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PODCAST

SaaS Metrics School

Ben Murray brings you actionable SaaS metrics lessons that he has learned through years of being in the SaaS CFO trenches. Whether you are new to SaaS or a SaaS veteran, learn the latest SaaS and AI metrics, finance, and accounting tactics that drive financial transparency and improved decision-making. Ben’s SaaS metrics blog consistently rates a 70+ NPS, and his templates have been downloaded over 100,000 times. There is always something to learn about SaaS and AI metrics.

business management

All Episodes

7:06

Salesforce Invented a New KPI on an Earnings Call —...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/04/26

Salesforce just invented a new metric on their latest earnings call — not because they needed one, but because Wall Street didn't have the vocabulary to value what they built.In episode #367, Ben Murray breaks down Salesforce's Q4 FY2026 earnings call — not the financials, but the narrative architecture: a new unit of measurement for AI value (the AWU), a framing strategy designed to neutralize the biggest fear enterprise buyers have about AI, and three customer testimonials brought live

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5:52

Should You Price on Outcomes? What HubSpot's $0.50...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/04/25

HubSpot's 50-cent bet may have just forced every SaaS founder to ask whether their current revenue model is still defensible. In episode #365, Ben Murray breaks down HubSpot's April 2nd announcement — slashing its Breeze customer agent from $1 to 50¢ per resolved conversation, plus a shift on its prospecting agent to $1 per qualified lead — and what this risk transfer means for SaaS revenue, forecasting, and the metrics CFOs need to start tracking. With Salesforce Agent Force hitting $800M

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5:59

AI Inference Costs Are Crushing SaaS Gross Margins —...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/04/21

Is your AI SaaS company skating on thin ice because of exploding compute costs you're not tracking? In episode #365, Ben Murray tackles one of the most pressing financial challenges facing AI-first SaaS companies: the structural margin compression caused by LLM inference costs. Traditional SaaS was built on near-zero marginal cost per customer — that era is over. If you're building on top of AI, every prompt, query, and agentic workflow is a hard COGS line that scales with revenue, and if

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5:29

How to Track Digital Labor in Your SaaS P&L

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/04/09

In episode #364, Ben Murray breaks down how SaaS finance teams should structure their chart of accounts to properly track inference costs, productivity AI, and agentic AI spend. As organizations shift from W-2 headcount to token costs and agentic software, your current expense coding may be out-of-date. If you can't see where the AI spend is going, you can't tie it to ROI — and you definitely can't make the case for going fully agentic.Why COGS is the right home for product inference

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6:48

Where Tech Funding Is Flowing in 1Q26: AI...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/04/02

Is your SaaS company competing for funding in a market that's already decided AI wins? The Q1 2026 data is in — and the numbers are decisive.If you're a SaaS founder thinking about your next raise — or a CFO modeling out valuation scenarios — understanding where investors are actually writing checks matters more than ever. In epsiode #363, Ben Murray covers: Which software categories dominated Q1 funding — AI infrastructure and vertical SaaS led at $4.6B and $4.5B respectively, and

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5:38

Why Feeding Raw Data to AI Is Killing Your FP&A Accuracy

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/31

Are you feeding raw financial data straight into AI and wondering why the results are inconsistent — or worse, just wrong? AI is only as good as the data architecture underneath it. For SaaS CFOs and operators running monthly FP&A cycles, that means the order of operations matters enormously. Skip the deterministic compute layer, and your AI narrates garbage. Get the structure right, and suddenly AI can do what no human ever could — synthesize five years of retention schedules and SaaS

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5:59

The SaaSpocalypse Is Overblown: 4 Reasons Your SaaS...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/22

Everyone's saying AI will kill SaaS — but is the SaaSpocalypse actually real, or just the latest wave of disruption that enterprise software has survived before?If you're a SaaS founder or operator watching vibe-coded apps spin up overnight, the fear is real. But the narrative is missing something critical: enterprise software isn't just code, and the moats that protect your ARR aren't going away anytime soon. Understanding what actually protects your revenue — and what doesn't — is the

