Library · KPIs · Calculator on this page
KPIs
The scorecard we run for merchants: payments and risk, ads, subscriptions, refunds, cash, stock — not a generic blog KPI list.
Merchant KPI contribution scorecard
CalculatorThe scorecard we run for merchants subtracts COGS, ads, ship, fulfilment, fees, and refund cost from net revenue. Put this week’s numbers in. Flags follow the same above-or-below direction those boards use.
CalculatorMerchant KPI scorecardOpen this calculator alone
Type in the cells. This is a calculator.
ContributionSpendable
$20,200
20.0% of net · $16.83 / order · max CAC $24.05
Net revenue
$100,800
Ads
−$32,000
COGS + ship + fees + refunds
−$48,600
- Contribution %20.0%Contribution should sit above. 35% is a working target. 20% is a warning band.
- Refund rate6.0%Refund rate should sit below. 4% is a working cap. 8% is a warning band.
- Chargeback rate0.55%Chargeback rate should sit below. 0.75% is 75% of a common 1.00% program — confirm the contract.
- Approval rate91.0%Approval should sit above. 92 / 85 are inferred operating bands, not a published network rule.
This is the catalog we actually track for merchants. It is not a generic KPI blog.
The tables below group the same way operators already enter the week: payments and risk, ads, subscriptions, refunds, cash, stock, funnel.
Two cells still need a live figure: cash LTV windows, and the exact reserve ratio. They are marked.
The calculator at the top is the contribution waterfall. Put the week in. Read the flags before you scale.
Payments & risk
Approval, chargebacks, remaining cap, processing cost.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blended approval rate Successful payment attempts over all attempts, first buy and rebills. | successful attempts ÷ total attempts × 100 | High enough that settled cash covers the bid. This should sit above. A drop vs last week without a MID or cascade story. | Monday payments review, then any day the MID coughs. |
| Initial purchase approval rate First-buy auths only. Do not mix rebills in. | successful first-buy attempts ÷ first-buy attempts × 100 | At or above last 4-week baseline. A dump of traffic onto a sick MID. | Daily if you scaled. Else the Monday pack. |
| Chargeback rate Bank chargebacks over settled sales. Count method unless the contract says dollars. | chargeback count ÷ settled count × 100 | Under the processor program, with headroom. This should sit below. At 75% of threshold without a plan. Over the line. | Twice a week. Daily near month end. |
| Payment authorization rate Gateway auth rate, split by region if you run more than one. | authorized ÷ attempted, by region if the board splits US / EU / GB | Stable vs last week. This should sit above. A regional cliff you cannot name. | Monday payments review. |
| MID remaining cap Unused approved capacity on live MIDs. | MID capacity − MID cap used, by region if you split US / EU / GB | Days of cover at this week’s volume. This should sit above. Cap used on a named MID while you still dump ads. | Every pacing day. |
| Active MIDs Live merchant accounts, split by region if you run more than one. | count of live MIDs in the agreed segment | Enough open rails for next week’s volume. Pending and closures rising while active is flat. | Monday pipeline. |
| Total processing cost % All processing cost as a share of the board’s revenue basis. | processing cost ÷ net revenue × 100 (Digital / Ecom splits exist) | Flat or down. Treat this as a cost line. A jump you cannot map to mix, FX, or junk fees. | Month close and any statement shock. |
Ads
Spend, eCPA, CAC, ROAS, payback versus contribution.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| eCPA (blended) Paid spend over new customers, blended across Google and affiliate on the Marketing board. | ad spend ÷ new customers | Under contribution per new customer. This should sit below on CPA/CAC lines. eCPA above contribution while you still scale. | Daily stand-up for media. |
| Meta CAC Meta spend over new customers attributed to Meta. | Meta spend ÷ new customers from Meta | Under the settled contribution cap. This should sit below. Pixel CAC that ignores refunds. | Daily while Meta is on. |
| Google CAC Google spend over new customers from Google. | Google spend ÷ new customers from Google | Under the same contribution cap as Meta. Brand search pretending to be new-customer CAC. | Daily while Google is on. |
| New customer CPA All paid spend over first-time orders. | total paid spend ÷ new customer orders | At or under max CAC from contribution. Blended with returning customers. | Daily. |
| Blended ROAS Revenue the board names over ad spend. Still a lie if that revenue is not settled. | named revenue ÷ ad spend | Above the min ROAS from contribution. This should sit above. Ads Manager ROAS on billed sales. | Daily. |
| Customer acquisition payback period Time to recover CAC from gross margin per customer. Paddy Digital board. | CAC ÷ gross margin per customer | Inside the cash you can float. This should sit below. Payback that assumes rebills you cannot auth. | Monthly, and when you change the offer. |
| Ad spend as % of net revenue Media as a share of net revenue on the Finance board. | ad spend ÷ net revenue | Inside the contribution the offer can bear. This should sit below. Spend up while contribution % is down. | Weekly finance. |
