Complete Guides for Finance Teams
TL;DR
This hub brings together Ordway’s full library of SaaS revenue metric guides, including ARR, expansion ARR, NRR, GRR, churn, RPO, GMV, IPO metrics, and more. Each post explains how to define, calculate, and operationalize core SaaS metrics used in board decks, investor reporting, and finance workflows. Bookmark this page as your single source of truth for SaaS metric definitions, formulas, benchmarks, and real-world examples.
Introduction
SaaS companies rely on a small set of financial and operating metrics to communicate growth, efficiency, and durability. But as product catalogs expand, pricing models evolve, and contracts become more complex, defining those metrics consistently becomes harder. ARR definitions drift. NRR calculations vary across teams. RPO logic gets tangled with multi-year commitments and usage components. Even foundational KPIs like churn and cohort retention become inconsistent across reporting systems.
This resource hub consolidates Ordway’s complete library of SaaS revenue metric guides in one place. Each article offers practical explanations, calculation logic, benchmarks, and examples drawn from real SaaS operators and public-company reporting. Use this page as your reference for aligning finance, RevOps, GTM, and leadership on how metrics are defined and interpreted across the business.
Whether you’re designing ARR policy, preparing a board deck, reconciling revenue recognition with ARR, modeling retention, or comparing your metrics to IPO-stage SaaS companies, this hub gives you every resource in one structured, easy-to-navigate library.
ARR Foundations & Policy Decisions
How you define ARR sets the tone for every metric you report to the board. These guides walk through definitions, policies, and common edge cases.
Core ARR definition & framework
- How Top SaaS Companies Define ARR (Real Examples + Policy Template)
Learn how leading SaaS companies define ARR, what they include and exclude, and how to document your policy so finance, RevOps, and GTM stay aligned.
- 13 Hidden SaaS ARR Mistakes Killing Your Revenue Forecast
A breakdown of the most common ARR pitfalls that distort growth metrics, confuse investors, and create noisy forecasts.
- ARR vs GAAP Revenue: Key Differences & How to Reconcile Them
How to keep ARR and GAAP revenue aligned, reconcile both views, and avoid confusion when sharing numbers with auditors and the board.
ARR in complex pricing models
- How to Calculate ARR for Usage-Based Pricing
A step-by-step approach to including usage-based revenue in ARR, including when it’s appropriate and how to annualize GAAP usage revenue.
- Do Monthly Plans Count as ARR? (SaaS Policy Template Included)
When and how to convert monthly contracts into ARR, plus guardrails to keep short-term or promotional plans from inflating your numbers.
- Do Professional Services Count as ARR? (SaaS Policy Template)
Guidance on which services can be classified as recurring, how to treat implementation and training, and how to stay credible with investors.
ARR segmentation & reporting
- ARR Segment Reporting: 5 Views SaaS Leaders Use
Frameworks for slicing ARR by new vs expansion, logo vs upsell, product lines, regions, and more so you can see where growth is actually coming from.
New ARR vs Expansion ARR
Growth quality matters as much as growth rate. These resources cover how to separate new logo ARR from expansion ARR and how to grow both in a healthy way.
- Expansion ARR: Ultimate Guide to Growing Upsell & Cross-Sell Revenue
How to define expansion ARR, measure it, and operationalize seat growth, tier upgrades, usage expansion, and cross-sell motions.
- New vs Expansion ARR: Benchmarks, Ratios & How to Balance Growth
How to read your new vs expansion mix, where benchmarks typically land, and how different mixes signal product-market fit and land-and-expand strength. - 5 Proven Strategies to Grow Expansion ARR (Seats, Usage, Tiers)
Practical tactics to increase expansion ARR through seat expansion, usage-based motions, packaging, and tiered pricing.
NRR, GRR & Retention Metrics
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) are core SaaS health indicators. This section covers definitions, naming, calculations, and improvement levers.
