SaaS Metrics and Startup Finance Questions Discussed on This Podcast

• Where do SaaS founders start with basic accounting and bookkeeping?
• When do you need to convert bookings into MRR and use accrual accounting?
• What metrics make sense for startups, growing SaaS businesses, and larger SaaS businesses?
• What is the most important thing when hiring bookkeeping and tax help?
• When do you need a fractional CFO and when should you hire a full-time CFO?
• What are the most common mistakes that SaaS founders make that are hard to undo later?

Best Quote About SaaS Metrics from Ben Murray:

“It’s always about the right metrics at the right stage of a SaaS business. When you start, it’s all about growth. Let’s get market share, let’s burn, let’s have negative profits. Your metrics need to be focused on that with a progression of more SaaS metrics as you grow. 

“Once you have customers, now you’re focused on retention. Then it’s looking at your gross margin profile, then it’s looking at our financial profile, then it’s looking at sales and marketing efficiency metrics, and your metrics will progress with the business over time.

“Then it’s just a rinse-and-repeat process with financial reports and SaaS metrics.  Every month you close the books, do all the forecasting and metrics, and make better decisions. Then it happens over again the next month.“