5 Metrics Every SaaS Leader Must Master

There are hundreds of SaaS metrics, but which ones truly matter for SaaS leaders who want to scale, raise capital, and maximize company valuation? In episode #313, Ben Murray breaks down the five essential metrics every SaaS executive must understand — whether you’re a founder, CFO, or operator.

From bookings to retention, gross profit, OpEx, and the ROSE efficiency metric, you’ll learn how to read your SaaS P&L like a top operator, and why these metrics are critical to driving durable growth, improving investor metrics, and strengthening your business model.

What You’ll Learn

• Bookings – Signed contracts for ARR commitments, the fuel of your revenue engine.
• Retention – Gross revenue retention, net revenue retention, and customer retention are the ultimate health checks for recurring revenue.
• Margins (Gross Profit) – Why accurate COGS vs. OpEx separation matters for forecasting, profitability, and valuation.
• OpEx Profile – How much you should invest in R&D, sales, marketing, and G&A as a percentage of revenue.
• ROSE Metric (Return on SaaS Employees) – A powerful measure of organizational efficiency and path to profitability, stronger than revenue per FTE.

Why These Metrics Matter

• Finance & Accounting: They form the backbone of your SaaS P&L and cash flow forecasting.
• Investor Metrics: Investors use these to evaluate efficiency, scalability, and risk.
• Valuation: Strong retention, margins, and efficiency drive higher SaaS valuations.
• Business Leaders: Understanding these numbers enables smarter decisions at both the departmental and company levels.

Resources Mentioned

Free Webinar – Deep dive into these five metrics, plus tips, frameworks, and pro insights: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/pl/2148701264

Quote from Ben

“Every SaaS leader doesn’t need to calculate these metrics themselves — but they must understand them. These numbers tell the story of your business.”