SaaS Metrics School

Ben Murray
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Ben Murray brings you actionable SaaS metrics lessons that he has learned through years of being in the SaaS CFO trenches. Whether you are new to SaaS or a SaaS veteran, learn the latest SaaS and AI metrics, finance, and accounting tactics that drive financial transparency and improved decision-making. Ben’s SaaS metrics blog consistently rates a 70+ NPS, and his templates have been downloaded over 100,000 times. There is always something to learn about SaaS and AI metrics.

  1. 5D AGO

    The ROSE Metric is Your Key to Durable Growth in 2026

    In episode #341 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray explains why revenue per FTE is a misleading metric for modern SaaS and AI companies and introduces the ROSE metric (Return on SaaS Employees) as a more accurate way to measure durable scaling. Ben walks through how ROSE removes labor-cost bias, incorporates contractors and Agentic AI spend, and directly connects people investment to recurring revenue generation. He also shares practical benchmark ranges and explains how founders and finance teams should use ROSE when budgeting and forecasting for 2026. Resources Mentioned ROSE Metric Template: https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-rose-metric/ ROSE Metric Bootcamp: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/rJhZ6VdM What You’ll Learn Why revenue per FTE breaks down in global and AI-driven teams How the ROSE metric improves capital allocation decisions What costs should be included in ROSE ROSE benchmark ranges and how they map to profitability and cash burn How to interpret ROSE differently based on growth stage and company goals How to forecast ROSE using trailing and forward-looking time periods Why It Matters People and AI spend are the largest investments on a SaaS or AI P&L ROSE removes wage and geography bias from efficiency analysis The metric directly ties recurring revenue to capital deployed ROSE highlights whether headcount and AI investment are creating leverage Improving ROSE over time is critical for durable, profitable scaling Boards and investors care about efficiency trends, not just growth rates

    6 min

  2. 12/28/2025

    CFO Confidence at a 4 Year High

    In episode #340 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben breaks down what rising CFO confidence—now at a four-year high—means for SaaS and AI operators planning for the year ahead. Using insights from Deloitte’s latest CFO survey, Ben explains why optimism alone isn’t enough and why companies must pair confidence with strong financial systems, accurate forecasting, and reliable metrics. The conversation centers on how leaders should prepare for potential market upturns while still balancing growth, efficiency, and risk, especially in a fast-moving AI-driven environment. What You’ll Learn Key takeaways from Deloitte’s CFO confidence survey How CFO sentiment impacts budgeting, forecasting, and financial strategy Why cost management and productivity remain top priorities despite rising confidence The four critical SaaS finance data sources needed for reliable forecasting Why weak financial foundations limit decision-making and execution speed How proper revenue, bookings, and MRR data support long-term planning Why It Matters Higher confidence increases pressure to make faster, higher-stakes decisions Accurate financial modeling depends on clean accounting and revenue data Reliable MRR and bookings data enable realistic growth and ARR forecasts Strong financial systems help leaders respond quickly to market shifts Investors and boards expect disciplined planning, not optimism-driven projections SaaS and AI companies without solid data foundations struggle to scale efficiently Resources Mentioned Deloitte CFO Confidence Survey (via Ben’s newsletter): https://mailchi.mp/cd86087f90ac/cfo-confidence-at-highest-level-in-4-years SaaS Metrics Course at The SaaS Academy: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    5 min

  3. 12/21/2025

    Change of Control Provisions in Customer Contracts Can Kill Your Exit

    In episode #339 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben explains how change of control provisions in customer contracts can quietly derail due diligence, fundraising, or a future company exit. Drawing from real-world CFO experience and a recent webinar with a SaaS-focused tech attorney, Ben breaks down why seemingly standard legal language can introduce major risk into a SaaS company’s recurring revenue profile. Ben highlights how buyers and investors scrutinize customer contracts during due diligence—and why poorly structured MSAs can threaten valuation, increase churn risk, or even kill a deal outright. What You’ll Learn What a change of control provision is and why it matters How customer contracts are reviewed during SaaS due diligence Why change of control clauses can open the door to customer churn after an acquisition How procurement teams and customer legal teams typically push for these provisions When to push back, escalate, or seek alternative contract language Why contract structure is part of strong SaaS financial and operational readiness Why It Matters Customer contracts directly impact company valuation during an exit or fundraise Change of control provisions can trigger immediate churn risk post-acquisition Buyers want confidence in the durability of recurring revenue Poor legal hygiene can delay, discount, or kill a transaction Proactive contract review reduces future due diligence friction Strong back-office processes support long-term financial strategy and investor trust Resources Mentioned Webinar replay with Omid (tech attorney) on legal readiness for SaaS exits: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148384654 SaaS Metrics course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    3 min

