Chief Financial Officer Metrics – Page 2

Burn Rate is the speed at which a company spends its cash reserves, typically measured monthly or as a percentage change in net spending. Startups use it to monitor how quickly they draw down external funding, estimate cash runway, and prepare for future fundraising. It can be calculated as Gross Burn Rate or Net Burn Rate.

CAC Payback Period is the number of months a company needs to recover its customer acquisition costs through revenue generated by new customers. It combines Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Net New MRR, and Gross Margin percentage to measure go-to-market efficiency. The shorter the payback period, the faster a company recycles growth capital.

Campaign Engagement Rate is the sum of total engagements with an ad campaign divided by the total number of impressions the campaign generates. It expresses, as a percentage, how many people who saw your ad actually interacted with it.

Cash and Cash Equivalents (CCE) is the total value of a company's cash on hand plus short-term liquid assets convertible to cash within three months. CCE appears as the first line item on a company's balance sheet and is a primary indicator of liquidity. A strong CCE balance signals the ability to meet operating obligations, service short-term debt, and fund growth without external financing.

The Cash Conversion Cycle, also knows as Cash-to-Cash Cycle Time, is the time between when a business pays its suppliers and when the business receives payment from its customers, usually expressed in days. Keeping active tabs on your Cash Conversion Cycle will aid you in monitoring your finances as cash flows in and out of your business.

Cash Conversion Score is used by investors to measure the return on invested capital for startups. It is calculated by dividing current ARR by the difference between total raised capital and cash on hand. Essentially, this metric gives the return on each dollar invested in a company.

Charges represent the total amount of customer payments processed through your payment gateway, net of refunds, disputes, and reversals. Depending on the payment platform, Charges may be reported before or after processing fees; in analytics and finance contexts, this metric is often aligned with net charges collected rather than gross payment volume. Charges reflect the actual value of customer payments successfully processed and retained through a payment system.

Changes Count measures the total number of Charges you have made to your customers. Use this metric to have an overall view of how many payments you have accepted from your customers for the products or services you sold.

Contribution margin is the revenue remaining after subtracting variable costs — the amount available to cover fixed costs and generate profit. It can be expressed as a total dollar amount, per unit, or as a percentage of revenue.

Current assets are the assets a company expects to convert to cash within one year, as reported on the Balance Sheet or Statement of Financial Position. Finance teams track current assets alongside current liabilities to calculate liquidity ratios such as the Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, and Working Capital. Common current asset accounts include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid expenses, short-term investments, and trade receivables.

Current liabilities are the total value of all debts and obligations a company owes to creditors that must be settled within one year. Current liabilities appear on the balance sheet and are evaluated alongside current assets to assess a company's short-term financial solvency. Common accounts include accounts payable, deferred revenue, interest payable, short-term debt, and dividends payable.

Current Ratio measures the ability of your organization to pay all of their financial obligations in the short term, which is generally one year. This ratio accounts for your current assets, such as accounts receivable, and your current liabilities, such as accounts payable, to help you understand the solvency of your business.