SaaS Metrics School

In episode #271, I address a student question from TheSaaSAcademy.com. And that’s billing pauses. How should we handle this with our revenue retention calculations? - Let’s define a billing pause - Impact on your MRR schedule - Impact on GRR and NRR - Unpredictable revenue Be in the know! Join our SaaS community. https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #270, I address the methods of calculating your retention. Contrary to those social media posts, cohort retention is NOT the only way to calculate retention. I’ll tell you why. - The 3 retention calculations - What is cohort retention - What is aggregate retention - Segmentation Be in the know! Join our SaaS community. https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  

In episode #269, I address a question from a recent conversation with a founder who was starting a software/hardware play. You must understand your business model and the type of company that you are building. - Am I Software or Hardware? - What is my business model? - Have you defined your SaaS P&L? - What about people-powered revenue? Be in the know! Join our SaaS community. https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #268, I address a debate that arose a recent SaaS CEO and CFO dinner in San Francisco. - What is Rev Ops? - CFO or CRO? Be in the know! Join our SaaS community. https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #267, I address the coveted MRR schedule. Done wrong, it causes a ton of headaches and can derail due diligence. - What is the MRR schedule? - Where do you source the data? - What systems house this data? Have you joined our SaaS community? https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #266, I address a reader's question about payment processing revenue. There are two key points. Recording the revenue on your P&L, and can I take ARR credit for this revenue stream? - The nature of your payment processing revenue - ARR credit - Gross profit Join my SaaS community to be notified of future training, webinars, templates, and more: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  

In episode #265, I address one of the four key professional services metrics. I received a message from someone who read my blog posts about this metric. Let’s break down the steps and inputs. - Services backlog - Monthly burn number - Billable FTE’s Services Metrics: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-effectively-manage-your-professional-services-team-with-metrics/  

Episode 264 – The Difference Between Booking Date and Revenue Start Date In episode #264, I tackle a question from a SaaS CEO in Spain. They messaged me on LinkedIn about dates. Sales wants to record the contract on the execution date, and finance must begin revenue on the subscription start date. What’s the right process? - Bookings dates - Revenue on the P&L Have SaaS questions? Join our community: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #263, I address the building blocks to your financial transparency. Tired of running financially blind? Know that you can do more with your data? - Why do we need this? - Chart of accounts - 4 key data sources - SaaS P&L - Technology - Training Free training on my process: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/zz3ZR2WL/checkout In-depth course on SaaS Metrics: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation Live course on SaaS metrics: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation-course-community

In episode #262, I address 2025 planning and R&D investments. - Calculate your OpEx profile. - Factors influencing your R&D budget - Where to get your benchmark data Check out Ray's data at benchmarkit.ai

In episode #261, I address the world of SaaS data. Bookings data is one of the biggest data mistakes that I see in SaaS. With this data, you can forget about understanding your GTM efficiency - What is bookings data? - Sources of bookings data - What if I’m self-service SaaS? Check out my post on the bookings report here: https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-saas-bookings-report/

In episode #260, I address the world of fractional help. I’ll focus on the SaaS CFO but also share other fractional roles that I see in SaaS companies. - What ARR level should I hire a fractional CFO? - When should I hire a full-time CFO? - Fractional CFO or Interim CFO or part-time CFO - Outsourced bookkeeping - Other fractional roles My go-to firms for outsourced bookkeeping are at the bottom of this blog post: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-properly-structure-your-saas-accounting-foundation/ My fractional SaaS CFO services: https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-consulting/ 

In episode #259 I address the data and metrics required to scale your SaaS business. It’s no accident when SaaS companies achieve big ARR numbers. - Growth - Retention - Margins - Financial Profile - Efficiency Free training January 10th on my metrics playbook: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148613448 SaaS Metrics Foundation course in February: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation-live-cohort-new  

In episode #258, I address fundraise sizes. Let’s break down common Series C and D round raises. - Series C round sizes - Series D round sizes - Sourced from TheSaaSNews.com Join my SaaS community for the latest data, trends, and templates: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Episode 257 – How Much Are SaaS Companies Raising in Series A and B Rounds? In episode #257, I address fundraise sizes. Let’s break down common Series A and B round raises. - Series A round sizes - Series B round sizes - Sourced from TheSaaSNews.com Join my SaaS community for the latest data, trends, and templates: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #256, I address fundraise sizes. Let’s break down common pre-seed and seed round raises. - Pre-seed round sizes - Seed round sizes - Sources from TheSaaSNews.com Join my SaaS community for the latest data, trends, and templates: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #255, I address sales and marketing investments, ROI, and how to call BS on bookings and GTM investments. - Calculate your OpEx profile. - Use these GTM efficiency metrics - How to call BS on  your forecast or budget Want to stay innovative in SaaS? Join my SaaS community: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #254, I address a question that comes up often enough from SaaS teams and investors. Let’s address where we code onboarding expenses. - Where do we code onboarding expenses? - When does CAC stop? Want to stay innovative in SaaS? Join my SaaS community: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #253, I address the top four metrics you should calculate and monitor if you have a customer onboarding function. This episode focuses on services margins. - Run PS like its own business unit - Set up your SaaS P&L correctly - Services margins benchmarks Check out this post for more detail: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-effectively-manage-your-professional-services-team-with-metrics/

