohort Mar | Average |
+|-------|------------|------------|------------|---------|
+| 0 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
+| 1 | 95% | 94% | 96% | 95% |
+| 2 | 88% | 86% | 89% | 88% |
+| 3 | 80% | 78% | 82% | 80% |
+| 6 | 65% | 62% | - | 64% |
+| 12 | 45% | - | - | 45% |
+
+**LTV Calculation**:
+- Sum: Month 0 revenue + (Month 1 retention × revenue) + (Month 2 retention × revenue) + ...
+- **LTV** = ARPU × Gross Margin × Σ(retention %) = **$[X]**
+
+---
+
+## Contribution Margin Template
+
+**Contribution Margin %** = (Revenue - Variable Costs) ÷ Revenue
+
+### Revenue & Variable Costs
+
+| Item | Per Unit | Notes |
+|------|----------|-------|
+| **Revenue** | $[X] | Subscription fee / Sale price / Transaction value |
+| **Variable Costs:** | | (costs that scale with each unit) |
+| - COGS | $[X] | Product cost, manufacturing |
+| - Hosting / Infrastructure | $[X] | Per-user server costs |
+| - Payment processing | $[X] | Stripe/PayPal fees (~2-3%) |
+| - Support | $[X] | Per-customer support time |
+| - Shipping | $[X] | Fulfillment, delivery |
+| - Other variable | $[X] | [Specify] |
+| **Total Variable Costs** | **$[Y]** | Sum |
+| **Contribution Margin** | **$[X - Y]** | Revenue - Variable Costs |
+| **Contribution Margin %** | **[(X-Y)/X]%** | Margin as % |
+
+**Interpretation**:
+- **High margin (>60%)**: Strong unit economics, room for high CAC
+- **Medium margin (40-60%)**: Acceptable, need disciplined CAC management
+- **Low margin (<40%)**: Challenging, requires very efficient acquisition or high LTV
+
+**Levers to improve margin**:
+- [ ] Increase pricing (improve revenue per unit)
+- [ ] Reduce COGS (negotiate supplier costs, economies of scale)
+- [ ] Optimize infrastructure (reduce hosting costs per user)
+- [ ] Automate support (reduce manual support time)
+- [ ] Negotiate payment fees (lower processing costs)
+
+---
+
+## Cohort Analysis Template
+
+Track retention, LTV, and payback by customer acquisition cohort (month, channel, segment).
+
+### Retention Cohort Table
+
+| Cohort (Month Acquired) | M0 | M1 | M2 | M3 | M6 | M12 | LTV | CAC | LTV/CAC | Payback (months) |
+|-------------------------|----|----|----|----|----|----|-----|-----|---------|------------------|
+| Jan 2024 | 100% | 92% | 84% | 78% | 62% | 42% | $1,200 | $300 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
+| Feb 2024 | 100% | 90% | 81% | 75% | 60% | - | $1,150 | $320 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
+| Mar 2024 | 100% | 93% | 86% | 80% | 65% | - | $1,300 | $280 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
+| Apr 2024 | 100% | 91% | 83% | 77% | - | - | $1,100 | $350 | 3.1 | 5.5 |
+| **Average** | **100%** | **91.5%** | **83.5%** | **77.5%** | **62.3%** | **42%** | **$1,188** | **$313** | **3.8** | **4.8** |
+
+**Insights**:
+- [Are newer cohorts performing better or worse than older cohorts?]
+- [Which cohorts have best/worst retention?]
+- [Is LTV improving over time?]
+- [Is CAC increasing or decreasing?]