  4. 12/19/2025

    How to Call BS on Your 2026 Sales and Marketing Budget

    In episode #338 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben explains how to quickly sanity-check your sales and marketing forecast for the upcoming year using one high-signal SaaS metric: the Cost of ARR. As founders and CFOs finalize budgets, Ben shows how mismatches between projected bookings and planned go-to-market spend can reveal unrealistic assumptions before they turn into missed targets. Using simple examples, Ben walks through how the Cost of ARR connects sales and marketing spend, net new ARR bookings, and historical performance—making it one of the most effective tools for validating SaaS and AI company forecasts during budget season. What You’ll Learn How to use the Cost of ARR to validate your sales and marketing budget The relationship between sales and marketing spend and net new ARR bookings How to identify unrealistic growth assumptions in your forecast The difference between blended the Cost of ARR, Cost of New ARR, and Cost of Expansion ARR Why historical performance should anchor forward-looking forecasts How benchmarking by ACV and sales motion improves forecast accuracy Why It Matters Sales and marketing forecasts often fail because spend and bookings assumptions are disconnected Cost of ARR provides a mechanical reality check before committing to a budget Overly aggressive ARR targets can be identified early and corrected Underspending on go-to-market becomes visible when bookings expectations are too conservative Benchmarking against peers helps validate whether forecast assumptions are realistic Strong financial modeling and forecasting discipline improves board and investor confidence Resources Mentioned Cost of ARR metric framework: https://www.thesaascfo.com/saas-cac-ratio/ Benchmarking data from Ray Rike at Benchmarkit.ai Concepts from SaaS FP&A forecasting and go-to-market efficiency analysis: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    4 min

  5. 12/16/2025

    Demystifying SaaS Revenue: A Hierarchy for Predictability & Valuation

    In episode #337 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben breaks down why software revenue categorization is a foundational requirement for strong finance, accounting, and SaaS metrics. He explains the core revenue types every SaaS, AI, or software company should separate on their P&L—and why commingling revenue creates downstream issues in MRR tracking, retention metrics, forecasting, and company valuation. Ben walks through the major recurring and non-recurring revenue categories, then shows how clean revenue segmentation enables accurate MRR schedules, retention analysis, cash flow forecasting, and smoother due diligence with investors and acquirers. What You’ll Learn The core revenue categories every SaaS or AI company should clearly define The difference between subscription, usage, overage, services, managed services, and hardware revenue Why overages must be separated at both the SKU and general ledger level How revenue categorization feeds directly into MRR schedules and waterfalls Why recurring and variable revenue must be forecasted differently How clean revenue data improves retention metrics and go-to-market efficiency analysis Why investors and acquirers expect revenue clarity during fundraising and due diligence Why It Matters Accurate MRR and ARR tracking depends on clearly defined revenue streams Retention metrics (GRR and NRR) break when revenue types are mixed together Revenue forecasting and financial modeling require different assumptions by revenue type Cash flow forecasting becomes unreliable without segmented recurring revenue data Company valuation is directly impacted by the perceived quality of recurring revenue Investors and acquirers expect detailed revenue schedules during fundraising and due diligence Strong financial systems and accounting discipline reduce friction in audits and exits Resources Mentioned Ben’s SaaS revenue hierarchy framework: https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-saas-revenue-hierarchy-why-defining-your-revenue-streams-matter/ SaaS Metrics course at The SaaS Academy: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    6 min