Subscriptions
Digital and retention boards. Rebill approval, LTV, active subs, attach.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription rebill approval rate Successful rebills over rebill attempts. Digital board also splits Google vs affiliate. | successful rebill attempts ÷ rebill attempts × 100 | Stable MIT path. This should sit above. Dunning that burns the MID to fake this number. | Twice a week. |
| Lifetime value (LTV) Expected net customer revenue from the matured cohort model on Retention / Digital. Needs a live figure | cash LTV, not billed — confirm the cohort window on your books | LTV covers CAC with float you actually have. Billed LTV used as week-one cash. | Weekly retention. |
| LTV:CAC Cash LTV over acquisition cost. | LTV ÷ CAC | Above the board’s above-direction. Still a fiction if LTV is billed. A pretty ratio while rebills decline. | Monthly. |
| Active subscriptions Live continuity accounts at week end. Digital and eCom splits exist. | count of active subs (region splits on Paddy) | WoW growth that rebills, not just opt-ins. Count up, rebill approval down. | Weekly. |
| Subscription attach rate Share of eligible new orders that start a sub. | new subs ÷ eligible new orders × 100 | Attach that the MID can rebill. Attach on a MID with no MIT path. | Weekly offer review. |
Refunds
CS and Operations boards. Refund rate, first purchase vs rebill, alert vs CS refunds.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refund rate Refunded orders or sales over the board’s total. Digital and eCom splits on Paddy. | refunded ÷ settled (or orders) × 100 — confirm the board’s basis | Below last 4 weeks. This should sit below. First-purchase refunds hiding in a blended rate. | Daily CS + Monday ops. |
| First purchase refund rate Refunds on first buys only. | refunded first-purchase txns ÷ successful first-purchase txns × 100 | Not eating the media you just spent. Offer or landing that refunds in 7 days. | Weekly. |
| Rebill refund rate Refunds on successful rebills. | refunded rebills ÷ successful rebills × 100 | Low enough that LTV is cash. Save offers that refund next cycle anyway. | Weekly. |
| Alert vs CS refunds Two refund books on Paddy CS: alerts-related vs CS-related. | counts (or $) in each bucket — do not add them into the CB ratio without the processor rule | You can name which bucket moved. One blended “refunds” cell. | Monday CS. |
Cash
Finance boards. Net received, contribution, reserves, 13-week cash.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contribution margin ($ and %) Net revenue minus COGS, marketing, shipping, fulfilment, payment fees, and refund variable cost. | net revenue − COGS − ads − ship − fulfilment − fees − refund cost | Positive after the bid. This should sit above. ROAS green, contribution red. | Weekly finance. The scorecard calculator. |
| Net received Cash settled by processors after refunds, fees, reserves, and chargebacks. | settled deposits − those drags, in the month the board names | Matches the bank. This should sit above. CRM revenue as if it were the deposit. | Weekly cash. Month close. |
| Reserve ratio % Rolling reserve as a share of volume. On Paddy Finance. Needs a live figure | confirm the exact numerator and denominator on your statement | Known, forecasted, not a surprise hold. Ignoring reserve drag in CAC. | Month statement. |
| 13-week cash flow (lowest balance) Lowest projected closing cash on the rolling 13-week forecast. | min closing cash across the 13 weeks | Above payroll, POs, and media. This should sit above. A trough you only see in week 11. | Weekly finance. |
Stock
Product / ops. Days of cover, stockout, inventory cash.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top hero SKU days of cover On-hand units of the top SKU over trailing 30-day daily unit sales. | units on hand ÷ trailing 30-day average daily units | Cover past the next PO. This should sit above. Ads into a stockout. | Twice a week ops. |
| Inventory cash tied up Cash sitting in on-hand stock. | on-hand at landed cost | Enough cover, not a second warehouse of hope. This should sit below. PO cash the same week as a media push. | Weekly. |
Funnel
Conversion, AOV, checkout, cart.
| KPI | Formula | Good / bad | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average order value Net sales over orders. Paddy splits eCom by region. | net revenue ÷ orders | Holds while refunds stay honest. This should sit above. AOV up from discounts you will refund. | Weekly trading. |
| Conversion rate Orders over sessions (or landing conversion on ClarityMD). | orders ÷ sessions × 100 | Stable vs the landing you actually run. Checkout start up, completion down. | Weekly CRO, daily if you shipped a page. |
| Checkout completion rate Started checkouts that pay. | paid checkouts ÷ started checkouts | Auth failures named, not “the page.” Payment failure rate up while you buy more traffic. | Daily if checkout moved. |
| Cart abandonment rate Carts created that do not become orders. | abandoned carts ÷ carts created | This should sit below. A promo that fills carts and refunds. | Weekly. |
On KPIs: Kill/keep and capacity from the same above/below flags on the scorecard — not a generic KPI blog.