In episode #116, I provide an overview of professional services backlog in SaaS. Your professional services team play an important role in early customer satisfaction and retention. When we sign up a customer for a subscription and professional services, this creates a services backlog number. - What is backlog? - How do we measure backlog? - Backlog vs billable headcount Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly ...
Nov 06, 2023•4 min
In episode #115, I provide an overview of professional services in SaaS. Your professional services team plays an important role in early customer satisfaction and retention. - What is PS? - COGS vs OpEx - Backlog and utilization Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben...
Nov 05, 2023•3 min
In episode #114, I address the power of SaaS metrics in context. Two metrics that should be viewed together? CAC Payback Period and revenue retention. - do you have balance? - CAC Payback Period - Gross Revenue Retention Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben’s SaaS c...
Nov 04, 2023•4 min
In episode #113, I address cash burn from the front lines. If you are still pivoting on product market fit, it can be very dangerous to scale your go-to-market (GTM) team and investment. - product market fit and ICP - scaling your GTM team - S&M efficiency with minimal spend Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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 cour...
Nov 03, 2023•4 min
In episode #112, I address Dev Ops expenses in our COGS area of the SaaS P&L. Let’s discuss the details of Dev Ops expenses. - hosting - 3rd party software - ongoing security and testing - dev ops staff - amortization of capitalized software development Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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....
Nov 02, 2023•3 min
In episode #111, I address human powered versus product powered revenue. It’s so important to categorize your revenue and COGS correctly on your P&L. You don’t want to confuse potential investors and stakeholders. - Human powered revenue - Product powered revenue - Define your revenue categories - Define your COGS Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cf...
Nov 01, 2023•4 min
In episode #110, I address the core system in our financial process, our accounting software. I am in the midst of my 5th annual tech stack survey. I’ll share the top five accounting systems for SaaS. - Accounting software is our financial tracking engine - We don’t always stay with the same software - Top 5 software according to my survey Enter your tech stack at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwVmsrkm81TGANxd17ev3WuuDVX-5zRHXVwrtBCHiRmoyaww/viewform?usp=sf_link Subscribe ...
Oct 31, 2023•4 min
In episode #109, I address sales compensation planning and how you can design your plans for maximum effectiveness. QuotaPath joined me on a webinar to my SaaS community. There were some eye-openers on how to design your compensation plans. - What is your north star metric that you are trying to solve for? - 3 common comp plans to drive to your metric - example levers Watch the replay in my No Fluff course series: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/zz3ZR2WL/checkout Head to the Demo section....
Oct 30, 2023•4 min
In episode #109, I address bookings, downgrades, and reporting. We may or may not want to include downgrades in our net ARR number. This is an important decision. - What is a downgrade? - Should I include this in my bookings report? - Should downgrades impact my sales and marketing efficiency metrics? Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing...
Oct 29, 2023•3 min
In episode #107, I address debt financing as a source of growth capital. Debt financing for SaaS companies is a hot space right now. We must assess first if we can absorb the payment schedule. - Step 1 – do you have your finances in order? - Step 2 – what are the basic terms of the debt? - Step 3 – can our cash flows support the payment schedule? - Step 4 - Cost of ARR Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly new...
Oct 28, 2023•4 min
In episode #106, I address early stage financial infrastructure. I was just talking to a SaaS founder who spent some consulting money to properly configure QBO. What’s next? - The progression in data - 4 key sources of data Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben’s Saa...
Oct 27, 2023•4 min
In episode #105, I address growing pains. If you are experiencing high growth, don’t let your financial infrastructure lapse. High growth can cause financial confusion if we don’t have our numbers set up properly. - Focus on SaaS COGS - Who really does what in your SaaS company Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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 cours...
Oct 26, 2023•3 min
In episode #104, I address a common issue that wreaks havoc on your MRR schedule. And it will create pain for you in due diligence and retention reporting. - What is an anniversary date? - Gaps in your customer MRR schedule - Impact on retention and due diligence - MRR schedule resources ( https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/zz3ZR2WL/checkout ) Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailch...
Oct 25, 2023•4 min
In episode #103, I address consultant and contractor coding. It’s important to get this right in your chart of accounts. SaaS companies often supplement staffing with full or part-time contractors. For efficiency purposes, we need to treat this expense just like employees. Always consult with your HR professional on your labor classifications. That's a whole separate subject. - What are consultants - What are contractors - How to code on your SaaS P&L - ROSE Metric ( https://www.thesaascfo.c...
