Estimated annual leak · modeled range
$0a year
Modeled midpoint, prorated. Not a measured loss.
Margin leak estimator
How much is your marketing leaking?
Use your revenue, marketing spend and answers to explore a modeled annual opportunity range. Free, with no login or account access.
Use the results on your own, or choose a paid audit or a fit call. Both next steps are optional.
Free · No login · Nothing leaves your browser
Model reference: $54k/yr. Published cases: 10, lower median $53,000/yr. Separate acquisition from contribution after product costs, shipping, returns and discounts. A blended ROAS does not establish contribution profit.
Live reading · updates on every answer
Leak risk score
Appears after your first answer. Based on your answers, not on the dollars.
Pick an industry to sharpen the range.
Directional model output. Not a measured loss or promised recovery. Formula and rates are disclosed below.
Step 1 of 7 · Tell us about the business
Rough numbers are fine.
Tell us about the business
Three quick inputs set your baseline. Rough numbers are fine, and nothing leaves your browser.
Quick start
Industry
Advanced: blended ROAS and site conversion rate (optional)
Optional, and it stays in your browser. Either number narrows your range instead of widening it: the model stops guessing at your efficiency and uses yours.
Choice steps advance on click. Nothing leaves your browser.
In their words · what clients said after the readoutAll 60 client statements →4.8 on Google →
GOOGLE REVIEW
“Short version, we were about to cut the wrong thing. Glad we got this done first.”
Gustavo Moraes
DTC / ECOMMERCE
$134k a year, read a year after a 6 day audit
Contribution margin on the two top campaigns: −7% → +9%
“Revenue grew and cash didn’t. Victoria rebuilt margin per order after shipping, returns and payment fees, and our two biggest prospecting campaigns were losing money on every sale. We stopped scaling them.”
Founder & CEO · DTC · Beauty & personal care
Client approvedUnder NDA6 days to findings
Victoria MillerLead auditor on this auditGOOGLE REVIEW
“Founder was on the kickoff call, the auditor who did the work ran the readout. Small thing but I’ve never had that with a consultancy before. You actually talk to the people who know the answers.”
Daniel Andrés Cruz Rodriguez
MANUFACTURING
$118k a year of wasted spend cut in 7 days
Rebates paid on volume never actually earned: 19% → 1%
“Rebate expense outran distributor volume and we could not see why. Cristian reconciled rebates paid against volume actually shipped and paid for, tier by tier: accruals had run off gross purchase orders. Quarterly true ups now catch it.”
VP of Supply Chain · Manufacturing · Water pipe producer
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
Cristian BragauSenior Auditor · signed this audit offGOOGLE REVIEW
“The thing that won me over was a line in the report that basically said "we can’t prove this one, so we’re not counting it". Nobody does that. Made me trust everything else in there.”
Keano Coulier
FINTECH
$96k a year of wasted spend cut in 7 days
App installs that funded a real account: 24% → 63%
“Installs looked great and funded accounts stagnated. David followed sign ups through to funding, and the bonus was buying registrations from people who claimed it and never transacted. Incentives now pay on activation, not the download.”
VP of Growth · Fintech · Consumer
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
David JacksonSenior Auditor · signed this audit offGOOGLE REVIEW
“I’ve paid for a few of these "audits" over the years and they usually end with a pitch. This one ended with a list of what to fix and which parts we could do ourselves. Some of it was not what I wanted to hear. All of it was right.”
JOEL PABLO ESPADA PEA
B2B SAAS
$92k a year found in 7 days
Enterprise deal margin lost to quarter end: 5 pts lost → 0 pts lost
“Bookings hit target while margin slipped. Cristian split our discounting by timing and rep: concessions spiked in the last days of every quarter because buyers had learned to wait. Approval thresholds fixed it without losing deals.”
CRO · B2B SaaS · Enterprise
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
Cristian BragauSenior Auditor · signed this audit offGOOGLE REVIEW
“Solid work. Lost a star only because the first week dragged, mostly getting them access on our end so partly our fault. After that it moved fast and the readout was really clear.”
Wiwa Smutter
RETAIL
$88k a year of wasted spend cut in 7 days
Paid social proven to lift store visits: ~1 in 3 → 9 in 10
“Our CFO doubted that online ads drove store visits. David’s matched market geo lift test proved the doubt right: footfall barely changed where the ads were off. The budget moved to markets and channels that passed the test.”
VP of Marketing · Retail · Omnichannel
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
David JacksonSenior Auditor · signed this audit offPHARMA
$88k annual budget redirection identified in 7 days
Congress spend with a tracked return: 8% → 88%
“Six figures a year in congresses and KOL sponsorships, renewed on habit. Leslie tried to connect it to share of voice, engagement or prescribing and found no instrumentation at all. The unmeasurable part now funds engagement we can track.”
Head of Commercial Strategy · Pharma · Biopharma
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
Leslie MartinSenior Auditor · signed this audit offMARKETPLACE
$74k a year of wasted spend cut in 7 days
Courier bonuses paid into already full zones: 22% → 3%
“Incentive spend rose while service levels stayed flat. Alex matched bonus payouts against real time courier availability by zone: in dense areas we paid couriers who would have worked anyway. Bonuses now fire only where coverage is short.”
