Fundamental Metrics Metrics

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the cost a business incurs to acquire a new customer. This includes the fully loaded costs associated with sales and marketing to attract a potential customer and to convince them to purchase, divided across all new customers.

Financial Debt is a company's non-operational debt. With low interest rates and a supply of lenders, debt in non-financial corporations has steadily risen in the past 15 years, benefiting some companies, but putting others at risk.

Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) is a standardised workforce measurement that converts all employee types—full-time, part-time, contractors, interns, and temporary workers—into equivalent full-time positions. This calculated metric provides a unified view of your total workforce capacity by expressing everyone's contribution as fractions of a standard full-time schedule (typically 40 hours per week or 5 days). Unlike simply counting heads, FTE gives you the true picture of your organisational capacity and enables accurate cross-company comparisons regardless of employment structure.

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.

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".

Net Income is the profit remaining after subtracting all expenses, including COGS, operating costs, taxes, and interest, from total revenue. It appears at the bottom of the income statement and is one of the most direct measures of a business's profitability. Also called the bottom line, Net Income is used by investors, analysts, and management to evaluate financial health and guide strategic decisions.

Net profit is the value that remains after all expenses are subtracted from the company's total income. It is one of the best ways to determine a business' profitability and is often referred to as the bottom line. Net profit represents the ultimate financial outcome of all business activities during a specific period and appears as the final line item on the income statement, hence the term "bottom line."

Revenue is the total income generated from a company's primary business operations before deducting any costs or expenses. Often called the "top line" because it appears at the top of the income statement, revenue represents the gross amount earned from core business activities such as product sales, service fees, subscriptions, or licensing agreements.

Revenue Growth Rate measures the percentage increase in a company's revenue over a specific time period. This fundamental metric indicates your company's momentum, market position, and overall business health. As one of the most scrutinized metrics by investors, executives and stakeholders, it provides critical insights into the effectiveness of your sales strategies, market expansion efforts, and product development initiatives.

Revenue per Employee is a measure of the total Revenue for the last twelve months (LTM) divided by the current number of Full-Time Equivalent employees. Also known as Revenue to Employee Ratio, this ratio is among the most universally applicable and is often used to compare companies within the same industry.