The SaaS CFO

The top source for SaaS metrics, finance, and accounting education and templates. The SaaS CFO also offers fractional SaaS CFO services and coaching.

Ben's SaaS templates have been downloaded 100,000+ times and counting.

Founder

Extend

At Extend, we help B2B companies collect cash faster with less manual effort. No more manual emails, Post-it notes, Outlook reminders, and reminders from your CFO.

B2B SaaS finance and accounting teams automate laborious, uncoordinated workflows around account receivables and payment collections. Put your cash collections on auto-pilot and free up staff time.

Co-Founder

The SaaS Academy

The top online and in-person academy teaching SaaS finance and metrics. 3,000+ companies and 15,000+ students enrolled. Join our SaaS community!

Maxio

Maxio helps businesses accelerate growth efficiency with the industry’s only all-in-one billing and financial operations platform purpose-built for B2B SaaS.

Advisor

SaaS Metrics Standards Board

Founding Member

Mobile Solutions

Chief Financial Officer

Cartegraph

Revamped the finance and accounting function for a successful exit to private equity.

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Provided finance and operational leadership to US subsidiary of German-based RIB Group – a leading global provider of ERP software solutions to the construction industry. Responsibilities include all aspects of finance, accounting, tax, treasury, human resources, research and development, services, and support. Hired to bring structure and process improvements to functional areas and execute US and Canadian expansion plan.

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

While Director of FP&A at Pinnacle Airlines Corp., Ben implemented an improved FP&A structure and process to support a rapidly growing organization.  Within his first year, he sourced and implemented a new planning and reporting system to move away from an offline, Excel-based system.  Through this technology and process redesign, his team reduced Pinnacle’s annual budget season from three to two month and introduced a detailed, monthly forecasting package.  Other improvements included new management performance reporting through monthly close packages, leading to earlier corrective action of operating variances.  With better data and analysis, his team created a new cost and revenue allocation system to determine profitability by product line and a more sophisticated process to bid on RFP’s.  Ben also developed Pinnacle’s first external finance training course in partnership with the University of Memphis.

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

A.D.A.M., Inc.

As the first financial planning and analysis hire, Ben created many "firsts."  This included a weekly revenue forecast for the CEO using bookings data while applying software revenue recognition standards and a complex financial statement forecasting model.  Ben partnered with product managers on investment decision analysis and product pricing reviews to align R&D and related operating expenses with projected product revenues.  He also decoded customer pricing plans from a previously off-shored process.

Manager, FP&A

The SaaS CFO | The #1 source for SaaS finance education. Video lessons, content, templates, and communities to accelerate your SaaS and career.

WHAT I DO:  I help SaaS companies via fractional SaaS CFO services, coaching, and courses in SaaS metrics and finance.  I help companies achieve financial improvement and transparency via a SaaS finance framework that links operations to finance.

WHO I HELP:  I help SaaS founders, finance/accounting, and investors.

WHY IT WORKS:  Translating the operational story into consumable numbers is the key to driving corporate performance and understanding the economics of SaaS businesses.

WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT: From debits and credits to financial forecasting to M&A, my experience has not just been silo’ed in the accounting or finance track, but both sides of the desk.  My operations background at several airlines has improved my ability to translate operational performance into improved financial understanding and foresight. My on-the-job experience as a SaaS CFO has allowed me to help thousands of SaaS founders and finance teams.

Ben Murray

Josh Aharonoff, CPA

Fractional CFO | Founder & CEO at Mighty Digits | Follow Your CFO Guy for Finance & Accounting tips!

I build tools that make financial reporting effortless — starting with Model Wiz, the Excel-based FP&A platform used by accounting firms, founders, and CFOs. 

I also teach finance and Excel to a community of 400,000+ across YouTube, LinkedIn, and my newsletter. 

When I’m not creating, I work as a fractional CFO helping companies turn their financial data into action.

Check out some helpful resources here:

🔗 www.modelwiz.com - Get beautiful dashboards + forecast right in your excel file

🔗 www.yourcfoguy.com - Learn Finance & Accounting like you’ve never seen before

🔗 www.mightydigits.com - Get hands on support

CEO and Founder

Mighty Digits is a consulting firm specializing in Accounting and Finance services for early stage startups. Services include Financial modeling, Month end Close, AP / AR Management, Payroll, Compliance Filings and more.

8 Ways to Value a company

1. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOWS (DCF)
 
 • How it Works: Calculates the present value of an investment based on its expected future cash flows.
 
 • Formula: CF_1 / (1+r)^1 + CF_2 / (1+r)^2 + ... + CF_n / (1+r)^n (CF = Cash Flow, r = discount rate, n = number of periods)
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: M&A, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking
 

2. MARKET CAP
 
 • How it Works: Values a company by multiplying its current share price by the total number of outstanding shares.
 
