App Acquisition Payback Calculator
Model how long a mobile app acquisition could take to repay from normalized monthly profit, growth, operating costs, and transition costs.
Free to use · No sign-in · Inputs stay in your browser
Acquisition assumptions
Use normalized profit, not the seller’s top-line revenue. Keep growth assumptions conservative.
Modeled payback
27 months
Before financing, tax, unexpected costs, or changes in buyer demand.
Total investment
$105,000
First-year cash yield
42%
$44,162 modeled profit
Five-year modeled profit
$276,245
Five-year net after price
$171,245
Use profit, not headline revenue
Start with the monthly economic benefit available to the new owner after the operating costs required to maintain current performance. Add costs the seller does not have but you will, such as a developer, support coverage, or migration work.
Stress-test the result
Run a declining, flat, and growing scenario. If the acquisition only works under aggressive growth, the spreadsheet is showing a dependency rather than a margin of safety.
What the calculator leaves out
The model excludes financing, tax, resale value, unexpected platform changes, and risks discovered during diligence. Review the mobile app due diligence checklist before treating any payback result as actionable.