Define the period
Choose a reporting period and keep every cost and revenue entry on the same basis. Advertising spend today and a bank payout from an earlier period do not automatically belong in one daily ratio.
Use actual collected orders and transaction records. Store impressions, clicks, checkout starts and seller claims are separate observations; none is a paid order.
Keep the ledger explicit
Record gross revenue, refunds, payment or platform fees, advertising spend and other operating costs. Avoid subtracting a fee twice if you enter a net payout instead of gross revenue.
Net contribution = gross revenue − refunds − fees − advertising spend − other recorded costs
When calculating observed acquisition cost, use advertising spend divided by actual paid orders. With no paid orders, CAC is undefined, not zero. The same principle applies to ratios with a zero denominator.
Use signals for diagnosis
Clicks without purchases may point to a mismatch in the offer, preview, price, trust or buyer intent. They do not prove that the product is profitable or that the ad creative alone is the problem.
Before changing traffic, check whether the product can be bought, the price agrees across pages, the files can be delivered and the sample matches the buyer’s task.
Set your own decision rules
A workbook can organize your budget limits and review notes, but no universal threshold can guarantee a good decision. Set a loss limit that reflects your resources and record why you choose to wait, fix, pause or continue.
Separate a tool or delivery fault from a weak demand signal. Do not increase spending merely because a platform shows a favorable attributed ROAS on one day.
Review what remains uncertain
- Were all paid orders and refunds included in the same period?
- Are support, maintenance and production costs missing from the model?
- Did the intended buyer actually use the files successfully?
- What specific evidence supports your next action?
The 14-Day Launch Review provides a ledger and notes structure. Fourteen days is a review container, not a promise that every business should scale or quit on that date.