averagecac.com

Benchmark · Services · Growth · SMB (Under $25k ACV)

Average CAC for Growth SMB Services Companies

CAC Payback Period · Services · SMBSourced

14 months

Best-in-class (top quartile): 8 months

Methodology note: This source segments CAC payback by industry × customer size, not by company stage. The same 14-month payback applies across all 5 stages for services × smb. For more on this site's methodology, see methodology.

Sources

First Page Sage segments CAC payback by industry × customer size only; the same payback applies across all 5 company stages within this segment. For stage-segmented data, see the SaaS Capital benchmark survey (segments by ARR band but is paywalled for cell-level numbers).

Common questions

CAC payback questions: SMB Services

What is the average CAC payback period for smb services companies?
About 14 months, per First Page Sage's 2024 SaaS CAC Payback Benchmarks (28-industry table, last updated March 2025). Top-quartile services companies at smb size recover CAC in about 8 months. First Page Sage segments by industry and customer size rather than company stage, so the same 14-month payback applies across seed through late-stage.
Is 14 months a good CAC payback for services?
Under 12 months is best-in-class across B2B SaaS, and most venture-backed companies target under 18. Payback lengthens with deal size, so smb services's roughly 14-month figure is typical for the segment rather than a warning sign; the top-quartile benchmark is about 8 months.

How we define this cut

Services · Growth · SMB

Industry: ServicesProductised professional services with software leverage.
Stage: Growth$15-$50M ARR, multi-channel acquisition, expanding ICP.
ACV: SMB (Under $25k ACV)Small-business buyers, often self-serve, transactional sales motion.