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.

Software Founders... if you are scaling past $1M ARR, I highly recommend you construct your P&L like the format below. This will avoid big headaches down the road.

1) If you don't have a bookkeeper, hire a bookkeeper who knows software
2) The revenue section will organize your thinking on how you invoice and create SKUs/Product IDs. You'll catch revenue co-mingling. Not a good thing.
3) You'll see how much you are investing by department.
4) You'll make sure you have people coded to the correct departments based on their function (not necessarily their title). Staff and contractors.
5) You'll be able to monitor the metrics that come from your P&L (margins, margins by revenue stream, OpEx Profile, EBITDA)

I have a lot of resources to help this process. Just let me know!

#SaaS

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The SaaS Academy

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The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business

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The SaaS CFO

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Maxio

SaaS Metrics Standards Board

Mobile Solutions

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Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

A.D.A.M., Inc.

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

Greetings! Ben here. I hope you take a couple of seconds to enter your email address below. I send newsletters 2-3x per month to my audience of SaaS founders, finance, investors, and other SaaS professionals. I'll keep you updated on SaaS events, tech...

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Mentored two undergraduate business students in their junior and senior years.

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

I've been creating SaaS metrics from scratch for years. The hardest part? Getting the right data and accurate data. I've productized my process into a new app that is launching soon. 

But it's not just another app. It includes training on the fundamentals of data preparation and metrics calculations. You need a rinse-and-repeat process to prepare the 4 key SaaS/AI finance data sources. 

It also includes a private community of software pros looking to elevate their knowledge of metrics and software finance.

I'm launching this within the next month. Please join the waitlist below. 

Waitlist: https://lnkd.in/gWsNzJf3

We'll also have live monthly AMA's and lessons. Metrics and ARR are evolving. We can stay on the frontlines of software finance together.

#SaaS

Most ARR disclosures are technically correct — and still wildly misleading.

After reviewing hundreds of public tech company ARR definitions and calculations, one thing became clear:

👉 The problem isn’t the ARR number
👉 It’s how companies define, calculate, and disclose it

Common issues I see in the data:
- Pricing model confused with ARR inclusion
- “Annualized” with no math behind it
- Usage-based ARR with zero explanation
- ARR was quietly treated like a forecast (or CARR)

None of this is malicious...but it does create confusion for investors, Boards, analysts, and even internal teams.

So I put together a practical operator guide: “How to Disclose ARR”

It covers:
- The 5 questions every ARR definition must answer
- What best-in-class public tech companies do differently
- Common disclosure nuances (renewals, churn assumptions, usage volatility)
- A one-page ARR disclosure checklist CFOs can actually use
- Real examples of bad ARR disclosures — and how to fix them

If you’re a software founder, CFO, or finance leader, this is the ARR reference I wish had existed years ago.

Dropping tomorrow via my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gM5DatWt

#SaaS #ARR

Tech CFOs...where can you get unbiased feedback on back office software? We have quite the thread going on Campfire vs. Rillet. If you'd like to join us, please apply below.

We'd love to have you. Today, we have 400+ heads of finance / CFO's in our private Slack community. And 700 on our email list.

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/g_4wZX-k

It can be a lonely role, especially as you enter the busy season. Closing 2025 books, preparing for the audit, and then tax prep. Not to mention the recent budget season.

I hope to see you in there!

#SaaS #CFO

Can you answer these 5 questions about your ARR number?

Don't get caught overstating or understating your ARR. 

If you publish your ARR to your Board, investors, or potential buyers, follow this checklist to make sure your ARR number is credible.

1. What revenue is included?

This is the big one! Be explicit. Do not assume the reader understands your business model.

Examples:
- Subscription revenue
- Usage revenue
- Processing revenue
- Consumption revenue
- Recurring services revenue

Bad: “ARR represents our recurring revenue.”

2. What revenue is excluded?

Exclusions are just as important as inclusions.

Common exclusions to state explicitly:
- Professional services
- One-time fees
- Hardware
- Overages (can go both ways)

Rule: If it exists in the revenue portion of your P&L, state whether it is in or out of ARR.

3. Is ARR based on contracts, revenue, or both?

Clarify the data source of your ARR calculation:

- Contract-based ARR: Annualized contractual value (TCV, ACV)
- Revenue-based ARR: Current-period recurring revenue run-rate
- Hybrid ARR: Contracts for subscriptions, revenue for usage; for example

For questions 4 and 5, google "The SaaS CFO" and you'll find my lastest post. Plus an ARR Disclosure Checklist.

#SaaS #ARR

Is the 10x ARR multiple dead? 🪙

Not if you’re a "Shiny Penny."

