R2D Protocol

What's the minimum ACV where custom dev makes sense?

Find the deal size below which every custom request is a loss. Pre-filled with rough defaults – change to your numbers.

People involved in a typical custom request

Count everyone who touches it: developer, design, QA, DevOps, PM – not just the coder.

Weeks from start to shipped

End to end: from spec to live, including testing and rollout. Most custom features land in 2–8 weeks.

Fully-loaded cost per person, per month, €

Salary + overhead, blended across the team. Don't know exactly? €7–10K per person-month is typical for EU.

Gross margin, %

Benchmark: Median B2B SaaS gross margin 2024 = 74% – ChartMogul. Simplified – the full calc uses contribution margin (after direct service costs).

Contract length

1 year

2 years

3 years

Benchmark: Most Series A B2B SaaS contracts are annual – SaaS Capital 2025

Your current average ACV, € (optional – enables comparison)

Benchmark: Median ACV – early-stage (<$5M ARR) ~$12K, growth-stage ($10–50M ARR) ~$35K (Optifai 2026, n=939); all-company median $26K (SaaS Capital 2025)

€0

Minimum ACV for profitable custom dev

This covers development only. CAC, onboarding and the support tail sit on top – this calculator doesn't count them. Even above the threshold, real payback on a deal can still be negative.

Your real per-deal floor comes from your Jira and CRM data.

Find your real number → Book a 30-min diagnostic

Cost of one custom request (full delivery team)

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Formula: people × build time × loaded cost per person.
The whole delivery team (dev, design, QA, DevOps, PM) for the time the build actually takes – the real cost before any margin.

Minimum ACV to break even

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Formula: custom dev cost ÷ (GM% × contract length in years).
The gross margin earned over the contract term must fully cover the custom dev cost. Below this ACV – the deal loses money on the custom component before any other costs (CAC, onboarding, support).

Directional screen, not an audit – management-grade range, not a precise figure. Built from the team size and time you estimate, plus gross margin; the precise threshold uses your actual delivery-team allocation and contribution margin, computed in a Diagnostic Sprint from your Jira and CRM. Assumes one custom request per deal; multiple requests scale the minimum proportionally.