Run your business like it’s for sale. Run your business as if no one wanted your business.
Your hear opinions on all sides about preparing your business for a fundraise or exit. What doesn’t change? You need data and metrics to scale your business.
By putting data and metrics in place, you serve two purposes. First, you’ll have the data to operate your business. Second, you’ll be prepared for those fundraise and due diligence data requests.
Everything that I write is from the CFO frontlines helping SaaS and AI companies. The six metrics below were requested by a strategic acquirer backed by a very large investment firm (you’d know them).
Want to dress to impress? Have the data ready when a strategic acquirer or PE-backed buyer comes knocking on your door. You need the data anyway to run your business. Why not be ready?
Want a live walkthrough? Join my free workshop “5 Metrics Every SaaS Leader Must Master” on Sept 19 at 10am PT. You’ll get my KPI Dashboard template and a clear framework to put this into practice.
👉 Register: save your seat here!
1) CARR — Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue
- What it is: Your maximum ARR run-rate from signed contracts at a point in time.
- Why buyers care: It shows the ARR ceiling implied by your current book of business and the revenue flowing through your SaaS P&L. From obscure metrics years ago to a frontline valuation metric.
- Gotchas: Usage/AI revenue and ramp clauses can make CARR tricky. Document your assumptions.
- More info: read this detailed post on calculating your CARR number.
2) ARR — Annual Recurring Revenue
- What it is: The baseline recurring revenue run-rate (often MRR × 12 with RevRec guardrails).
- Why buyers care: It’s a foundational number for your valuation.
- Gotchas: Usage revenue, credits, and prior-period adjustments—be consistent and explicit. If you take MRR x 12, make sure you feel good with your rev rec and accounting practices.
- More info: read more on how to calculate your ARR.
3) OpEx Profile
- What it is: R&D, Sales, Marketing, and G&A below gross profit in a SaaS-optimized P&L.
- Why buyers care: Cost structure, operating leverage, and the ability to scale efficiently live in your OpEx Profile.
- Gotchas: Native “out-of-the-box” P&Ls bury what buyers need to know. You’ll need to “SaaSify” your chart of accounts. One of my top coaching calls.
- More info: learn how to benchmark your OpEx Profile here.
4) Profitability (EBITDA)
- What it is: A proxy for long-term cash generation ability. CFO’s and Private Equity love EBITDA. You should too at the right time.
- Why buyers care: They want to buy a functional business. And PE will lever up your business with debt so you need cash flow to cover your debt payments.
- Gotchas: One-time items, capitalized software, and founder’s personal spend. Document how you adjust EBITDA if you are going to play that game.
- More info: ready my post on EBITDA here.
5) Net New ARR Trends (Bookings)
- What it is: The velocity of new and expansion ARR segmented by product.
- Why buyers care: Confirms go-to-market momentum and pipeline realism.
- Gotchas: Sloppy bookings data in your CRM. The top SaaS data mistake.
- More info: read my post on software bookings here.
6) Logo Retention (then GRR/NRR)
- What it is: Are you keeping customers? Then, how much revenue do you keep/expand (GRR/NRR)?
- Why buyers care: Durable growth = retention first, then expansion potential. It’s hard to scale with poor retention.
- Gotchas: Poor MRR schedules, poor invoicing practices, and missing downgrade tracking.
- More info: check out my post on GRR here and NRR here.
Bonus Ask: Revenue Recognition Policies
- What it is: How you recognize subscription, usage, and services revenue.
- Why buyers care: They need to trust your financials. If your financials are a mess, it will be a hard pass by the buyer.
- Gotchas: poor invoicing practices and no rev rec in place.
- More info: read my guide on deferred revenue. Contact me for my rev rec expert.
SaaS Metrics are Built on a Solid Data Foundation
Every number above depends on clean and connected inputs. In my SaaS Metrics Foundation course and fractional CFO consulting, I always start with the 4 key SaaS finance data sources:
- Financial Data — GL, SaaS-optimized P&L, cost allocations, department coding.
- Customer/Revenue Data — Clean invoicing, MRR schedules, product/country/segment tags.
- Bookings Data — new vs. expansion vs. contraction; by revenue type.
- HRIS Data — headcount by function for OpEx, ROSE, and operating leverage. Staff and contractors.
When your data is structured, the “hard questions” become easy and your diligence conversations shift from defensive to strategic. Impress your buyers.
I can’t stress how much better you’ll be when you have this data foundation in place. I’ve talked to many founders with failed exits because they focused too late on their financial infrastructure.
Next Steps
It’s hard to wave a magic wand and produce this reporting. I do suggest you or your finance lead or your bookkeeper check out the SaaS Metrics Foundation course.
Start small. First, work on your financial foundation. SaaSify your chart of accounts. Double check you revenue and expense coding. Create your SaaS P&L. I cover all of this in my course.
Then, knock out customer data. Create your MRR schedules and calculate your retention. I can’t list everything here, but it’s a journey. This does not happen overnight.
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I have worked in finance and accounting for 25+ years. I’ve been a SaaS CFO for 9+ years and began my career in the FP&A function. I hold an active Tennessee CPA license and earned my undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and MBA from the University of Iowa. I offer coaching, fractional CFO services, and SaaS finance courses.