Startup Finance Metrics: SaaS KPIs and Series A–C Benchmarks
This guide is for founders and CEOs who want to read their own numbers the way an investor or board member will. It puts the finance function, the core KPI formulas, SaaS metrics and stage benchmarks on one page, so you can see where your company stands and what a term sheet is really asking for.
What's in the guide
- How the finance organization is set up, from controller and FP&A to treasury, tax and the cap table
- The accounting cycle, from transactions and ledgers through the adjusted and closing trial balance
- Liquidity, profitability and cash-cycle formulas, including working capital, quick ratio and cash conversion cycle (DSO + DIO − DPO)
- SaaS metrics with formulas: net revenue retention, burn multiple, CAC, LTV:CAC, CAC payback and remaining performance obligations
- Series A, B and C stage metrics: ARR ranges, ARR growth, gross and net dollar retention, magic number and spend ratios
- A best-in-class table rating growth, gross margin, net dollar retention, CAC payback and burn multiple as great, good or bad
- A term sheet guide covering valuation, liquidation preference, valuation caps, drag-along, pro-rata rights and no-shop terms
- Valuation methods: ARR multiples, discounted cash flow, EBITDA multiples and enterprise value (debt + equity − cash)
- Marketing, sales, R&D and HR KPIs, with sample executive dashboards
Questions this guide answers
What ARR should a company have at Series A?
The guide's stage benchmarks put Series A companies at $5M to $15M in ARR, growing about 3x a year. Series B runs $15M to $35M at about 2x, and Series C $35M to $60M+ at about 1.5x.
How do you calculate burn multiple?
Burn multiple is net burn divided by net new ARR. The guide rates 1.0 or less as great, 1.0 to 1.5 as good, and anything over 2 as bad.
What is a good CAC payback period?
CAC payback is average CAC per customer divided by average ARR per customer, times 12, which gives you months. Six to 12 months is great, 12 to 18 is good, and over 24 months is bad.
How is net revenue retention calculated?
Take recurring revenue at the start of the period, add expansion, subtract downgrades and cancellations, then divide by the starting figure. The guide treats 140% as great and under 100% as bad.
How do pre-money and post-money valuation work?
Pre-money valuation plus the new investment equals post-money valuation. The term sheet guide explains how that interacts with liquidation preference, valuation caps and anti-dilution terms.
How Strativ helps
Most of this guide is about how investors read a company. Mark Sue spent his Wall Street career as a Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets in equity research, IPOs and M&A, and Strativ clients have raised more than $300M. Strativ builds the KPI dashboards and stage benchmarks that let a founder show the numbers before an investor asks for them, and reviews term sheets alongside your legal counsel.
Request the full guide for the complete one-page reference, or book a call to talk through your situation.