  6. 12/11/2025

    My Top 3 Go-to-market Efficiency Metrics You Should Track

    In episode #336, Ben Murray breaks down his top three go-to-market efficiency metrics that every SaaS and AI operator should master. He explains when each metric becomes meaningful, how they differ across go-to-market motions, why ACV-based benchmarking matters, and how these metrics become forward-looking tools through forecasting. Ben also highlights the importance of having fully burdened sales and marketing expenses in place so these efficiency metrics are accurate and defensible. What You’ll Learn The three most important go-to-market efficiency metrics and why they matter How ACV—not ARR—should drive your benchmarking Why these metrics are proactive when used in forecasting, not just historical How revenue types (subscription vs. usage vs. platform/overage) influence metric design The foundational role of fully burdened sales and marketing expenses Why It Matters Enables operators to measure the true efficiency of sales and marketing investments Provides clarity on the health and scalability of the go-to-market motion Helps leadership benchmark realistically against peers using ACV-based expectations Allows finance teams to forecast forward-looking efficiency, not just track history Ensures efficiency metrics remain accurate as product pricing and revenue models evolve Prevents major errors caused by incomplete or misallocated CAC inputs Resources Mentioned Ben’s SaaS Metrics Framework (Pillar 5: Go-to-Market Efficiency): https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation Ray Rike's benchmarking data at benchmarkit.ai Blog posts on modifying metrics for subscription + usage revenue models: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-cac-payback-period-with-variable-revenue/

    5 min

  7. 12/08/2025

    Should Your Customer Success Team Count Towards CAC?

    In episode #335, Ben answers a common operator question: Should Customer Success be included in the cost of customer acquisition (CAC)? He explains how Customer Success should be coded based on responsibilities, when it belongs in COGS vs. Sales, and when CS expenses should be included in expansion efficiency metrics. What You’ll Learn Why CAC applies only to acquiring new customers. How Customer Success roles differ between adoption, retention, renewals, and expansion. When Customer Success expenses should be included in the cost of expansion ARR. How to allocate Sales, Marketing, and CS expenses between new and existing revenue. Why proper allocation is foundational for CAC payback, LTV to CAC, and Cost of ARR. Why It Matters Prevents inflated or misleading CAC and go-to-market efficiency metrics. Ensures expansion ARR economics are calculated accurately. Helps leaders understand the true cost structure behind revenue growth. Supports cleaner financial models, better forecasting, and stronger investor discussions. Aligns internal teams (CS, Sales, Finance) on roles and financial impact. Resources Mentioned SaaS Metrics course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    3 min

  8. 12/04/2025

    How Leading Public Tech Companies Report AI Value Creation

    In episode #334, Ben Murray breaks down how leading public SaaS and tech companies are reporting AI-driven value creation across their earnings calls. After analyzing more than 130 public tech earnings transcripts, Ben identifies five consistent themes in how incumbents communicate AI monetization, margin impact, revenue growth, and operational transformation to Wall Street. These insights are critical for private SaaS and AI founders who want to understand how to position their own AI value story for Boards, investors, and future fundraising. As AI moves beyond the hype cycle, companies must clearly demonstrate monetization, adoption, and financial impact—not just vision and roadmap. Why It Matters Understanding how public companies frame AI value creation helps private founders avoid vague positioning and instead adopt investor-grade communication. These themes influence: Board reporting Fundraising narratives ARR and revenue forecasting Financial modeling Unit economics and cost structure decisions Long-term valuation strategy As AI transitions from hype to monetization to full transformation, founders must adapt how they report AI’s contribution to performance and financial outcomes. Resources Mentioned: Reporting AI ARR: https://www.thesaascfo.com/ai-arr-vs-saas-arr-how-to-define-and-calculate/ SaaS Metrics Course: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/the-saas-metrics-foundation

    5 min
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About

Ben Murray brings you actionable SaaS metrics lessons that he has learned through years of being in the SaaS CFO trenches. Whether you are new to SaaS or a SaaS veteran, learn the latest SaaS and AI metrics, finance, and accounting tactics that drive financial transparency and improved decision-making. Ben’s SaaS metrics blog consistently rates a 70+ NPS, and his templates have been downloaded over 100,000 times. There is always something to learn about SaaS and AI metrics.

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