VP of Supply Growth · Marketplace · Food delivery
Written approvalUnder NDA7 days to findings
Alex PopSenior Auditor · signed this audit offSUBSCRIPTION
$63k a year found in 6 days
Active users actually being billed: 93% → 99%
“Expansion lagged what we saw inside accounts. Victoria reconciled active users against billed seats: many customers used more seats than they paid for. Automated true ups now capture it, and nobody pushed back.”
VP of Finance · Subscription · B2B software
Written approvalUnder NDA6 days to findings
Victoria MillerSenior Auditor · signed this audit offSERVICES
$62k a year found in 6 days
Qualified inbound calls that became bookings: 2 in 3 → 9 in 10
“Marketing hit every target and revenue stalled. Leslie followed our qualified calls into intake and about a third were dropped at busy times or never followed up. Fixing staffing and call handling converted demand we had already paid for.”
Managing Partner · Services · Legal
Written approvalUnder NDA6 days to findings
Leslie MartinSenior Auditor · signed this audit offThe calculator is free. An optional paid audit checks your account data and produces evidence for its findings.
What is the next step?
Keep your estimate, explore the case studies or request a paid audit. The calculator does not connect to your accounts. A fit call can help you assess whether an audit is appropriate.
Model assumptions and limitations
This calculator applies model assumptions to your inputs. Its range, comparison position and score are directional scenarios, not measured account losses, verified peer percentiles or a recovery promise. The industry reference amounts are model references, distinct from the lower medians of published case figures. Underlying calibration budgets and validation evidence are not published.
- Monthly marketing spend is multiplied by 12 and the selected industry rate band. Monthly revenue is multiplied by 12 and 0.84% to 1.63% for the second term. These two modeled terms are added, adjusted by your answers, and rounded.
- Higher spend changes the marketing term; higher revenue changes the pricing, margin and retention term. These terms may describe related economic effects, so their sum is a scenario for investigation, not additive proven savings.
- The comparison uses the marketing term only. Its reference is annual marketing spend multiplied by the middle point of the industry model curve. A position from 10 to 90 on that curve is not an observed peer percentile.
- The 0 to 100 score summarizes the selected answers. Category scores reflect allocated shares of the estimated midpoint, not independently measured health.
- Optional ROAS and conversion inputs scale the range against model reference values and narrow it by a fixed factor of 0.70 before rounding. A narrower interval does not establish greater statistical confidence.
- When spend exceeds half of revenue, a midpoint limit of 6% of annual revenue can activate. Rounding and minimum interval width still apply. This is a model safeguard, not an observed business limit.
Input and coefficient sensitivity are model behavior. Calibration periods, eligible budgets and validation errors are unavailable in the published cases.
Directional model estimates, not a diagnosis of your accounts. Nothing leaves your browser to produce this result.
Why trust the estimate
A wasted ad spend calculator with explicit assumptions.
01
Industry model assumptions
The calculator uses industry rates and your inputs. Published case lower medians are shown separately so you can compare their definitions.
02
Understand the range
The interval describes a model scenario. It does not establish the percentage of comparable businesses that achieved that result.
03
The audit makes it real
An estimate can’t be acted on by itself. The audit names each leak, proves it with your data and hands you the fix. $10,000 to $50,000 of findings, or your money back.
Next step, optional
Turn estimates into evidence.
Fixed fee. 5 to 7 working days. $10,000 to $50,000 of findings, or your money back.
Estimators by industry
Industry specific estimators
The same calculator, preloaded with industry model assumptions. Published case medians are shown separately.
Questions about the estimator.
Is the estimator really free, and what’s the catch?
Yes. The calculator uses your inputs and model assumptions, with no account access. You can keep the results or choose an optional paid audit or fit call.
Does the calculator need access to my ad or analytics accounts?
No. It runs entirely in your browser from a few situational inputs. No logins and no account access, by design.
How accurate is the estimate?
It is a directional model using your inputs and industry assumptions. Its range and comparison position are not verified peer percentiles or measured account losses. Published case medians are a separate statistic; an audit checks your own evidence.
Wasted ad spend calculator: model and case evidence
This calculator applies model assumptions to your inputs. Its range, comparison position and score are directional scenarios, not measured account losses, verified peer percentiles or a recovery promise. The industry reference amounts are model references, distinct from the lower medians of published case figures. Underlying calibration budgets and validation evidence are not published.
Scroll horizontally to compare all columns on a narrow screen.
| Industry | Published cases | Model reference / year | Case lower median / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTC / Ecommerce | 10 | $54k | $53,000 |
| B2B SaaS | 8 | $60k | $52,000 |
| Marketplace | 7 | $66k | $66,000 |
| Subscription | 7 | $51k | $51,000 |
| Retail | 8 | $56k | $54,000 |
| Services | 8 | $47k | $47,000 |
| Fintech | 7 | $83k | $83,000 |
| Pharma | 9 | $64k | $64,000 |
| Manufacturing | 10 | $67k | $64,000 |
The population is the 74 published case studies, with one selected highlight figure per case. It is not a representative sample of all SMBs or a total of every finding in each audit. A lower median is the middle value after sorting, using the lower of the two middle values for an even count. Published annual figures include different outcome types; they are not all collected cash, profit or recurring savings. Case publication dates do not establish common observation, implementation or recovery periods; use each case for its supported timing and outcome.