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.

In episode #221, I address expense coding for tradeshows. This is a great question from a SaaS Metrics School podcast listener. - What departments are in COGS? - COGS vs. OpEx - Fully-burdened cost centers

In episode #220, I address expense coding for tradeshows. This is a great question from a SaaS Metrics School podcast listener. - Scenario: we attend tradeshows for lead gen. Multiple staff attend the tradeshow. - Where do we code tradeshow expenses? - Where do we code staff expenses who attend the tradeshow? - Where do we code everyone else?

In episode #219, I address preparing for an exit. You must prepare ahead of time for an exit. I hosted guest expert Omeed Tabiei, an attorney for SaaS companies. His tactics were golden. They must be followed so you don’t have a failed exit. - Have strong vendor contracts - Identify potential legal risks - Learn how to navigate complex deals Grab the replay and slides here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's LinkedIn: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's website: https://www.optimistlegal.com/

In episode #218, I address preparing for an exit. You must prepare ahead of time for an exit. I hosted guest expert Omeed Tabiei, an attorney for SaaS companies. His tactics were golden. They must be followed so you don’t have a failed exit. - Manage your IP - Keep your corporate governance clean - Have strong customer contracts Grab the replay and slides here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's LinkedIn: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's website: https://www.optimistlegal.com/

In episode #217, I address preparing for an exit. You must prepare ahead of time for an exit. I hosted guest expert Omeed Tabiei, an attorney for SaaS companies. His tactics were golden. They must be followed so you don’t have a failed exit. - The right deal structure - Manage your equity - Manage your employees Grab the replay and slides here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's LinkedIn: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 Omeed's website: https://www.optimistlegal.com/

In episode #216, I address poor accounting data. This is SO common in early-stage SaaS, even later stage. But it can easily be avoided. - The pillars of your accounting foundation - Revenue categories - Department structure - COGS vs. OpEx - Non-operating - Client example Sample chart of accounts: https://www.thesaascfo.com/sample-chart-of-accounts-saas/

In episode #215, I address bookings data from our CRM. This is one of the four key finance data sources. And one that we get wrong. - What is a booking? - How do we use bookings data? - What are the key fields that I need to capture? - Tips Grab my bookings template here: https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-saas-bookings-report/

In episode #214, I address cash flow. Plain and simple. Don’t collect on your open invoices and you’ll soon be out of business. - What is AR? - What is AR aging? - My plan of attack to collect on invoices Check out TryExtend.com to automate your cash collections. Better yet, set up a quick demo call with here: https://book.thesaascfo.com/tryextend if you use QBO or Xero.

In episode #213, I address a student question from my SaaS metrics community. As a CFO, this question is near and dear to my finance heart. - What is considered late? - Does invoice size amount matter? - My maximum late grace period - Automating your cash collections Put your cash collections on autopilot at TryExtend.com

In episode #212, I address Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR). This can get really tricky when everyone is defining ARR differently. And CARR is often used in SaaS valuation discussions. - What is CARR? - SaaS valuations - Not created equally - Attach retention to CARR CARR blog post: https://www.thesaascfo.com/committed-monthly-recurring-revenue/

In episode #211, I address your accounting foundation. Like it or not, accounting data is so important and feeds the SaaS finance process. - SaaS accounting foundation - SaaSify your chart of accounts - Clean close process Close checklist: https://www.thesaascfo.com/downloads/monthly-close-calendar/

In episode #210, I address the parent-child relationship—and I’m not talking about the relationship with your teenager. If not done right, it can wreak havoc on your financial analysis and metrics. - What is the parent-child relationship? - Tracking retention at each level - Create a cross-walk

In episode #209, I address fundraising tips and tricks. This tip is one that is always mentioned when I interview SaaS founders about their fundraising experience. - What is founder / investor fit - Vet your investors - Be courteous

In episode #208, I address social media posts that attack LTV to CAC. Don’t believe the blanket statements that you read about SaaS metrics. - What is LTV to CAC? - When does Ben use LTV to CAC? CAC Class: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654

In episode #207, I address retention in a multi-year contract environment. Should we use only classic retention analysis? - The 3 retention metrics - When to apply the renewal rate? - What is renewal rate?

In episode #206, I address a non-financial metric that I love. That is NPS or CSAT. But you see a lot of folks who would rather pass on NPS. - Any feedback is good feedback - NPS - Try my NPS tool Join my SaaS community: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

In episode #205, I address the must-have retention metrics and how to zero in on retention problems. - The 3 retention metrics - Where’s my retention problem? - Cohort vs. aggregate retention Grab my retention templates: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148292708