The SaaS CFO’s Post

It's time SaaS leaders. ⏱ Complete the annual SaaS Metrics Benchmark survey today! 📅 ➡ https://lnkd.in/eQXyDrfd Email lthibodeau@saascan.ca with a screen shot after, and we'll send you a VIP invite to the SaaS Metrics Benchmark Reveal Event! #SaaSMetrics #SaaSBenchmarks

Transform Your SaaS Situation w/ Better Data 📊 Better data is so clichéd, but it’s foundational for your decision-making process. Your SaaS company needs 4 key SaaS finance data sources for financial decision-making. Before we even talk about what metrics to track (metrics come last in my process), it’s about setting up our data foundation. Many SaaS teams struggle to interpret what the data is telling them. We see only random numbers on a spreadsheet rather than patterns that can guide strategic decisions. But the right data approach can transform this challenge into a powerful asset. I just released training video 2 which dives into this transformative process. You’ll learn my 4 key SaaS finance data sources, which I learned after helping 100+ SaaS companies with their metrics. Plus you'll receive access to video 1 - what metrics you should be tracking. Grab the training at the link in the comments. If you don't see the link, just tag me. #SaaS

Do you benchmark the financial performance of your SaaS business? The big challenge is calculating the metrics. The next challenge is making sure those calculations are accurate. It then makes benchmarking your business easy. 🏛️ Five Pillar SaaS Metric Framework We need a roadmap to calculate the right metrics for the right stage of our SaaS business. I use my 5 pillar framework (below) which involves calculating specific metrics within five distinct areas or pillars. This approach enables a structured approach to the metrics that matter. No more fire drills. We have to make the process repeatable and accurate. ⚠️ Dangers of Aggregate Benchmarks Next, we have to benchmark. But beware!!! Aggegreate benchmarks (all SaaS companies, for example) are dangerous to your SaaS health. Aggregate data does not account for the vast differences in business models and revenue strategies among SaaS companies, potentially leading to misleading comparisons. 📊 Importance of Segmented Benchmarking To obtain meaningful insights for our SaaS business, we can't use aggregate benchmarks. Benchmark data only gets so detailed, but I like to benchmark based on ACV ranges and ARR ranges. My "go to" is ACV. I use Benchmarkit data for this. 🔍 Benchmarking Within Quartiles I like to use several data points when assessing the performance of SaaS businesses. I use the bottom, median, and top quartile benchmarks and compare those to the SaaS company's calculated metric. We can then get to the source of that performance. It may be okay to operate below optimal b/c we made the choice to do so. We are in much more trouble when we are performing sub-optimal, did not make the choice, and did not realize we were performing at that level. You can grab my 5 Pillar Framework to guide you at the link below. #SaaS

If you run a SaaS business and have spoken to potential investors, the likelihood is you’ve heard the term ‘customer datacube’ on more than one occasion. In our latest article, we look at a few of the most important cohort lenses that investors apply when determining the quality and investability of a SaaS business.  #Clearwater #Tech #Software #SaaS

Data-driven success starts here. Use our Cohort Model to transform historical SaaS metrics into actionable plans. 🔑 Unlock your SaaS potential — Explore Our Model Now: https://bit.ly/40LqhWU #SmartSaaS #DataDriven #GrowthStrategy #FinancialModeling #SaaSSuccess

Too many SaaS businesses track the wrong metrics, leading to poor decisions. What makes a good metric? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but here are some guidelines: 1. Strategic Start with the outcomes you want to achieve, and then work backwards. A good metric represents the performance of your business. It helps you gauge whether you’re on track to achieve your goals. 2. Actionable Metrics should clearly illustrate cause and effect to your team. If a metric worsens, you should know what actions to take to improve it. There is little use in tracking a metric if your team cannot change the outcome. 3. Simple A metric is valuable only if everyone understands it. Your team must know what’s being measured and how, so they can affect the outcome positively. It helps to define metrics explicitly and clearly. 4. Distinct Avoid using overlapping metrics – each should provide new information. For example, don’t track “Active Users” and “Sessions” together as core metrics. Replace the latter with “Sessions per User” to make it more informative. 5. Comparable You should be able to benchmark metrics against competitors and your historical data. Make them industry-standard and prioritise relative over absolute metrics where possible. For example, “Sessions per User” is more easily benchmarked than “Total Sessions” for a growing business. 6. Measurable Ensure the metric can be measured accurately and repeatedly in a consistent way. For example, don’t track your customer acquisition source if you can only capture it correctly 50% of the time. 7. Trustworthy Make sure your data is robust and can be trusted. Beware of internal bias often present when a metric is both a measure and a target. Tip: ask yourself how you’d game it. 8. Segmentable Choose metrics that can be broken down into component pieces. For example, tracking Total Users is more useful if you can segment by engagement or geography. 9. Referenceable Every metric should have metadata - last update, calculation method, and source. If users don't trust the data, they won't use it.

Don't automatically assume that retention analysis via cohorts is the only way to calculate retention⁉️ But! If you have enough volume of data, cohort analysis provides more insight than aggregate revenue retention. I always calculate aggregate revenue retention. Then I segment as needed. The next step is to determine if cohort analysis is the right fit for your metrics set. If you are acquiring a decent volume of customers per month, cohorts might be a fit. Check out the picture below. I love this chart. ❤️ Are we yielding more from our existing customers over time? Up and to the right is a beautiful thing for a SaaS CFO. Not your typical cohort chart. ARPA is a very underestimated SaaS metric. Beware ⚠️ There are a lot of folks who say cohort retention analysis is the ONLY way to do it. Yes, if you have enough volume of data. But if you only acquire 1 or 2 enterprise customers per month, or maybe 0 in a month, you have to be careful with cohorts. Monthly cohorts will not work. You may have to look on a quarterly or even yearly basis if you have enough history. I'll be releasing my cohort analysis template soon. Join at the link below and I'll let you know when I release it. Grab my SaaS metrics templates here: https://lnkd.in/gY8cJyPw #SaaS

If you run a SaaS business and have spoken to potential investors, the likelihood is you’ve heard the term ‘customer datacube’ on more than one occasion. In our latest article, we look at a few of the most important cohort lenses that investors apply when determining the quality and investability of a SaaS business.  #Clearwater #Tech #Software #SaaS

In SaaS, it's important to move quickly, be agile, communicate with the customer and internally, stay secure, and most of all: provide value to the customer. Building software that continues to provide value is key to the longevity of any development company. One of the reasons for the SaaS model is a lot of work goes into the right mix of speed, security, and value provided. The improvements never stop. #saas #software #development https://lnkd.in/gP4ixgmn

From big to small, SaaS companies offer a lot of customization. But, even with all this up front customizing, customers often forget that your software, like your business is constantly evolving. New features, new ways of doing things, redesigns, updates, improvements. It's just part of software development and the ongoing process. Don't get too caught up in every feature right now, you never know what you might need in a year or two. #software #saas #ai