SaaS Metrics School

In episode #155, I address SaaS valuation drivers. Of course, a lot of opinions here but ICONIQ named their five value drivers based on the current market. - 5 drivers of valuation ICONIQ’s report:   https://www.iconiqcapital.com/growth/insights/2023-growth-and-efficiency-series Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter:   https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben...

In episode #154, I address the latest data points in revenue per FTE. ICONIQ Growth just published a great metrics report which times nicely with Jason Lemkin’s thoughts on revenue per FTE and scaling your SaaS. - ARR per FTE - Scaling your SaaS ICONIQ’s report: https://www.iconiqcapital.com/growth/insights/2023-growth-and-efficiency-series Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasm...

In episode #153, I tackle bookings data. I see problems over and over in how SaaS companies track or don’t track bookings data. - New ARR - Expansion ARR - Contraction ARR - Renewals - Feed S&M metrics Primer on software bookings: https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-saas-bookings-report/

In episode #152, I tackle a recurring theme in SaaS P&L and chart of accounts set ups. It’s your COGS, or cost of goods sold area. - Traditional COGS departments - The first step you should take Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page...

In episode #151, I tackle a message that came in through my blog. This reader was tasked to develop a SaaS revenue model that would monitor and forecast results on a daily basis. - Should I track revenue on a daily basis? - Monitoring revenue on an actual basis - Forecasting revenue on a daily basis Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscri...

In episode #150, I tackle another annual planning topic. The dance between your pipeline and your ARR commit number. Depending on your average sales cycle, your first quarter and secondar bookings target could already be set in soft stone. - Average sales cycle - New ARR - Expansion ARR Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s S...

In episode #149, I tackle an annual planning topic. The annual budget or operating plan is a bit of a dance. Like anything in finance, it’s a bit art and science. One thing that’s for certain. You can’t start the year by missing your plan. - ARR target - Profit or EBITDA target - Don’t miss this! Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe...

In episode #148, I have the privilege of coaching SaaS businesses from large to small. The fundamental concept of SaaS metrics remains the same. We may need to slice and dice more by ICP or product line, but the same mechanics apply. - Gross CAC - CAC unit metric - Segmentation Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS month...

In episode #147, I address the health of your recurring revenue. These metrics are a must-have for any recurring revenue business. - What is retention? - What is a renewal? - When does the renewal rate metric apply? Blog Post on Renewal Rates:  https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-your-renewal-rate/ Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subsc...

In episode #146, I address the timestamp on a customer cancellation. This is a very common question. Customer Success often tracks this differently than finance. But the date impacts our metrics. - What date should I use? - Impact on metrics Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1...

In episode #145, I address headcount allocations. It’s very common to allocate headcount expense in early-stage SaaS companies. But we have to support the allocation with proper logic and reasoning. - Should I allocate headcount? - Allocating engineering time - COGS vs. OpEx Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly...

In episode #144, I address pilot and POC revenue. It’s important to separate this from your “normal” customer revenue and bookings. - Bookings - Revenue - Metrics Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page SaaS Metrics courses here: https://...

In episode #144, I talk retention and ARR targets. My template and lesson below are very helpful for your Customer Success and Account Management teams to set targets. - Retention targets - Expansion ARR targets - Many variables affect this analysis Video lesson and template (under the retention module):  https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/gmbMDsYN/checkout Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics...

In episode #142, I talk gross profit in SaaS. Gross profit or gross margin is a fundamental financial topic that every SaaS founder, CFO, and operator must understand. - What is gross margin? - Important to calculate by revenue stream - When should I be worried? Blog post:  https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-saas-gross-margin/ Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasm...

In episode #141, I take a look at the latest SaaS public company trends. Today, let’s look at implied ARR per FTE trends. - ARR per FTE trends - Why is this important? Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page SaaS Metrics courses here: htt...

In episode #140, I take a look at the latest SaaS public company trends. Today, let’s look at net revenue retention. - Public NRR trends - Private company NRR benchmarks Benchmark your company at Benchmarkit.ai How to calculate net revenue retention:  https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-net-dollar-retention/ Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv...

In episode #139, I address org efficiency and scaling. Eventually, you need good employee and contractor efficiency to reach profitability and improve your odds of scaling big. This is there the ROSE Metric comes into play. - Org efficiency - ROSE Metric ROSE metric template and post:  https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-rose-metric/ Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetrics...

In episode #138, I address the challenge of scaling past $10M in ARR. This is an interesting stat from SaaStock. There are so many business components that get you to $10M ARR. One key component will be your financial infrastructure so that you can make better decisions with your available capital. - 0.4% stat - Your financial roadmap to scaling - Discount code to SaaStock USA in Austin (SAAS-CFO-...

In episode #137, I address a common financial trait from my experience helping SaaS companies from the $3M ARR to $15M ARR range. It’s org efficiency. - What is org efficiency? - Why is org efficiency important? - Revenue per FTE - ROSE Metric Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/d...

In episode #136, I address the jargon of SaaS. ACV and ARPA are important concepts to understand and track in your business. What if legacy users on different contracts? - What is ACV? - What is ARPA - Segmenting our customer base Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/t...

In episode #135, I address a student question about software discounts. We love to discount software. Even back in my on-premise, perpetual days, we were always discounting software. Discounts are okay but we need an approval policy in place. - Discount approval process - Tracking discounts - Impact on gross margin

In episode #134, I address SaaS valuations. You need to be roughly aware of where you fall in the valuation spectrum. This helps when you are speaking to potential buyers and sellers. Be sure to check out my in-depth software M&A update episode at the link below. - Where do you fall? Software M&A update episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/4q23-software-m-a-update/id1579374247?i=...

In episode #133, I address employee expense coding. Since our SaaS P&L is comprised of mostly employee expenses, we must code these correctly. - Wages, taxes, benefits - Where do I code pizza parties? Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landin...

In episode #132, I address contractor coding. It’s very common to use a lot of contractors in early stage companies. But we must code these expenses correctly. - Contractor - Coding by department Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page Sa...

In episode #131, I address the CFO’s utopia of quote to cash. What really happens when we land a customer? - Bookings - Invoicing - Rev rec - Cash collection Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.t...