Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Net revenue after all cuts
$81,220
Gross revenue
$95,880
Refund reserve to hold
$5,753
Payment processing cost
$3,154
Affiliate payouts
$5,753
Net per seat
$676.83
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How to use this
- 1Enter seats sold.
- 2Enter price per seat ($).
- 3Enter expected refund rate (%).
- 4Enter payment processing fee (%).
- 5Enter seats via affiliate (%).
- 6Enter affiliate commission (%).
- 7Read your net revenue after all cuts on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Cohort courses sell seats before delivery, which means refund risk sits on the seller's books for weeks. This calculator takes enrollment count, price, and typical refund and chargeback rates for cohort-based programs (usually 3–10% depending on guarantee length) and nets out payment processing and affiliate commissions to show real cash you can count on, plus how big a reserve to hold until the refund window closes.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Seats sold: 120
- Price per seat: 799 $
- Expected refund rate: 6 %
- Payment processing fee: 3.5 %
- Seats via affiliate: 20 %
- Affiliate commission: 30 %
Results
- Net revenue after all cuts: $81,220
- Gross revenue: $95,880
- Refund reserve to hold: $5,753
- Payment processing cost: $3,154
- Affiliate payouts: $5,753
- Net per seat: $676.83
What each field means
Inputs
- Seats sold
- The seats sold used in the calculation. Starts at 120 so you have a working example on load.
- Price per seat ($)
- The price per seat used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 799 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Expected refund rate (%)
- The expected refund rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 6 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–50 %.
- Payment processing fee (%)
- The payment processing fee used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 3.5 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–10 %.
- Seats via affiliate (%)
- The seats via affiliate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 20 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–100 %.
- Affiliate commission (%)
- The affiliate commission used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 30 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–60 %.
Results
- Net revenue after all cuts
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Gross revenue
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Refund reserve to hold
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Payment processing cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Affiliate payouts
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Net per seat
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What refund rate should I plan for?
Cohort courses with a 14-day money-back guarantee typically see 4–8% refunds; longer guarantees (30 days or 'finish the course') push toward 10–15%. High-ticket B2B cohorts with application screening run lower, often 2–4%, because buyers self-select.
Should I hold the refund reserve in a separate account?
Yes. Spending gross revenue immediately and then owing refunds out of operating cash is the single most common cash crunch for course creators. Park the reserve amount until the guarantee window closes, then release it to operating funds.
How do chargebacks differ from refunds here?
Chargebacks carry an extra processor fee (often $15–$25 per dispute) on top of the refunded amount and can trigger account review if the rate exceeds about 1% of transactions. Track them separately from voluntary refunds since they hit both revenue and your merchant standing.
Does affiliate commission apply to the discounted or full price?
Almost always the price actually paid, after any coupon. If you run promotions, recompute this with the discounted price for affiliate-driven seats, since running the commission on list price overstates your payout cost.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Cohort Course Revenue & Refund Reserve Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cohort-course-revenue-refund
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cohort-course-revenue-refund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cohort Course Revenue & Refund Reserve Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Cohort Course Revenue & Refund Reserve Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cohort-course-revenue-refund) (2026).