Finance in SaaS
SaaS finance: ARR/MRR, the Rule of 40, CAC payback and LTV, cohort economics, deferred revenue, and how investors value SaaS.
This block builds financial fluency specific to software and SaaS businesses, where recurring revenue, deferred costs, and negative working capital break traditional financial logic. You will learn how subscription economics reshape the income statement and cash flow statement, how to calculate and interpret the ratios investors and boards actually scrutinize (CAC, LTV, churn, magic number, Rule of 40), and how to benchmark performance against US and European SaaS norms. The block also covers revenue recognition rules, deferred revenue mechanics, and the financial due-diligence checks used in SaaS fundraising and M&A. By the end, you will read a SaaS financial statement the way a CFO or VC does, not the way a generic analyst does.
Ce que vous allez maîtriser
- Calculate and interpret core SaaS metrics including CAC, LTV, NRR, churn, ARR, and the Rule of 40 from raw company data
- Read a SaaS income statement and cash flow statement correctly, accounting for deferred revenue and capitalized software costs
- Benchmark a SaaS company's growth efficiency and margins against US and European market standards
- Conduct a basic financial due-diligence review of a SaaS company, identifying red flags in revenue recognition and cohort retention