In episode #252, I address the top four metrics you should calculate and monitor if you have a customer onboarding function. This episode focuses on billable utilization. - What is billable utilization? - What’s a good percentage? Check out my professional services post about PS metrics: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-effectively-manage-your-professional-services-team-with-metrics/  

In episode #251, I address the top four metrics you should calculate and monitor if you have a customer onboarding function. This episode focuses on services backlog in backlog in months. - What is services backlog? - How do I convert backlog into a monthly number? Join my SaaS community for events, training, templates, and networking: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #250, I address the top four metrics you should calculate and monitor if you have a customer onboarding function. This episode focuses on services backlog. - What is services backlog? - What’s a good number? - How do I manage backlog? Join my SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

In episode #249, I address the top four metrics you should calculate and monitor if you have a customer onboarding function. - Services backlog - Backlog in months - Billable utilization - Services margins Join my SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

In episode #248, I address a reader's question. Here’s the question…how can we distinguish churn from a customer freeze (pause services)? - Handling churn calculations - Handling retention calculations - Havoc with your MRR schedule Join my community for my training, templates, and content: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #247, I address a reader question from Andy. Here’s the question…if I create a new version of my product from a 1.0 to a 2.0 and migrate my existing customers to it, how should I measure my GRR? - What should we track? - Should we track GRR separately for V2? - What other metrics should we consider? Got a question? Ask me here: https://drift.me/thesaascfo Or join my SaaS community and ask me here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Episode 246 – My Top 4 Sales and Marketing Efficiency Metrics In episode #246, I address the must-have GTM efficiency metrics for your SaaS business. - My top 4 - Pillar 5 of my SaaS metrics framework Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework?

In episode #245, I address 12 top SaaS metrics you should implement in your business. This is from a post at the link below. I love these posts, so let’s see if these really are the best metrics for you. - 12 essential SaaS metrics - Ben’s assessment of these metrics Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework? Article Credit: https://editorialge.com/saas-metrics-every-ceo-should-monitor/

In episode #244, I address a student question from my SaaS Metrics Crash course. When we attend tradeshows, how do we measure the ROI? - MQL, SQL, Pipeline Creation - Treat your leads like cohorts Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework?  

In episode #243, I’m addressing a student question from my SaaS Metrics Foundation course. Should we offer discounts on annual subscriptions? - What’s your retention? Cohort retention? - Month 13 renewal rate? Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework?

Episode 242 – How Should I Report ARR Bookings in a Multiyear Contract? In episode #242, I’m addressing ARR bookings reporting. Bookings data is one of the biggest report mistakes that I see in SaaS finance data. You must track this correctly. - What is a booking? - What ARR do I report in my bookings report? - How do I handle multiyear contracts? - Should I use the RPO metric? Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework?

In episode #241, I’m sharing some MRR reporting fundamentals. Let’s not confuse our Board and investors. It’s easy to suffer from MRR blindness if we get too fancy with our reporting. - What is MRR blindness? - What is CARR? - What is MRR? - What is Exit ARR? Have you downloaded my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework?

In episode #240, I’m sharing one of my favorite metrics. The ROSE Metric. This metric is key to a sustainable SaaS business, especially if you are struggling to reach profitability. Can you beat $1.50? - What is the ROSE Metric? - Why is $1.50 so special? - Easily calculate your ROSE Metric Download the ROSE Metric template in my templates course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148292708  

In episode #239, I’m addressing a reader's question. Thanks, John! Here’s the scenario. The customer books an annual contract at $24K ARR / $2K MRR. In Month 6, they are unhappy with the service and want to leave. The sales rep convinces them to stay and signs them up for a $12K ARR / $1K MRR contract. In addition, the sales rep convinces them to extend service for another 12 months starting at month 6. Do we count this as churn? Do we count this as a downgrade? What is the downgrade amount? Find out how this impacts bookings and retention. Join my SaaS community for training, events, templates, and more!

