Reference
SaaS metrics glossary
Board-ready definitions for every calculator on BoardFluent-written for founders, CFOs, and operating partners who need metrics they can defend in the room. Each term links to a transparent formula and worked example.
Board prep guides show how to put these numbers in a deck; methodology documents sources and versioning.
Acquisition & unit economics
Cost to acquire customers and whether growth spend pays back.
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CAC
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the average sales and marketing spend required to win one new customer in a period. Founders and GTM leaders use it to judge whether growth spend is producing customers efficiently.
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CAC Payback
CAC payback measures how many months of gross profit from a typical customer it takes to recover acquisition cost. It connects unit economics to cash timing, a metric boards ask for alongside LTV:CAC.
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LTV
Lifetime value (LTV) estimates the gross-profit dollars you expect from a customer over their life. This version uses ARPA, gross margin, and monthly churn, a standard SaaS heuristic rather than a cohort model.
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LTV:CAC
The LTV:CAC ratio compares customer lifetime gross profit to the cost of acquiring that customer. Investors use it as a quick read on whether acquisition economics support scalable growth.
Retention & recurring revenue
How revenue compounds, churns, and nets new ARR each period.
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NRR
Net revenue retention (NRR) measures how much recurring revenue you retain and expand from an existing customer cohort over a period, after churn and contraction. It answers whether the installed base is growing on its own.
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GRR
Gross revenue retention (GRR) shows what share of beginning recurring revenue you keep after churn and contraction, before counting expansion. It isolates underlying retention quality.
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Churn
Churn quantifies how many customers or how much recurring revenue you lose in a period. This calculator outputs logo churn, gross revenue churn, and net revenue churn so expansion does not hide customer loss.
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ARR/MRR
ARR and MRR normalize recurring revenue into monthly and annual run-rate views. ARPA and ACV help you translate recurring revenue into per-account and per-contract economics for planning and board slides.
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Net New ARR
Net new ARR is the ARR added in a period after new logos, expansion, churn, and contraction. It is the growth engine number that feeds burn multiple, magic number, and board ARR bridges.
Growth & efficiency
Rule-based scores and spend efficiency signals boards track.
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Gross Margin
Gross margin is the share of revenue left after cost of goods sold (COGS). Boards and investors use it to judge whether recurring revenue can fund S&M, R&D, and payback, and whether unit-economics metrics share one margin definition.
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Revenue Growth
Revenue growth compares current-period revenue to a prior period and expresses the change as a percent. Label the comparison year-over-year (YoY) or quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) so board scorecards like Rule of 40 use the same period definition.
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EBITDA Margin
EBITDA margin is EBITDA divided by revenue, expressed as a percent. Boards use it as the profitability leg of Rule of 40 and as a standalone operating-efficiency signal, but only when finance pins one EBITDA definition for the period.
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FCF Margin
Free cash flow margin divides free cash flow by revenue and expresses the result as a percent. It is the cash-efficiency leg of Rule of X and a direct read on whether growth converts to cash in the period you measure.
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Revenue per Employee
Revenue per employee divides total company revenue by total full-time equivalents (FTEs). It measures overall organizational productivity, every function, not just go-to-market, and is distinct from new ARR per GTM FTE, which divides net new ARR by GTM headcount only.
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Rule of 40
The Rule of 40 adds revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin into one score. It is a shorthand for whether a SaaS company is balancing growth and profitability at a level public markets reward.
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Magic Number
The SaaS magic number compares net new ARR created in a quarter to prior-quarter sales and marketing spend. It is a quick read on whether S&M dollars are converting into ARR efficiently.
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Burn Multiple
Burn multiple divides net burn by net new ARR. It answers how many dollars of cash burn are required to produce each dollar of net new ARR, a capital-efficiency lens popular with growth investors.
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Quick Ratio
The SaaS quick ratio compares new and expansion MRR to churned and contraction MRR. It summarizes whether growth from the base and new logos outweighs revenue leakage.
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Rule of X
Rule of X weights revenue growth and free cash flow margin for later-stage SaaS, following Bessemer-style framing. Growth is multiplied by a weight before adding FCF margin so high-growth businesses are scored fairly.
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GTM Efficiency
GTM efficiency combines net new ARR per sales and marketing dollar with NRR and gross margin into one composite score. It is a summary indicator, not a replacement for inspecting CAC, retention, and pipeline quality separately.
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New ARR per GTM FTE
New ARR per GTM FTE divides net new ARR in a period by the number of go-to-market full-time equivalents (sales, SDR, marketing, and RevOps roles tied to revenue creation). It is a headcount productivity lens for boards comparing ARR output to team scale.
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New ARR Mix
New ARR mix shows what share of net new ARR came from each sourcing channel, inbound, outbound, partner, expansion, and PLG/self-serve. The calculator also surfaces concentration: the largest single-source percentage, a quick read on GTM dependency risk.
Pipeline & sales motion
Coverage, velocity, and conversion through the funnel.
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Pipeline Coverage
Pipeline coverage divides qualified open pipeline by a revenue target for the period. Sales leaders use it to see whether the funnel can realistically support the quota without heroic close rates.
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Sales Velocity
Sales velocity estimates expected revenue throughput per day from opportunities, average deal size, win rate, and cycle length. It compresses funnel mechanics into one operating number for RevOps reviews.
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Win Rate
Win rate is the share of closed opportunities that were won. It reflects qualification quality, competitive win-loss, and sales execution; best read alongside deal size and cycle time.
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Ramped Quota Capacity
Ramped quota capacity estimates how much bookings your fully ramped account executives can produce in a period. Multiply ramped AE count by average quota per rep and an attainment assumption to get a planning number you can compare directly to the bookings plan.
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Ramped Quota Coverage
Ramped quota coverage divides ramped quota capacity by the period bookings plan. The ratio shows whether fully ramped reps alone can support the plan at your attainment assumption, or whether the plan depends on unramped reps, new hires, or above-plan performance.
Cash & runway
How long operating cash lasts at the current burn profile.