Finance Metrics – Page 6

Inventory carrying cost is the total expense a business incurs to store and maintain unsold inventory over a given period, expressed as a percentage of inventory value. It includes capital costs, storage, insurance, taxes, and inventory risk such as spoilage or obsolescence. Most businesses see carrying costs between 15% and 30% of total inventory value. Tracking this metric helps optimize reorder quantities, reduce overstocking, and protect profit margins.

Inventory Turnover measures how often a business sells through its entire inventory within a given period. It is a key efficiency metric used to evaluate pricing strategy, product demand, and purchasing decisions, and is especially critical for businesses handling perishable goods.

The Invoices metric counts the number of invoices you have sent to your customers. It is helpful to track Invoices to keep a tab on what is owed to you.

The LTV/CAC ratio measures the lifetime revenue a customer generates relative to the cost of acquiring that customer. A ratio of 3 or higher is the standard benchmark for sustainable SaaS growth.

Logo Churn (also called Customer Churn or Account Churn) measures the number or percentage of customers who cancel their subscription or stop doing business with a company during a specific time period, regardless of the revenue value of those customers. Unlike revenue-based churn metrics, Logo Churn treats all customer losses equally, making it a critical indicator of product-market fit, customer satisfaction, and business model sustainability.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is a key performance indicator (KPI) that represents the total predictable, recurring revenue a subscription-based business expects to generate every month from its active customers. It is calculated by normalizing all subscription income—regardless of the billing cycle (monthly, quarterly, or annual)—into a consistent monthly figure. MRR is a vital metric for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and other subscription models, providing an immediate and granular view of financial health, growth trajectory, and stability. Critically, MRR excludes all non-recurring revenue, such as one-time setup fees, consulting charges, or hardware sales, focusing solely on the reliable, repeatable income stream.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) Growth Rate is the velocity at which MRR is being added to the business, expressed as a percentage. MRR Growth Rate is often cited as a monthly rate, but it's also possible to express it using an annual timeframe; for example, "we are targeting 10% MRR Growth for April", or "our MRR Growth Rate was 100% last year".

Natural Rate of Growth measures the speed at which your company grows, purely based on organic sources of growth. This includes organic signups and incremental recurring revenue started in product without sales involvement.

Net Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) Added measures the net change in ARR during a period by combining all sources of ARR growth (new customers and expansion) and all sources of ARR contraction (churn and downgrades). This metric provides a comprehensive view of revenue momentum and reveals which business functions are driving growth or creating drag.

Net Burn, often referred to as Burn Rate, is the amount a company is losing per month as they burn through their cash reserves. It occurs when a company’s operating costs are higher than their revenue. A company that is profitable and generating cash has a "negative Net Burn".

Net Cash Flow is the difference between all cash inflows and all cash outflows for a given period, showing whether a business generated or consumed cash.

Net Financial Debt (NFD) is the portion of a company's debt that remains after subtracting cash and short-term investments from total financial obligations. Unlike gross debt, NFD reflects what a company would owe if it used its most liquid assets to pay down borrowings immediately, giving analysts and executives a cleaner measure of leverage and liquidity risk.