Inspired by a podcast on the Tropical MBA on property investment, I thought that I would dust off my Income Property Valuation Model that I created about ten years ago when daydreaming about investing in rental or income properties. I usually post about SaaS economics and forecasting, but it is good to change the subject […]
SaaS Revenue Waterfall Chart
SaaS Revenue Waterfall Chart Ugh, Budget Season! For most of us, we are beginning budget season or we are in the midst of budget season spending crazy hours manipulating numbers, building models, and meeting with department heads to create a workable first draft of the budget. I won’t dive into the pro’s and con’s of […]
Capital Expenditure Forecast Model
Easy Forecast for Capital Expenditures When I was working in airline industry, capital budgeting was a large part of the of budgeting and forecasting process. Makes sense. Lots of airplanes and equipment at the airports. You didn’t want to get your depreciation forecast wrong and mess up the cash flow forecast. Big problems. You spent […]
Sales Pipeline Conversion Model
Sales Pipeline Conversion Model I have been meaning to create a sales pipeline model for a while. How many of us forecast increases in software bookings based on the number of sales reps, their quota, and achievement levels? I can raise my hand to this question. # of Sales Reps x Quota x % Achievement […]
SaaS Financial Model – Your Financial Blueprint
SaaS Financial Model One of my most popular financials models, the SaaS Financial Model in Excel has been downloaded over 5,000 times. Whether you are starting a SaaS company or have millions in recurring revenue, my free SaaS model will help you create your first financial forecast or improve upon your existing forecast process. There […]
SaaS Revenue Forecast Model
SaaS Revenue Forecast Model I try to keep my financial statement models as simple as possible. I don’t forecast on one tab, but I also don’t have 30+ tabs of assumptions and formulas. I build my models around the operations of the business and the important metrics. Enough detail to be accurate and supportable but […]
How to Calculate Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
Customer lifetime value is a ubiquitous SaaS metrics. As a standalone metric, it doesn’t mean much. We must compare it our unit cost CAC to provide context on sales and marketing efficiency., In this post, I’ll explain how I calculate LTV. There are lovers and haters of this metric, but let’s at least put in […]
Achieving Profitability in SaaS
Achieving Profitability in SaaS Underneath the hood, SaaS economics can get a little tricky and nuanced. Based on the economic realities of your business, do you know how fast (or slow) you are achieving profitability in SaaS? How fast a SaaS company can reach gross margin profitability is based on key SaaS metrics such as […]
How I Forecast Operating Expenses
Forecast Operating Expenses In a previous post, I discussed how I forecast headcount expenses and the related physical heads and benefits. Of course, this is just one piece of the corporate expense puzzle. It is also important to have an easy and quick way to forecast operating expenses without hard coding numbers month-by-month. Excel Template […]
How to Create the Dreaded Excel Waterfall Chart
Excel Waterfall Chart Somewhere along the line, we’ve all been asked to create an Excel waterfall chart for a Board or management presentation. Waterfall charts are a very “simple” and powerful visual method to present year-over-year changes or whatever time period you are measuring. Presenting variances via a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet can […]