- NRR vs GRR: What’s in a Name? (NDR, Net Expansion, MRR Retention)
A guide to the different labels for net revenue retention and what actually matters in how you define and present the metric. - Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) in SaaS: Formula, Benchmarks, and Tips
How to calculate GRR, where strong companies typically benchmark, and what it reveals about customer and product stability. - SaaS GRR: Step-by-Step Calculation Examples (With Real Data)
Detailed GRR calculation walkthroughs using real examples so teams can align on the logic behind the percentages. - How to Improve NRR: 7 Proven SaaS Tactics to Boost Retention
Practical strategies across pricing, packaging, adoption, and customer success to move NRR higher and keep it there. - SaaS Churn Rate: Real Calculation Examples from Zoom, ServiceNow
How to calculate churn rate accurately using real company examples, and how churn interacts with NRR and GRR.
- SaaS Cohort Analysis: Real Examples, Metrics & How to Track Retention
How to build and interpret cohort tables to understand retention quality, expansion patterns, and product stickiness.
Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs) & Backlog Metrics
RPOs sit at the intersection of revenue recognition, ARR, and long-term growth story. These resources connect ASC 606, RPO disclosures, and usage-based pricing.
- RPOs Explained: SaaS Backlog, ASC 606 & Investor Reporting
A full walkthrough of remaining performance obligations, how they are derived under ASC 606, and how public SaaS companies present RPO trends. - RPO in SaaS: What Remaining Performance Obligations Mean and How to Report
How to define RPO policies internally, map them to multi-year contracts, and explain them to leadership and investors. - RPOs for Usage-Based Pricing: How to Calculate & Forecast
How to handle RPOs for usage-based or hybrid models where future billings depend on variable consumption.
Advanced SaaS Metrics & IPO Case Studies
When SaaS companies go public, their metrics get dissected line by line. These guides help you understand how top brands present growth, efficiency, and monetization.
- Navan’s SaaS Metrics at IPO
A breakdown of Navan’s IPO metrics and what they signal about growth quality, retention, and unit economics.
- Netskope’s SaaS Metrics at IPO
A similar teardown for Netskope, focusing on ARR scale, net retention, and efficiency indicators. - Rule of 40 in SaaS: Formula, Benchmarks & When It Matters
How to calculate Rule of 40, where strong SaaS companies land, and when investors actually care versus when other metrics dominate the story. - SaaS GMV: How Fintech & E-Commerce Companies Calculate It
How GMV differs from revenue, when it should be reported, and how to keep GMV metrics consistent and credible. - Product Attach Rates: How to Measure, Benchmark & Increase
How to measure attach rates across add-ons and product lines, and what strong attach metrics look like for SaaS portfolios.
- Which SaaS Metrics Should Finance Leaders Focus on at Early-Stage vs Late-Stages?
A practical guide to which metrics matter at Seed/Series A vs growth and late-stage, so you’re not optimizing for the wrong scoreboard.
Bringing It All Together
ARR, NRR, GRR, RPOs, GMV, and Rule of 40 are tightly connected. Used correctly, they tell a consistent story about growth, durability, and efficiency.
Use this hub as:
- A reference for aligning finance, RevOps, and GTM on definitions
- A training path for new finance team members
- Prep material before board meetings, funding rounds, or IPO planning
Conclusion
Accurate SaaS metrics are the foundation of credible reporting, reliable forecasting, and strong investor communication. This hub centralizes all of Ordway’s metric-specific content so finance and RevOps teams can work from a unified playbook instead of piecing information together from scattered sources. Each guide links the formulas, definitions, and operational steps behind ARR, retention, churn, RPO, and other core KPIs.
Revisit this page whenever you need to validate a definition, build a model, or ensure consistency in how metrics are reported across your organization. As pricing models evolve and financial workflows become more automated, a unified view of SaaS revenue metrics becomes even more critical for strategic planning and decision-making.
