{
  "id": "cash-back",
  "version": "55ff259949b3",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Cash Back Calculator",
  "question": "How much cash back will I earn?",
  "summary": "Works out the cash back a credit card pays a month and a year on your spending in each category, the net after the annual fee, the first year with a bonus, and your effective cash back rate.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "loans",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/cash-back-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/cash-back-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "monthly = Σ(spend × rate ÷ 100); yearly = 12 × monthly; net = yearly − annual fee; first year = net + bonus; effective = yearly ÷ (12 × Σ spend); break-even spending = fee ÷ effective.",
  "assumptions": [
    "You pay the balance in full every month. Interest on a carried balance is not included.",
    "Rates apply to all the spending in each category. Spending caps, rotating categories and rewards that are worth less when redeemed are not modelled."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "categories": {
        "title": "Spending by category",
        "description": "What you spend on the card each month in each category, and the cash back rate for it.",
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "s": {
              "title": "Spent a month",
              "description": "What you put on the card each month in this category.",
              "type": "number",
              "x-unit": "USD",
              "minimum": 0,
              "maximum": 100000000
            },
            "r": {
              "title": "Cash back rate",
              "description": "The card’s cash back rate for this category.",
              "type": "number",
              "x-unit": "percent",
              "minimum": 0,
              "maximum": 100
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "fee": {
        "title": "Annual fee",
        "description": "Optional: the card’s yearly fee.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000
      },
      "bonus": {
        "title": "Sign-up bonus",
        "description": "Optional: a one-time bonus you expect to earn in the first year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "yearly": {
      "label": "Cash back a year",
      "description": "12 × the monthly cash back.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "monthly": {
      "label": "Cash back a month",
      "description": "Σ(spent a month × rate) over the categories.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "net": {
      "label": "Net a year after the fee",
      "description": "Cash back a year minus the annual fee.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "first": {
      "label": "First year with the bonus",
      "description": "Net a year plus the sign-up bonus.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "spend": {
      "label": "Spent a year",
      "description": "12 × all the monthly spending.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "effective": {
      "label": "Effective cash back rate",
      "description": "Cash back a year ÷ spent a year.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "breakEven": {
      "label": "Spending a year to cover the fee",
      "description": "The annual fee ÷ the effective rate: what you must spend in the same mix to earn the fee back.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "categories": [
        {
          "spend": "600",
          "rate": 3
        },
        {
          "spend": "200",
          "rate": 2
        },
        {
          "spend": "1500",
          "rate": 1
        }
      ],
      "fee": 0,
      "bonus": 200
    },
    "outputs": {
      "yearly": 444,
      "monthly": 37,
      "net": 444,
      "first": 644,
      "spend": 27600,
      "effective": 1.608695652173913
    },
    "text": "Spending $27,600.00 a year earns $444.00 of cash back, $444.00 after the annual fee."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "categories": [
          {
            "spend": 600,
            "rate": 3
          },
          {
            "spend": 200,
            "rate": 2
          },
          {
            "spend": 1500,
            "rate": 1
          }
        ],
        "fee": 0,
        "bonus": 200
      },
      "expect": {
        "monthly": 37,
        "yearly": 444,
        "net": 444,
        "first": 644,
        "spend": 27600,
        "effective": 1.608695652173913
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 600 × 3% + 200 × 2% + 1,500 × 1% = 37 a month; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Report Highlights Consumer Frustrations with Credit Card Rewards Programs (hidden conditions, devaluation; nearly 1 in 10 reward dollars come from sign-up bonuses), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/newsroom/cfpb-report-highlights-consumer-frustrations-with-credit-card-rewards-programs/ (retrieved 2026-10-03)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "categories": [
          {
            "spend": 2000,
            "rate": 1.5
          }
        ],
        "fee": 95
      },
      "expect": {
        "yearly": 360,
        "net": 265,
        "effective": 1.5,
        "breakEven": 6333.333333333333
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 24,000 × 1.5% = 360; 95 ÷ 1.5% = 6,333.33"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "categories": [
          {
            "spend": 333.33,
            "rate": 5
          },
          {
            "spend": 0.1,
            "rate": 2
          }
        ],
        "fee": 550,
        "bonus": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "monthly": 16.6685,
        "yearly": 200.022,
        "net": -349.978
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: exact decimals, 16.6665 + 0.002 = 16.6685"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Report Highlights Consumer Frustrations with Credit Card Rewards Programs (2024). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/newsroom/cfpb-report-highlights-consumer-frustrations-with-credit-card-rewards-programs/ (retrieved 2026-10-03)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "credit-card-payoff",
    "budget",
    "credit-card-interest"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}