/saas-economics-efficiency-metrics

SaaS Economics & Efficiency Metrics Calculator

Use this template to calculate your unit economics and capital efficiency metrics. Fill in your numbers and calculate each metric.

Unit Economics

Gross Margin

Revenue: $__________
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold):
  - Hosting & infrastructure: $__________
  - Payment processing fees: $__________
  - Customer onboarding costs: $__________
  - Other direct costs: $__________
Total COGS: $__________

Gross Profit = Revenue - COGS = $__________
Gross Margin % = (Gross Profit / Revenue) × 100 = __________%

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Sales & Marketing Spend:
  - Marketing salaries: $__________
  - Sales salaries & commissions: $__________
  - Advertising & paid channels: $__________
  - Marketing tools: $__________
  - SDR/BDR costs: $__________
Total S&M Spend: $__________

New Customers Acquired: __________

CAC = Total S&M Spend / New Customers = $__________

LTV (Lifetime Value)

Method 1 (Simple):
ARPU (monthly): $__________
Average Customer Lifetime (months): __________
LTV = ARPU × Lifetime = $__________

Method 2 (Better):
ARPU (monthly): $__________
Gross Margin %: __________%
Monthly Churn Rate: __________%
LTV = (ARPU × Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate = $__________

Method 3 (Advanced):
Account for expansion, cohort-specific retention, discount rate
[Use financial model]

LTV:CAC Ratio

LTV: $__________
CAC: $__________
LTV:CAC Ratio = LTV / CAC = __________:1

Benchmark:

• >3:1 (Healthy—scale confidently)
• 1-3:1 (Marginal—optimize before scaling)
• <1:1 (Unsustainable—fix immediately)

Payback Period

CAC: $__________
Monthly ARPU: $__________
Gross Margin %: __________%

Payback Period (months) = CAC / (Monthly ARPU × Gross Margin %)
Payback Period = __________ months

Benchmark:

• <12 months (Excellent)
• 12-18 months (Acceptable)
• >24 months (Concerning—cash trap risk)

Contribution Margin

Revenue: $__________
Variable Costs:
  - COGS: $__________
  - Variable support costs: $__________
  - Payment processing: $__________
  - Variable customer success: $__________
Total Variable Costs: $__________

Contribution Profit = Revenue - Variable Costs = $__________
Contribution Margin % = (Contribution Profit / Revenue) × 100 = __________%

Capital Efficiency

Burn Rate

Monthly Expenses:
  - S&M: $__________
  - R&D: $__________
  - G&A: $__________
  - COGS: $__________
Total Monthly Expenses (Gross Burn): $__________

Monthly Revenue: $__________

Net Burn Rate = Total Expenses - Revenue = $__________/month

Runway

Cash Balance: $__________
Monthly Net Burn: $__________

Runway (months) = Cash Balance / Net Burn = __________ months

Warning Levels:

• >12 months (Healthy)
• 6-12 months (Start fundraising process)
• <6 months (Crisis—raise now or cut burn)

Operating Expenses (OpEx)

Annual Revenue: $__________

OpEx Breakdown:
  Sales & Marketing: $__________
  Research & Development: $__________
  General & Administrative: $__________
Total OpEx: $__________

S&M as % of Revenue: __________%
R&D as % of Revenue: __________%
G&A as % of Revenue: __________%
Total OpEx as % of Revenue: __________%

Net Income (Profit/Loss)

Revenue: $__________
- COGS: $__________
- OpEx: $__________

Net Income = Revenue - COGS - OpEx = $__________
Profit Margin % = (Net Income / Revenue) × 100 = __________%

Efficiency Ratios

Rule of 40

Revenue Growth Rate (YoY): __________%
Profit Margin %: __________%

Rule of 40 = Growth Rate + Profit Margin = __________

Benchmark:

• >40 (Healthy balance of growth and efficiency)
• 25-40 (Acceptable)
• <25 (Concerning—burning cash without sufficient growth)

Magic Number

Current Quarter Revenue: $__________
Previous Quarter Revenue: $__________
Revenue Increase = $__________

Previous Quarter S&M Spend: $__________

Magic Number = (Revenue Increase × 4) / Prev Quarter S&M Spend
Magic Number = __________

Benchmark:

• >0.75 (Efficient—scale S&M confidently)
• 0.5-0.75 (Acceptable—optimize before scaling)
• <0.5 (Inefficient—fix GTM before spending more)

Operating Leverage

Track over multiple quarters:

Quarter | Revenue | Revenue Growth | OpEx | OpEx Growth | Leverage
--------|---------|----------------|------|-------------|----------
Q1      | $______ | ____%          | $____| ____%       | _______
Q2      | $______ | ____%          | $____| ____%       | _______
Q3      | $______ | ____%          | $____| ____%       | _______

Check:

• Revenue growing faster than OpEx? (Positive leverage ✅)
• OpEx growing faster than Revenue? (Negative leverage 🚨)

Segment Analysis

Calculate unit economics by customer segment:

Analysis:

• Which segment has best LTV:CAC ratio?
• Which segment has fastest payback?
• Which segment has highest gross margin?
• Should you focus acquisition on specific segment?

Benchmarks & Quality Checks

Unit Economics

• Gross margin >70% (SaaS should be high-margin)
• LTV:CAC >3:1 (minimum for sustainable growth)
• Payback period <12 months (cash efficient)
• Contribution margin >60% (after all variable costs)
• LTV calculated with gross margin (not just revenue)

Capital Efficiency

• Runway >12 months (healthy buffer)
• Net burn decreasing over time (path to profitability)
• OpEx growing slower than revenue (positive operating leverage)
• G&A <15% of revenue (keep overhead low)

Efficiency Ratios

• Rule of 40 >40 (healthy balance)
• Magic number >0.75 (efficient GTM)
• Revenue growth rate > OpEx growth rate (operating leverage)

Red Flags

Check if any of these apply:

• LTV:CAC <1.5:1 (buying revenue at a loss)
• Payback period >24 months (cash trap)
• Runway <6 months (survival crisis)
• Rule of 40 <25 (burning cash without growth)
• Magic number <0.5 (GTM engine broken)
• OpEx growing faster than revenue (negative leverage)
• Gross margin <60% (margin problem)
• CAC increasing while LTV flat/decreasing (unit economics degrading)
• Great LTV:CAC but terrible payback (illusion of health)

If you checked any red flags, see SKILL.md Common Pitfalls section for fixes.