Does your retention data feel off—or even meaningless—because of catch-up invoices, credit notes, or daily revenue recognition? In episode #301, Ben Murray explains how proper revenue recognition practices can sometimes interfere with clear retention reporting and what SaaS operators can do about it.

Learn how to build a pro forma MRR schedule that strips out accounting noise and gives you clean, consistent retention metrics you can actually rely on.

What You’ll Learn

Tools & Resources

BackOfficeTools App: Upload your invoice data and generate retention metrics. Check out the tutorial here to learn more and sign up: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/zz3ZR2WL

Key Quote from Ben

“We still follow proper revenue recognition, but when it comes to retention, sometimes we need a second view. A pro forma MRR schedule helps us cut through the noise.”

RPO—Remaining Performance Obligations—might not be a term you hear often in private SaaS, but public companies are required to disclose it, and it’s becoming a critical forward-looking metric. In episode #300, Ben Murray breaks down the RPO concept, how it's calculated, and why it matters in understanding your future revenue.

Whether you’re preparing for due diligence or just want a stronger grip on your revenue story, understanding RPO can give you an edge.

What “Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)” means in SaaS

How RPO connects to deferred revenue and unbilled contract amounts

Why RPO is considered a forward-looking visibility metric

Real-world RPO definition from Snowflake

When RPO might apply to private SaaS companies — especially with multi-year deals

A rising RPO often signals strong future revenue durability

Adds context to your SaaS metrics

Valuable in due diligence, PE conversations, and strategic exits

Blog Post: Deep dive on RPO with real-world examples and use cases: https://www.thesaascfo.com/understanding-remaining-performance-obligations-in-saas/

How do usage-based SaaS companies convert transactional or variable revenue into Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)? Episode #299 gives you a practical framework for presenting usage-based ARR to your Board, investors, and internal teams with clarity and confidence.

After manually reviewing hundreds of public filings and investor materials, Ben Murray breaks down the real-world methods used by companies like Confluent and Datadog to turn usage into ARR.

The most common method for usage-based ARR

The second most common method

How these methods compare to traditional MRR x 12 for subscription models

Why ARR is often used as a North Star Metric and how transparency is improving across SaaS companies.

Webinar Replay & Slide Deck (~59 slides):
Get definitions, examples, and real ARR formulas from leading SaaS companies: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/zz3ZR2WL

“Over 100 hours of manual research. I tried using AI—OpenAI couldn’t handle it. I had to read the filings myself. These ARR methods are backed by real-world data from public SaaS companies.”

In episode #298 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray dives deep into one of his favorite metrics: ROSE – Return on SaaS Employees. If you’re aiming to build a durable SaaS business or position your company for a private equity exit, this episode is a must-listen.

Ben explains why ROSE is far more insightful than traditional Revenue per FTE and how it helps evaluate organizational efficiency by factoring in the actual investment made in your people—including fully burdened employee and contractor costs.

What the ROSE metric is and how to calculate it

Why ROSE is better than Revenue per FTE for SaaS businesses

What a “good” ROSE looks like

Real-world example of a SaaS company that exited to private equity

How ROSE contributes to achieving the Rule of 40

Why you need to track and forecast ROSE monthly

Call to Action!

Grab my ROSE Metric template and the high-performance example here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148690725

In episode #297, Ben Murray tackles a common SaaS metrics question: How should reactivations be treated when calculating gross and net revenue retention (GRR & NRR)?

Key takeaways:

Reactivated customers (e.g., those who churned quickly but later update payment info) should not be included in new revenue — doing so skews CAC and CAC payback metrics.

Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) only accounts for contraction and churn — reactivations don’t belong here.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is where reactivations should be recorded — they’re essentially recovered revenue from existing customers.

SaaS companies with high first-month churn (e.g., due to onboarding issues) may consider calculating an adjusted retention metric.

Ben also highlights his new AI chatbot on TheSaaSCFO.com — trained on his blog content for instant SaaS finance answers.

Level up your SaaS knowledge here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Have you ever seen a public company restate its ARR? In episode #296, Ben Murray dives into a real-world example from the London Stock Exchange—Celebrus Technologies—and unpacks why and how they updated their Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) definition.

Key Highlights:

Financial restatements ≠ just GAAP: ARR, a non-GAAP metric, is increasingly being scrutinized as pricing and revenue models evolve.

Case Study: Celebrus Technologies

Old ARR definition: Included license revenue, cloud, support & maintenance, third-party software licenses, and project revenue (i.e. services).

New ARR definition: Focuses solely on Celebrus software licenses and managed services—excluding third-party licenses and project revenue.

Why the change?

To better align with how peers in their sector define ARR.