I just sat down with Jim Williams from GLC Advisors for our annual State of Software M&A update.

The hard truth? The market in 2025 was "boring," but that's okay.

Double-digit multiples are still happening. Jim calls these assets "Shiny Pennies" — and buyers are crawling over glass to acquire them.

In next week's newsletter, we break down:
- The Market is “Boring” (And That’s Okay)
- The Valuation Reality
- AI Hype vs. M&A Reality
- Platform vs. Add-On: The "Crawl Over Glass" Premium
- Revenue Quality: The “Repeatability” Test
- Due Diligence: The Customer Cube is King
- Deal Structures & Earnouts
- Outlook for 2026
- And more!

Join 100K subscribers here: https://lnkd.in/gM5DatWt

#SaaS

New Post: Tech CFO's Guide to Disclosing ARR

Based on 200+ public tech company filings and press releases. Your guide to defining, calculating, and disclosing ARR.

ARR is dead! No, wait! It's not dead! A lot of opinions out there, but it is still widely used as a north star growth metric.

Why don't we like ARR? We are not doing a good job on dislosing how we build our headline number. There is a formula we can use. It does not have to be random.

My new post below covers the dos and don'ts of disclosing your ARR number to your Board, investors, and potential investors.

It also includes an ARR Disclosure Checklist.

Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gEMiaiJK

#SaaS #ARR

CFO's really want to use AI this year. 

But it still comes back to data quality and structure. Shocker. I'm holding a live session next week to help CFO's and Controllers assess their AI readiness.

I'm teaming up with the experts at HubiFI for this live session:

Preparing the Back Office for AI: Readiness Checklist for CFOs, Heads of Finance, and Controllers

When: Wednesday, Jan 21, 10:00 AM PT

Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/gj3FHBFT

If we want to move beyond the occasional ad-hoc AI analysis to having AI as part of our monthly routine, join us on Jan 21!

#SaaS

Free SaaS Template Fridays 📈

All paths to profitability lead to the ROSE Metric.

I created the ROSE Metric years ago, b/c Revenue per FTE can be very misleading. And Rev per FTE is thrown around so much that we've become desensitized to the value of org efficiency metrics.

Prior to the AI boom, the ROSE Metric only focused on people expenses. Today, we must include AI Agents if they are replacing people on the org chart.

No free rides.

In practice, I see high-performing software companies with a ROSE Metric above $1.50. 

Calculate your ROSE metric with my template: https://lnkd.in/eYgZBMB

It's one of my Power 3 metrics to scaling. 

#SaaS

Just 2-5 minute episodes to stay current in SaaS & AI finance 👈

SaaS Metrics School has passed 100K downloads. These episodes are quick hits on what I'm seeing on the frontlines of tech finance.

No theory. What I see in practice from helping tech founders and students in my Academy. Great for founders and finance teams.

Check 'em out below ⬇️

Apple: https://lnkd.in/gVgVay9p
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gWZ--3WK

My recent popular episodes in the pic below.

#SaaS #AI

Ben Murray

Is there hidden danger lurking in your perfectly formatted Software P&L? Inspired by a comment from my previous P&L post, let's address what could still go wrong with your great-looking P&L.

- What about revenue co-mingling that isn't caught by your bookkeeper?
- What about staff wearing multiple hats?
- What if my top customers leave?

I tackle these and more in today's edition of SaaS Metrics School.

Listen on:
- Apple: https://lnkd.in/gj6-5Deq
- Spotify: https://lnkd.in/grGgtVrt

#SaaS #CFO

What does it take for a 10x exit?

These are the 4 pillars...

Scale: $10M–$15M+ ARR
Growth: ~40% year-over-year
Retention: 120% NRR / 95%+ Gross Retention
Profitability: Break-even or profitable

Tomorrow, I'll release my latest tech fundraising report in my weekly newsletter. I categorized the software offered from my 4Q25 data points.

I'll slowly work through my dataset to categorize the parent category and sub-category of software of 10K+ raises.

I spent several thousand dollars for my data guy to attempt to classify the software based on the domain's landing page info. Never quite worked.

In 2 hours, I built an app with Replit to do this. Is it perfect? Maybe, not. It can be hard to distinguish between AI software and software that uses AI. I'll continue to work on that classification.

Join my newsletter list here: https://lnkd.in/gM5DatWt

...to receive the latest updates.

Data source: my fundraising news site at TheSaaSNews.com 

#SaaS

Market Fatigue: The Need for Quality Deals

I recently sat down with Jim Williams to catch up on the state of Software M&A.

Have an "A" asset? There are plenty of buyers who want your business.

Listen to the full episode here:
Apple: https://lnkd.in/gNaX47td
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gGK9VVWJ

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