+
+### Cohort by Channel
+
+| Channel | # Customers | Avg LTV | Avg CAC | LTV/CAC | 12M Retention | Payback (months) |
+|---------|-------------|---------|---------|---------|---------------|------------------|
+| Paid Search | 500 | $800 | $250 | 3.2 | 35% | 6.0 |
+| Organic | 300 | $1,500 | $150 | 10.0 | 55% | 3.0 |
+| Referral | 200 | $1,800 | $100 | 18.0 | 60% | 2.5 |
+| Paid Social | 400 | $700 | $300 | 2.3 | 30% | 7.0 |
+| **Total** | **1,400** | **$1,050** | **$225** | **4.7** | **42%** | **5.0** |
+
+**Insights**:
+- [Best channels: Referral (high LTV, low CAC, fast payback, high retention)]
+- [Worst channels: Paid Social (low LTV, high CAC, slow payback, low retention)]
+- [Action: Increase referral investment, reduce or pause paid social]
+
+---
+
+## Interpretation Template
+
+### LTV/CAC Ratio Analysis
+
+**Your LTV/CAC**: [X:1]
+
+| Range | Assessment | Action |
+|-------|------------|--------|
+| <1:1 | **Unsustainable**: Losing money on every customer | Stop growth, fix model or pivot |
+| 1:1 - 2:1 | **Marginal**: Barely profitable | Don't scale yet, improve retention or reduce CAC |
+| 2:1 - 3:1 | **Acceptable**: Unit economics work | Optimize before scaling |
+| 3:1 - 5:1 | **Good**: Can profitably grow | Scale marketing spend |
+| >5:1 | **Excellent**: Strong economics | Aggressive scale, raise capital |
+
+**Your assessment**: [Based on ratio above]
+
+### Payback Period Analysis
+
+**Your Payback Period**: [X] months
+
+| Range | Assessment | Cash Impact |
+|-------|------------|-------------|
+| <6 months | **Excellent**: Fast capital recovery | Can reinvest quickly, fuel growth |
+| 6-12 months | **Good**: Reasonable payback | Manageable cash needs |
+| 12-18 months | **Acceptable**: Slower recovery | Need patient capital |
+| >18 months | **Challenging**: Long payback | High cash burn, risky |
+
+**Your assessment**: [Based on payback above]
+
+### Combined Decision Framework
+
+| Your Metrics | Recommendation |
+|--------------|----------------|
+| LTV/CAC: [X:1] | [Assessment from table above] |
+| Payback: [Y] months | [Assessment from table above] |
+| Gross Margin: [Z]% | [Good ≥60% (SaaS) / ≥40% (ecommerce), or needs improvement] |
+| **Overall** | **[Stop / Optimize / Scale / Aggressive Scale]** |
+
+### Recommendations
+
+**Pricing**:
+- [ ] [Increase price to improve margin and LTV]
+- [ ] [Add premium tier for upsell]
+- [ ] [Reduce price to increase conversion]
+- [ ] [No change needed]
+
+**Channels**:
+- [ ] [Increase spend on: [channels with best LTV/CAC]]
+- [ ] [Reduce or pause spend on: [channels with poor LTV/CAC]]
+- [ ] [Test new channels: [suggestions]]
+
+**Retention**:
+- [ ] [Improve onboarding to reduce early churn]
+- [ ] [Add features to increase engagement]
+- [ ] [Customer success program for high-value customers]
+- [ ] [Loyalty/referral program to increase repeat]
+
+**Growth**:
+- [ ] [Scale aggressively: Economics support growth]
+- [ ] [Optimize first: Improve metrics before scaling]
+- [ ] [Pause growth: Fix unit economics]
+
+**Cash & Fundraising**:
+- [ ] [Raise funding to fuel growth (if LTV/CAC >3:1 and payback <12 months)]
+- [ ] [Focus on profitability (if LTV/CAC 2-3:1 and payback 12-18 months)]
+- [ ] [Reduce burn (if LTV/CAC <2:1)]
+
+---
+
+## Quick Example: SaaS Startup
+
+**Unit**: Customer (subscription)
+
+**CAC**: $20k marketing, 100 customers → **$200 CAC**
+
+**LTV**:
+- ARPU: $100/month
+- Gross Margin: 80%
+- Monthly Churn: 5% → Lifetime = 1/0.05 = 20 months
+- **LTV** = $100 × 20 × 80% = **$1,600**
+
+**Metrics**:
+- **LTV/CAC**: $1,600 / $200 = **8:1** ✓ Excellent
+- **Payback**: $200 ÷ ($100 × 80%) = **2.5 months** ✓ Excellent
+- **Gross Margin**: **80%** ✓ Strong
+
+**Recommendation**: **Aggressive scale**. Economics are excellent (8:1 LTV/CAC, 2.5 month payback). Raise capital, increase marketing spend 2-3×, hire sales team, expand to new channels.
+
+---
+
+## Common Mistakes to Avoid
+
+1. **Not using cohort data**: Don't average retention across all time periods. Recent cohorts may behave differently.
+2. **Excluding costs**: Don't forget sales salaries, support, payment fees, refunds.
+3. **Vanity LTV**: Don't project 5-year LTV with 1 month of data. Use observed retention only.
+4. **Ignoring channels**: Don't blend CAC across all channels. Analyze each separately.
+5. **Fixed vs variable costs**: Don't include fixed costs (engineering, rent) in contribution margin. Only variable costs that scale with units.
+6. **Not updating**: Re-calculate quarterly. Unit economics change as you scale, market shifts, competition intensifies.