To give investors a “cleaner” view of core recurring software revenue.

Impact of the change: ARR restated downward and now reported at 18.8M (FY25).

Ben’s take: This is a positive trend. While managed services are still debatable as “recurring,” overall transparency in ARR definitions is improving across public SaaS companies.

Bonus Insight:
ARR restatements, especially when they lower reported revenue, are rare—but this signals a maturing investor focus on true recurring revenue quality.

Upcoming Webinar:
Join Ben Murray and Ray Rike on July 17 as they explore how public SaaS companies are defining and calculating ARR.

>> https://thesaascfo.webinarninja.com/live-webinars/10693368/register

🙏 If you found this episode valuable, please rate & review the show!

In episode #295 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray breaks down how to benchmark your CAC Payback Period accurately—and why generic social media posts can lead you astray.

Too many founders rely on simplified benchmark numbers, such as “12 months or less is good,” without understanding the nuances behind the data. Ben explains why ACV segmentation is critical, how top-quartile companies perform across different contract sizes, and where you can obtain customized benchmarks for your SaaS business.

Key topics include:

Why aggregate CAC Payback benchmarks are dangerous to follow blindly

How CAC Payback performance varies by Annual Contract Value (ACV)

Top quartile benchmarks from (Ray Rike’s database)

CAC Payback ranges

Why product segmentation matters—don’t combine CAC across SMB and enterprise lines

How to get free, custom benchmarks to evaluate your own performance

Remember: You can’t optimize what you don’t benchmark correctly.

Get free custom SaaS benchmarks: Benchmarkit.ai

Download my CAC Payback Period template: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-cac-payback-period-with-variable-revenue/

In episode #294 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray dives into one of the most important metrics for SaaS operators and investors: CAC Payback Period—with a focus on adapting it for usage-based pricing models.

Whether you’re B2B, B2C, or AI-focused, CAC Payback is a must-have metric when you're investing heavily in go-to-market strategies. But how do you accurately calculate it when your business has subscription + usage revenue?

Ben walks through:

The standard CAC Payback formula and why it matters

How to define "customer" accurately to calculate CAC

How to adjust the denominator of the formula to include usage-based revenue

How to estimate usage revenue when there’s no clear minimum

Public company trends in reporting ARR in usage-based models

Practical judgment calls that SaaS CFOs must make when incorporating usage data

If you're only including subscription ARR in your CAC Payback, but you're generating significant usage revenue—you’re underestimating your efficiency.

Learn more: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-cac-payback-period-with-variable-revenue/

Coming Up Next:

CAC Payback Period Benchmarks—why you can't just trust the averages you see online.

Enjoying the show? Leave a 5-star review and stay tuned for more SaaS finance insights.

In episode #293, Ben dives into Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR)—a once obscure metric that's now becoming a standard in financial dashboards and valuation discussions. Ben explains how CARR differs from ARR, breaks down the formula, and shares how it’s being used in real-world enterprise SaaS settings. He also shares why defining ARR is more complicated than it seems—especially with variable and usage-based revenue models.

What is CARR (Contracted ARR) and how it differs from traditional ARR

Why CARR is becoming more widely used in valuation discussions and financial reporting

The CARR formula

How Ben approaches CARR discussions with CFOs, consultants, and within The SaaS Academy

The evolving complexity of ARR definitions, especially in hybrid subscription/usage models

Blog: How to Define ARR in Subscription & Usage Models

SaaS Academy – Courses & Community

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a 5-star review, send Ben a screenshot, and get a shoutout in his newsletter!

Gross profit is a core metric in SaaS—and 80% is the benchmark often thrown around. But is that still realistic in today’s landscape? In episode #292 of SaaS Metric School, Ben Murray walks through real benchmarking data from Ray Rike’s benchmarks at Benchmarkit.ai and explains how gross profit should evolve as your business scales. He also dives into how to set up your SaaS P&L correctly and what to include in COGS vs. OpEx.

What You’ll Learn:

What gross profit benchmarks actually look like today

What is our north star GP%?

How gross profit changes as you scale

Common COGS setup mistakes in SaaS businesses

What to do if your gross profit is trending in the wrong direction

Benchmarks Mentioned:

Bottom quartile

Median

Top performers

Key Insight:
Don’t blindly shoot for 80% at every stage. Under $2M ARR? It’s okay to be lower. But once you’re in the $10–20M+ range, that 80% benchmark becomes more important—and achievable.

Resources:
👉 Learn how to properly set up your SaaS P&L and COGS categories at: https://TheSaaSAcademy.com

ARR Webinar: https://thesaascfo.webinarninja.com/live-webinars/10693368/register

How to Calculate ARR: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-define-and-calculate-arr/