In episode #238, I’m sharing big mistakes that I see in MRR schedules. And this always happens to pop up in due diligence. This WILL limit your valuation as a seller. And it makes it hard to value SaaS businesses as the buyer. - MRR schedule - MRR waterfall - I must be able to calculate your retention - What I need to calculate retention Join my SaaS community for training, events, templates, networking, and more!

In episode #237, I’m sharing tips and tricks from coaching calls on long-term forecasting. These are not easy. We have to take a step back and look at the macro-level picture. - Bookings - Revenue - COGS - OpEx - EBITDA - Headcount - Cost of ARR Check out my coaching options here!

In episode #236, I’m sharing the results of the billing / invoicing category from my 5th annual tech stack report. These are solutions being used in SaaS. It’s not a market map. - Invoicing or billing? - Top solutions - Ben’s considerations Download my 5th Annual SaaS Tech Stack Report!

In episode #235, I address a student's question. Yes, there are still software companies with the perpetual/maintenance model. As they transition to SaaS, we must be careful when calculating certain metrics. - The perpetual license / maintenance model - Transition from legacy to SaaS - How to track retention - Keep maintenance separate from subscriptions Have you downloaded my Academy app? Download here for iOS.

In episode #234, I’m sharing the results of the rev rec category from my 5th annual tech stack report. These are solutions being used in SaaS. It’s not a market map. - What is rev rec? - Why is it important? - The top solutions My LinkedIn Post on Rev Rec Solutions Download my 5th Annual Tech Stack Report

In episode #233, I’m sharing some of what I learned from SaaStr 2024. Today, let’s talk about the projections that you need for a series A and B fundraise. - Historical data - Forecast data - The metrics Join my SaaS metrics course. Grab my SaaS Excel templates.

In episode #232, I’m recording this from SaaStr in San Mateo. I watched a great presentation by Christoph Janz of Point Nine Capital. Here’s my recap. You need to know this if you are going to raise capital. - Why clean data and metrics matter - Financial projections - Financial metrics recap - Sales metrics Live SaaS Metrics Course On-demand SaaS Metrics Course

In episode #231, I’m addressing a very common pain point in our data when we have a partner or reseller channel. If not done right, it really screws up our data. - Reseller defined - CRM configuration - Invoicing - Metrics Join my SaaS community for training, events, and more!

In episode #230, I’m talking CAC, the ubiquitous SaaS metrics. Seems so simple but there is a big assumption lurking in your spreadsheets that you can’t overlook. - Gross CAC - Unit Cost CAC - CAC feeds these metrics - The big assumption My SaaS metrics course begins September 17th. Click here to learn more!

In episode #229, I’m testing your knowledge of GTM SaaS metrics. I help a lot of SaaS companies and see a lot of situations. What do you think of this GTM profile? - ACV = $4K - Cost of ARR = $2.00 - CAC Payback = 20 months - What metric would also be helpful? - Take metrics into your operations Level up your SaaS metrics knowledge here!

In episode #228, I address invoicing. What software should I use? Based on a recent LinkedIn post (below), this is a hotly debated topic. The landscape might be shifting. - Should I invoice out of my CRM? - Should I invoice out of my Accounting software? - Should I use a point solution? - Who owns billings and collections? LinkedIn Post: the next hot space in CFO tech...Billing LinkedInPost: where should I invoice?

In episode #227, I address billings and collections. An experienced SaaS colleague asked this question, and here are my strong thoughts on it. - Does your CRO own collections? - Does your CFO own collections? - This is how it should work If you need help with collections, check out my app at TryExtend.com.

In episode 226, I address churn and retention rates. What is good? What is bad? and how do we source these benchmarks? - What is a good customer retention or churn rate? - What metric do we use? - How to correctly benchmark your churn Grab your customer benchmarks at: Benchmarkit.ai Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #225, I address churn and retention rates. What is good? What is bad? And how we source these benchmarks. - What is a good customer churn rate? - How to correctly benchmark your churn Grab your customer benchmarks at: Benchmarkit.ai Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #224, I address a common problem in SaaS companies. Finance data. I see this over and over. You not only need this data to properly scale your business, but you also need for a fundraise or exit. - HRIS - Financial - Bookings - Customer / revenue To learn more: https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-4-key-saas-finance-data-sources/ Join my September cohort for more support: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation-live-cohort-new

In episode #223, I address a metric that I rarely see tracked. It’s called Renewal Rate. If you sell annual or multi-year customer contracts, this is a must-have metric. - What is renewal rate? - Renewal rate inputs - Why it’s leading edge? Join Ben's SaaS community: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #222, I address churn, retention, and LTV. Like any metric, LTV can be made very subjective if we use the wrong inputs. We must the correct churn rate and gross margin percentage. - LTV components - What churn do I use? - What is I have a SaaS+ model? Join my SaaS community here for events, templates, and training.