 • Formula: Share Price x Total Outstanding Shares
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Publicly traded companies
 

3. COMPARABLE COMPANY ANALYSIS (CCA)
 
 • How it Works: Compares the company's financial metrics to similar companies to determine value.
 
 • Formula: Based on multiples like P/E ratio, EBITDA, etc., specific to the industry.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Useful for valuing both public and private companies, especially when comparable financial data is available.
 

4. PRECEDENT TRANSACTIONS
 
 • How it Works: Analyzes prices paid for similar companies in past transactions.
 
 • Formula: Valuation based on transaction multiples, adjusted for size, market, and timing.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Used in M&A, particularly relevant for investment banking and private equity.
 

5. EBITDA MULTIPLE
 
 • How it Works: Applies a standard industry multiplier to a company's EBITDA.
 
 • Formula: EBITDA x Industry Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Often used in industries where EBITDA is a key performance metric.
 

6. BOOK VALUE
 
 • How it Works: Based on the company's assets minus its liabilities as recorded on the balance sheet.
 
 • Formula: Total Assets - Total Liabilities
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Relevant for asset-heavy companies, like real estate or manufacturing.
 

7. 409A VALUATION
 
 • How it Works: Determines the fair market value of a private company's common stock.
 
 • Formula: Utilizes various valuation methods, often DCF or CCA, adjusted for private company specifics.
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Crucial for startups and private companies planning to offer stock options.
 

8. REVENUE MULTIPLIER (including ARR/MRR)
 
 • How it Works: Applies a multiplier to a company's total or recurring revenue.
 
 • Formula: Revenue x Revenue Multiplier
 
 • Common Uses & Suitable Company Types: Particularly relevant for SaaS and subscription-based business models.
 

===

Did you learn something? I know I sure did…

But there’s much more to it.

Got anything to add to the topic?

Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

The Guy Behind the Most Beautiful Dashboards in Finance & Accounting | 450K+ Followers | Founder @ Mighty Digits

10 Accounting Interview Questions 👇 
Answered by 10 Accounting Creators 👥 

1️⃣ What are the 3 financial statements, and how are they connected?

I’ll start off answering this one 🙋

“The 3 financial statements are the Profit and Loss, the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flows. The P&L connects to the Balance sheet via an account called Retained Earnings, And the Cash flows pulls balances from both the P&L and Balance Sheet.”

2️⃣ What’s the difference between Cash vs Accrual accounting?

For this, I asked Bill Hanna, CPA

“Cash accounting for the most part means you classify money in as income, and money out as expenses. Accrual accounting means you classify income only when it’s earned, and expenses only when they are incurred”

3️⃣ What is Deferred Revenue?

Let’s ask Brian Feroldi about this one

”Deferred Revenue represents the $$ amount of goods or services you have yet to deliver to your customers who have paid you / owe you payment unconditionally”

4️⃣ How do journal entries work?

For this one, I asked Nathan Liao, CMA

“Journal entries help communicate which accounts on your general ledger are increasing or decreasing. They are denoted via Debits and Credits, and must always match one another”

5️⃣ What’s a bank reconciliation, and why is it important?

Let’s see what Ben Murray has to say about this one:

“Bank reconciliations allow you to compare & match the balance in your bank accounts to the amounts reported in your General Ledger.”

6️⃣ What is a accrued expense?

For this, I asked Nicolas Boucher:

”An accrued expense is an expense incurred, but not yet paid. It can also represent an expense incurred in which a bill has not been received, resulting in an estimate”

7️⃣ What are workpapers, and how should you organize them?

Let’s ask Anders Liu-Lindberg this one:

” Workpapers showcase the supporting calculations for entries recorded in your general ledger”

8️⃣ What are the chart of accounts, and how should they look?

Let’s see what Christian Wattig has to say about this:

”Your chart of accounts represent the line items that show up on your P&L and Balance Sheet, It’s important to aid the readers of the financial statements”

9️⃣ What’s a contra account and how does it work?

For this one, we’ll ask Pieter Slegers:

“A contra account is an account in a section that behaves in the opposite manner of the accounts in that section (eg: discount → contra revenue)”

🔟 How do you build a statement of cash flows?

And finally, let’s see what Jason Hershman has to say about this:

” You can create a statement of cash flows via the direct method, or the indirect method. Most companies opt for the Indirect method as it is easy to prepare.”

===

What other questions have you seen in a finance & accounting interview? 

Let us know in the comments below 👇

13 Cash Formulas
Cuz It’s all about the cash monnayy 🤑

1. Operating Cash Flow (OCF):
 
 • Formula: OCF = Net Income + Depreciation + Amortization + Other Non-Cash Items - Changes in Working Capital
 
 • What it tells you: Measures the cash generated or used by a company in its core business operations.
 
