Strategic Finance Metrics

ARPU (average revenue per user) calculates the average revenue generated per individual user over a specific period, while ARPA (average revenue per account) measures the average revenue generated per customer account. These metrics provide insights into monetization effectiveness, pricing strategy success, and overall business health, helping companies optimize their revenue growth strategies and make informed decisions about product development, marketing, and customer success investments.

RPO or remaining performance obligation is the sum of deferred revenue (advance payments for services not yet delivered) plus backlog (the amount of money contracted but not invoiced).

Gross margin is the difference between the revenue generated from a software product and the cost of delivering that product (also called cost of goods sold or COGS) expressed as a percentage of the total revenue.

Gross Revenue Retention is the percentage of revenue a company retains from its customers over a defined period (usually one year).

Net Revenue Retention or NRR is the percentage of recurring revenue a SaaS company retains from its existing customers over a specified time period.

ARR is the recurring revenue from your SaaS business’ subscriptions, normalized over a period of one year.

The Rule of 40 states the sum of a SaaS company’s revenue growth and profit margin should be equal to or greater than 40%

The revenue run rate is an annualized version of a company’s earnings during a shorter period (a week, month, etc.)

The churn rate or customer churn rate is the percentage of customers that do not renew their subscriptions over a specified period such as a month or year. The revenue churn rate is the percentage of revenue a company loses over a specified period.

Subscription revenue is the cash a company earns when a customer subscribes to its product or service.

In a subscription-based business like SaaS, revenue (also known as recognized revenue or earned revenue) represents the income earned or recognized for services or products delivered to customers per the contract terms (month-on-month or any other agreed-upon time period).

Deferred revenue is the cash received in advance from customers for services you haven’t delivered yet. Also known as unearned revenue, this metric provides a more accurate representation of a SaaS company's financial health.

MRR is the sum of the predictable or confirmed revenues your company earns from active subscriptions every month.

CAC Payback Period is the time it takes a company to recoup the money it spent to acquire a customer.

Total marketing and sales spend in a previous period / Number of new customers acquired in the current period

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) per full-time equivalent (FTE)—also known as revenue ARR per employee, revenue per FTE, or, return on SaaS employees (ROSE)—measures a SaaS company's operational efficiency by calculating the recurring revenue generated per employee.

Cash runway is the amount of time a business can continue to operate before it runs out of cash—assuming no new funding and spending stays at its current rate.

Pipeline coverage ratio, or pipeline-to-quota ratio, provides sales managers with a view of how potential deals compare to their revenue targets. It’s calculated to determine how much ARR is accounted for in the unweighted pipeline compared to the new ARR goal.

Logo retention rate is the percentage of customers retained over time. Tracking it helps businesses know where to improve their customer service and/or product quality and develop retention strategies to increase customer retention.

Sales quota attainment (also known as quota achievement rate or sales goal attainment) measures the percentage of sales targets achieved by sales representatives or teams within a specific period. Quota attainment helps companies evaluate individual and team performance, forecast revenue, and optimize their sales strategy.

The burn multiple measures how much capital your SaaS company spends to generate $1 of new annual recurring revenue (ARR). Created by Craft Ventures co-founder David Sacks, it measures how efficiently your company converts its spending into ARR. The lower your burn multiple, the less your company is spending to grow.

The SaaS Magic Number quantifies how much new incremental recurring revenue is generated for every dollar sales and marketing (S&M) spends. Your company’s SaaS Magic Number lets you and potential investors gauge your sales and marketing efficiency.

The SaaS quick ratio measures the revenue growth of SaaS businesses by comparing the revenue flowing in (through new customers and expansions) and revenue flowing out (through churn and downgrades).

The LTV:CAC ratio compares the average revenue you generate from your customers with the cost to acquire them.

EBITDA is a profitability metric used to gain insights into a company's operational and financial performance. By leaving out non-operational expenses – interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization – the earnings information in EBITDA provides a clear picture of a company's ability to generate cash flow from its core business activities. While widely used in SaaS, EBITDA is considered a non-standard measure of profitability as it is not recognized under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States.

The cash conversion score (CCS) is an efficiency metric that tracks how efficiently a startup converts its capital raised into recurring revenue. In SaaS, where upfront investments in product development, customer acquisition, and infrastructure are high, CCS is a vital indicator of strategic growth and financial sustainability.

CMGR is a metric that measures average month-over-month growth over a specific time frame. It gives an accurate picture of growth as it factors in compounding. It's commonly used to track key metrics and statistics like monthly recurring revenue (MRR), user sign-ups, active users, or other growth data critical to SaaS businesses.

The traffic-to-lead conversion rate, also known as the visitor-to-lead conversion rate or traffic conversion rate, measures the percentage of website visitors who take an action to convert into a lead. For SaaS companies, it indicates the efficiency of their lead generation efforts. Analyzing the conversion rate helps SaaS sales teams to understand the quality of website traffic and leads, allocate budget for marketing campaigns and lead generation efforts, as well as assess and enhance the effectiveness and performance of the sales funnel—to drive sustainable growth and revenue.

Cost Per Lead (CPL), also known as Cost Per Prospect, is a marketing metric that measures the average cost, in terms of money spent on marketing and advertising, to acquire one qualified lead. It is calculated by dividing the total expenditure on marketing activities by the number of leads generated within a specific timeframe.

Time to value (TTV) is a vital customer retention metric that measures the time it takes your new customers to get value from your SaaS product. Customer retention directly impacts financial stability and business growth in SaaS. By optimizing TTV, companies can enhance customer experiences, inspire loyalty, and build a competitive edge.

Bookings, billings, and revenue are key financial metrics in SaaS, representing different stages of a sale. Bookings (or total contract value) show committed sales, billings are invoiced amounts, and revenue is the earned portion. These metrics are vital for assessing financial health and forecasting.

Bookings, also known as sales bookings or committed revenue, refers to the total “committed” value of all new contracts signed within a specific period, representing future revenue that a company “expects” to recognize, including recurring and non-recurring revenue commitments.

Billings is the total value of invoices issued to customers for subscription services over a specific period, reflecting both new and existing customer commitments. It includes the timing, frequency, and methods for collecting payments from customers.

Total Contract Value, also known as contract value, is a key performance indicator (KPI) that helps SaaS companies determine the total value generated by multi-year contracts. It refers to the total revenue that a company expects to receive from a customer contract over its entire duration including one-time fees (e.g. implementation fees) and all recurring subscription revenue.

Sales velocity measures the speed at which a sales team closes deals, tracking the time from initial contact to deal closure.

Customer lifetime value (LTV or CLTV), also known as client lifetime value (CLV) or lifetime customer value (LCV), measures the total revenue a business can expect to generate from a single customer account. For SaaS companies, LTV is crucial as it directly influences key business decisions around customer acquisition, product development, and growth—ultimately determining the sustainability and scalability of the business model.

The net promoter score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric that directly impacts a SaaS company's financial health and valuation. Also known as the net promoter system or net promoter index, NPS is a single-question survey tool introduced by Fred Reichheld, a partner at Bain & Company, in 2003. The metric measures customer satisfaction by asking users how likely they are to recommend a SaaS product to others on a scale of 0-10.

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a prospect who has demonstrated clear buying intent and meets specific qualification criteria indicating high conversion potential. This metric helps SaaS companies assess pipeline quality and predict revenue by identifying leads most likely to become customers.