FlowMRR Academy
The complete SaaS metrics reference.
A connected reference of SaaS concepts. Formulas, worked examples, illustrative comparisons and common mistakes. Built for founders who don't have time for a 12-part course.
To track these metrics from your own Stripe account, explore FlowMRR's MRR analytics software.
Revenue6
- MRRNormalised, predictable monthly revenue from active subscriptions.
- ARRMRR projected over a year. The board metric.
- ARPUAverage monthly revenue per active customer.
- ARPAAverage monthly revenue per paying account, not per seat.
- Discount ImpactHow much recurring revenue you're giving away in coupons and discounts.
- Net New MRRThe real growth number: new + reactivation + expansion − contraction − churn.
Churn & retention6
- Customer Churn RateThe percentage of customers who cancel each month.
- Gross MRR ChurnRevenue lost to cancels and downgrades, before counting expansion.
- NRRWhat % of last year's revenue you still have, including expansion.
- GRRNRR's honest sibling: no expansion, just survival.
- Involuntary ChurnCustomers lost to failed cards, not unhappiness.
- At-Risk MRRRevenue that hasn't churned yet, but is one failed retry away from it.
Growth2
Unit economics7
- LTVTotal gross profit you'll earn from an average customer.
- CACWhat it costs you, fully loaded, to land one new paying customer.
- LTV : CAC RatioThe SaaS unit-economics ratio that compares lifetime value with acquisition cost.
- CAC PaybackMonths until a new customer pays back what you spent to land them.
- Gross MarginHow much revenue remains after the direct cost of serving customers.
- Burn MultipleHow much net burn you spend to generate each dollar of new ARR.
- SaaS Magic NumberSales efficiency: how much recurring revenue last quarter's spend created.
Advanced4
Operations10
- Refund RateThe share of gross revenue returned to customers.
- Cohort Retention MatrixThe triangular table that doesn't lie about retention.
- Dunning & Payment RecoveryThe art of getting failed payments to succeed without losing the customer.
- Cash Flow & RunwayOperating cash, not MRR, decides whether you survive.
- Forecast & Scenario PlanningThree numbers (new, expansion, churn) drive every SaaS forecast.
- Conversion FunnelFrom visitor to paid: where the leaks are.
- Data Quality & ReconciliationNumbers you can't trust are worse than no numbers.
- Multi-Currency Reporting (FX-Normalised MRR)One true MRR number when customers pay in different currencies.
- Geography & Product MixWhere your revenue comes from, and which product it's tied to.
- Investor-Ready ReportingThe MRR story, told in the format a board or investor actually reads.
Hands-on guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for setting up Stripe, optimising payment recovery, and marketing your SaaS.
- Stripe · 12 min readSet up Stripe for a SaaS, the right wayFrom account creation to your first paid subscription, with the choices that matter long-term.
- Stripe · 9 min readOptimise Stripe to recover more revenueCoordinate retries and customer reminders, then measure the outcomes.
- Engineering · 11 min readHow Stripe webhooks work (and how not to break in production)Signature verification, durable acceptance, retries and safe processing.
- Growth · 14 min readMarket your SaaS without burning moneyChoose acquisition experiments that fit your buyers, budget and evidence.
- Stripe · 7 min readConnect Stripe to FlowMRR: access, permissions and webhooksChoose a method, limit permissions and verify synchronisation.
- Growth · 8 min readMRR explained: the five movements every SaaS founder should trackUnderstand why recurring revenue grows, shrinks or stays flat, and what to do about it.