 • Why it matters: More operating cash flow means better liquidity for day-to-day operations, investments, and paying off debts.
 
2. Free Cash Flow (FCF):
 
 • Formula: FCF = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures
 
 • What it tells you: Tracks cash that's available for distribution to stakeholders or for reinvestment.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive FCF shows a firm's ability to generate cash and fund expansions, pay dividends, or lower liabilities.
 
3. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC):
 
 • Formula: CCC = Days of Inventory Outstanding + Days of Sales Outstanding - Days of Payables Outstanding
 
 • What it tells you: Calculates the time taken to turn investments in inventory and receivables into cash, less the time to pay off suppliers.
 
 • Why it matters: A shorter CCC implies effective working capital management and sufficient cash for meeting obligations and growth.
 
4. Net Cash Flow:
 
 • Formula: Net Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow + Investing Cash Flow + Financing Cash Flow
 
 • What it tells you: Represents total cash inflows and outflows from operating, investing, and financing activities.
 
 • Why it matters: Positive net cash flow means a firm is generating more cash than it's spending.
 
5. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF):
 
 • Formula: DCF = CF1 / (1+r)1 + CF2 / (1+r)2 + ... + CFn / (1+r)n
 
 • What it tells you: Values an investment or a company by projecting its future cash flows to the present.
 
 • Why it matters: Higher DCF suggests greater future cash generation and increased value.
 
6. Present Value:
 
 • Formula: PV = CF / (1+r)t
 
 • What it tells you: Determines today's worth of a future cash flow.
 
 • Why it matters: A greater present value indicates a more valuable future cash flow.
 
7. Cash Burn

 • Formula: Cash from Operating Activities + Cash from Investing Activities
 
 • What it tells you: How much cash you are consuming, without factoring in financing activities
 
 • Why it matters: This helps you understand how much your business actually needs to support operations
 

===

There are even more cash formulas than the ones listed above, but I’m limited to only 3k characters.

Which ones would you add?

Let us know by joining in on the discussion in the comments below 👇

Excel Formula vs Function Syntax 📊

Most people use these terms interchangeably...but they're completely different things.

And understanding the difference will make you SO much better at troubleshooting when things go wrong.

Let me break this down for you 👇 

➡️ FORMULA SYNTAX

This is how Excel reads your ENTIRE expression.

When you type =A1 + B1 * C1, Excel sees three distinct parts:

- Cell references (A1, B1, C1)
- Operators (+ and *)
- Constants (like typing 100 or "Text")

Excel processes this from left to right, following order of operations just like math class.

The formula syntax is basically Excel's way of understanding what you want to calculate across multiple elements.

I love how Excel breaks this down...it's like having a conversation with your spreadsheet.

➡️ FUNCTION SYNTAX

Now this is where it gets interesting.

Functions have their own internal structure that follows a specific pattern:

=FunctionName(argument1, argument2, argument3...)

Take the IF function: =IF(A1>100, "High", "Low")

Excel reads this as:

- Function Name: IF
- The condition to check: A1>100
- Value if True: "High"
- Value if False: "Low"

Each function has its own rules for how many arguments it needs and what types of data it accepts.

And here's a pro tip that saves me hours: hit F4 to toggle between different reference types when building formulas.

Absolute references ($C$6), mixed references ($C6 or C$6), relative references (C6)...this little shortcut is a lifesaver.

➡️ HOW TO GET HELP IN EXCEL

When you're stuck (and we all get stuck), Excel has built-in help that most people ignore:

1️⃣ Function Wizard - Click the fx icon next to the formula bar. It explains each argument and gives examples. I use this more than I care to admit.

2️⃣ Hover for Tooltips - When typing a function, Excel shows a helpful tooltip that breaks down its structure. Pay attention to this...it's like having a mini tutorial right there.

3️⃣ Ask ChatGPT - Type your formula question into ChatGPT: "What does this Excel formula do?" Works incredibly well for complex formulas that make your head spin.

===

I've been working with Excel for years, and I still learn new things about formula and function syntax regularly.

The key is understanding that formulas are the big picture, while functions are the specialized tools within that picture.

What Excel syntax trips you up the most?

Drop your questions in the comments below 👇

Revenue growth means nothing if margins are shrinking.

I need to see all the margins at once. Operating margin shows if the business model works. Gross margin shows if pricing works. Net margin shows what you actually keep.

This dashboard tracks all four together. Revenue with a 12 month trend on the left. Then operating, gross, and net margins, each with their own chart showing movement over time.

Toggle between any month. Compare to prior period or last year. Everything's color coded so you see immediately if margins are expanding or getting squeezed.

Model Wiz connects to QuickBooks Online. Excel plugin. One click and the whole dashboard builds with your data. Updates automatically when you roll forward your books instead of spending two hours rebuilding charts every month.

Get it at modelwiz.com

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