Oct 24, 2023•4 min
In episode #102, I address a common dumping ground for expenses, your G&A cost center. There are many activities and roles within G&A. We must manage it like any area in our business. - What is G&A? - What sub-departments are located in G&A? - What’s a good spend target for G&A? - Should I allocate shared services? Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6b...
Oct 23, 2023•4 min
In episode #101, I address a common student question in my SaaS metrics course. We may have large spikes in S&M expenses due to events, conferences, or maybe, a major consulting project. - Should we ever exclude expenses? - How should I calculate S&M metrics with spikes in expense Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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 Me...
Oct 22, 2023•2 min
In episode #100, I thought it would be appropriate to address SaaS metrics at a high level. Where do I start with metrics? - Right metrics for the right stage of your business - Use my 5 Pillar SaaS Metris Framework ( https://www.thesaascfo.com/downloads/five-pillar-metrics-framework/ ) - 4 key data sources for SaaS metrics Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-s...
Oct 21, 2023•3 min
In episode #99, I address a very common question in SaaS finance. What should be included in COGS? It’s so important to get this right. If you don’t, you will mismanage your business. - Pure-play SaaS COGS departments - COGS dictated by your revenue streams - My test to determine COGS functions Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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 S...
Oct 20, 2023•4 min
In episode #98, I address the major functions that we see in Sales. Should these be coded to Sales or somewhere else? - Fully-burdened expenses - Common expenses in sales and marketing Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasac...
Oct 19, 2023•2 min
In episode #97, I address churn and LTV. We think SaaS metrics are completely objective, but it is very easy to influence the result of a metrics calculation. Period of measurement is major factor in SaaS metrics calculations. - What churn number should we use? - What time period represents our churn? - LTV is a point-in-time metric! Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf...
Oct 18, 2023•3 min
In episode #96, I address our core CAC calculation when we have different product lines and different go-to-market (GTM) strategies. We can’t blend these together when calculating customer acquisition costs. - What is CAC? - What is GTM - How do I calculate CAC? Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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:/...
Oct 17, 2023•3 min
In episode #95, I address the major data source we need to calculate the complete SaaS metrics picture. It’s important to have clean and repeatable data that we can pull every month. - CRM / MRR schedule - Financial data - HRIS data - Operational/Revenue data Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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://ww...
Oct 16, 2023•3 min
In episode #94, I address a variation of the traditional CAC Payback Period. This is a great supplement to your traditional SaaS metrics. - What is CAC Payback Period? - What is Dollar-based CAC Payback - When should I use these? Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben...
Oct 15, 2023•3 min
In episode #93, I address a student question from my live SaaS metrics foundation course. This is a great question and one that must be answered by all SaaS companies as they scale. - First, let’s understand your financial profile - Let’s review my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework ( https://www.thesaascfo.com/downloads/five-pillar-metrics-framework/ ) - Right metrics at the right stage Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s ...
Oct 14, 2023•3 min
In episode #92, I address a student question from my SaaS metrics foundation course. It actually caught me off guard, because I talk a lot about fully-burdened cost centers. We can’t forget the foundational components. - Full-burdened expenses - Split Sales from Marketing Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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 her...
Oct 13, 2023•3 min
In episode #91, I address investments in the OpEx section of our SaaS P&L. We must monitor our spend in sales and marketing. We expect efficiency over time in our OpEx area. - What is OpEx? - What are the S&M benchmarks? - Careful with this benchmark - Benchmarkit.ai is your source for benchmarks Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-land...
Oct 12, 2023•3 min
In episode #90, I address investments in the OpEx section of our SaaS P&L. We must monitor our spend in G&A. We expect efficiency over time in our OpEx area. - What is OpEx? - What are the G&A benchmarks? - Benchmarkit.ai is your source for benchmarks Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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:...
Oct 11, 2023•3 min
In episode #89, I address investments in the OpEx section of our SaaS P&L. We must monitor our spend in R&D. We expect efficiency over time in our OpEx area. - What is OpEx? - What are the R&D benchmarks? - Benchmarkit.ai is your source for benchmarks Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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:...
Oct 10, 2023•3 min
In episode #88, I address revenue mix and one-time revenue when considering SaaS valuations. It your product requires professional services for customer onboarding, we must be aware of our current revenue mix and how that mix will play out in the future. - Revenue mix - Professional services - PS revenue mix over time - SaaS valuations Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6...
Oct 09, 2023•3 min
In episode #87, I address advisors and first-time SaaS founders. It’s important to have the right team from the beginning to avoid mistakes down the road. - Accounting - Tax Accounting - Corporate Attorney - Fractional CFO Subscribe to Ben’s daily 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.thesaasacademy.com/ Join Ben’s SaaS...
Oct 08, 2023•4 min
