Customer Lifetime Value Calculator (VND)
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV, also written LTV) is the total gross profit one customer generates across their entire relationship with your business. If you run anything in Vietnam where customers come back — a subscription app, a gym, a SaaS product, a coffee shop with regulars, a repeat-purchase e-commerce store — CLV is arguably your most important unit-economics number. The reason is blunt: CLV sets the ceiling on what you can afford to spend acquiring a customer. If a customer is worth 43.200.000 VND over their lifetime and you spend more than that to win them, you lose money on every sale, no matter how good top-line revenue looks.
The base formula is compact: CLV = average monthly revenue × gross margin × average lifespan in months. For a customer spending 3.000.000 VND a month at a 60% gross margin who stays an average of 24 months, each customer contributes 1.800.000 VND of profit per month, and CLV works out to 43.200.000 VND. The key discipline is using gross profit, not revenue — high sales on thin margins still make a customer worth little.
The calculator above takes those three inputs and returns CLV, the monthly contribution margin and the implied lifespan, and plots cumulative contribution margin month by month so you can see a customer's value build up over time. Every figure in the examples on this page is an illustrative assumption for a sample business — replace them with your own numbers to get a result that fits your model.
How the calculator computes CLV
The base model
This tool uses a simple, undiscounted contribution-margin model:
CLV = Average monthly revenue × Gross margin × Lifespan in months
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Avg monthly revenue | Revenue one customer generates per month (3.000.000 VND) |
| Gross margin | Gross profit as a share of revenue (60%) |
| Lifespan (months) | Average time a customer stays active (24 months) |
| Monthly margin | = Revenue × Gross margin = 1.800.000 VND |
Multiplying the three: 3.000.000 × 60% × 24 = 43.200.000 VND. That is exactly what the widget does, so every step reconciles.
The churn form of the formula
If you track monthly churn (the share of customers who leave each month) rather than lifespan, the two are reciprocals:
Monthly churn = 1 / lifespan in months, and CLV = monthly margin ÷ monthly churn
A 24-month lifespan corresponds to 4.17% monthly churn (1 ÷ 24). CLV is then 1.800.000 ÷ 4.17% = 43.200.000 VND — identical to the direct multiplication. Lower churn means a longer lifespan and a larger CLV, which is why retention is the single strongest lever on customer value.
Tying CLV to CAC and the LTV:CAC ≥ 3 rule
CLV only means something next to CAC — customer acquisition cost (total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers won). The common rule of thumb is that the LTV:CAC ratio should be at least 3. Below 1 you are losing money; between 1 and 3 the model is thin; 3 or higher is generally considered healthy. With a CLV of 43.200.000 VND, the maximum CAC that still clears the 3:1 floor is 43.200.000 ÷ 3 = 14.400.000 VND.
What the model leaves out
The calculator assumes constant revenue, margin and lifespan, and it does not discount future cash flows back to today — so a true (discounted) CLV is usually a little lower. It also ignores upsell, cost-to-serve and differences between customer cohorts. Treat the output as a fast decision-making estimate, not a precise accounting figure.
Worked example: 3.000.000 VND/month, 60% margin, 24-month lifespan
Illustrative assumptions: revenue, gross margin and lifespan stay constant; CAC of 9.000.000 VND per customer (for illustration only).
Each month a customer contributes 3.000.000 × 60% = 1.800.000 VND of gross profit. Accumulated over time, that contribution builds up until the lifespan ends:
| Milestone | Cumulative margin | Past CAC? |
|---|---|---|
| Month 6 | 10.800.000 | Yes |
| Month 12 | 21.600.000 | Yes |
| Month 24 (end of lifespan) | 43.200.000 | Yes |
Three things stand out.
- The ending CLV is 43.200.000 VND, equal to cumulative margin after 24 months — that is the customer's whole-life value.
- CAC payback takes about 5 months. At 1.800.000 VND of margin a month, it takes 5 months for cumulative profit to cover the 9.000.000 VND CAC; the rest of the lifespan is net profit.
- The LTV:CAC ratio is 43.200.000 ÷ 9.000.000 = 4.8, comfortably above the 3 threshold, so this acquisition model looks healthy: every dong spent winning a customer returns roughly 4.8 dong of lifetime profit.
Enter your real numbers — your true gross margin, the lifespan you observe in the data, and your actual CAC. To dig into acquisition cost specifically, pair this with FiMo's CAC calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is customer lifetime value (CLV)?
Customer lifetime value (CLV, or LTV) is the total gross profit a customer generates over their entire relationship with your business. The base formula is CLV = average monthly revenue × gross margin × average lifespan in months. Illustrative example: a customer spending 3.000.000 VND/month at a 60% margin who stays 24 months has a CLV of 43.200.000 VND. CLV matters because it caps what you can afford to spend acquiring a customer (CAC).
What is the formula for CLV?
Use the simple contribution-margin model: CLV = average monthly revenue × gross margin × lifespan in months. Crucially, multiply by gross margin, not revenue — a customer's value is the profit they leave behind, not their sales. At 3.000.000 VND/month, a 60% margin and 24 months, the monthly contribution margin is 1.800.000 VND and CLV is 43.200.000 VND. This is exactly what the calculator computes, so every figure reconciles.
How does churn relate to CLV?
Monthly churn and lifespan are reciprocals: monthly churn = 1 ÷ lifespan in months. A 24-month lifespan equals 4.17% monthly churn. CLV can then be written as monthly margin ÷ churn = 1.800.000 ÷ 4.17% = 43.200.000 VND, identical to the direct multiplication. Lower churn means a longer lifespan and a higher CLV — which is why improving retention is the most powerful lever on customer value.
What is a good LTV:CAC ratio?
The common rule of thumb is LTV:CAC of at least 3. Below 1 you lose money per customer; between 1 and 3 the model is thin and fragile; 3 or higher is generally healthy. With a CLV of 43.200.000 VND and a CAC of 9.000.000 VND, the ratio is 4.8 — above the 3 floor. The maximum CAC that still clears 3:1 is 43.200.000 ÷ 3 = 14.400.000 VND. A very high ratio (say above 5) can signal you are underinvesting in growth.
Should CLV use revenue or gross profit?
Always use gross profit, not revenue. CLV measures the value a customer creates for you, and that value is what remains after cost of goods — the gross margin. Using revenue overstates customer value and tempts you into overspending on CAC. In the example, lifetime revenue is 72.000.000 VND but CLV at a 60% margin is only 43.200.000 VND; the gap is cost of goods sold.
What does this CLV model leave out?
The calculator assumes constant revenue, margin and lifespan, and it does not discount future cash flows to present value — so a true discounted CLV is usually a bit lower. It also ignores upsell and cross-sell, cost-to-serve, and differences between customer cohorts. Read the output as a quick decision-making estimate rather than a precise accounting number, and re-run it with your own observed retention and margin.