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4:00

3 Ways AI Could Kill Traditional SaaS

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/21

Is the “SaaSpocalypse” real—or just another wave of disruption you need to navigate? If you’re building or scaling a SaaS company, the rapid rise of AI agents, lower barriers to entry, and shifting pricing models could directly impact your growth, revenue predictability, and competitive edge. Understanding these changes isn’t optional—it’s critical to staying relevant and defensible in an AI-driven market. Here's what you'll take away in episode #360 with Ben Murray. Understand how AI

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5:10

CFOs We are Implementing AI Backwards

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/18

Are finance teams implementing AI the wrong way?In episode #359, Ben Murray argues that many CFOs and finance leaders are approaching AI backward—focusing too much on prompts and quick wins rather than building the foundational data infrastructure required for meaningful, repeatable insights. Drawing from recent AI webinars and his experience building softwaremetrics.ai, Ben explains why SaaS metrics, retention, and cohort analysis should not rely on AI. Instead, these should be computed

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3:38

What Started the SaaSpocalypse?

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/12

What sparked the recent “SaaSpocalypse” conversation across social media, news outlets, and investor circles?In episode #358 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray explains how the debate around AI potentially disrupting SaaS began. Ben breaks down what actually started the conversation, the major concerns investors and operators are discussing, and why SaaS founders and CFOs should pay attention to the shift. Resources Mentioned Ben’s blog post: The SaaSpocalypse — Bull Case, Bear Case, and

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5:19

Here's Why AI is Not Killing SaaS

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/03/03

Is AI killing SaaS? Ben argues the opposite.In episode #357 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray explains why AI isn’t replacing SaaS companies — it’s amplifying subject matter expertise. Drawing on his experience building SoftwareMetrics.ai with AI coding tools, he walks through how he would not be able to create a useful expert without domain knowledge. It doens't just apply to Ben. Resources Mentioned Ben's new app at:https://softwaremetrics.ai/ What You’ll Learn Why AI is not

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4:18

Top FP&A Solutions Used by Software Companies

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/25

In episode #356, Ben shares the results from the FP&A category of his 7th Annual SaaS Tech Stack Survey, highlighting the top financial planning and analysis solutions used in software companies today.With 37 FP&A solutions named in the survey, this remains one of the most competitive and fast-moving segments in the back-office tech stack. While spreadsheets still dominate usage—by a wide margin—dedicated FP&A platforms are gaining traction, especially as companies scale past

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2:58

Top Invoicing Solutions Used by Software Companies

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/20

In episode #355, Ben breaks down the top invoicing solutions used by SaaS and AI companies based on his 7th Annual Tech Stack Survey.With 57 different invoicing solutions named in the survey, this category shows far more fragmentation than core accounting. The top five solutions account for 55% of reported usage, but there’s still a long tail of specialized billing and revenue management platforms. Ben walks through the most widely used tools and explains how invoicing increasingly

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2:31

Top Accounting Solutions Used by Software Companies

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/19

In episode #354, Ben shares the results from his 7th Annual SaaS Tech Stack Survey and reveals the top accounting solutions used by software, SaaS, and AI companies today. With participation across 22 software categories, this year’s survey highlights both the consistent market leaders and the rise of newer, AI-first ERP platforms. While legacy players continue to dominate, new entrants are gaining meaningful traction. Ben breaks down the “Power Six” accounting platforms and what their

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4:36

Moving Beyond Spreadsheets to Calculate Your SaaS...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/11

Calculating SaaS metrics sounds straightforward—until you actually try to do it. In episode #353, Ben Murray breaks down why SaaS metrics are so difficult to calculate at scale, why spreadsheets eventually break, and what it really takes to produce CFO-grade metrics that stand up in the Boardroom and in due diligence.Drawing on insights from the 7th Annual SaaS Tech Stack Survey, Ben explains why 58% of companies still rely on spreadsheets and highlights the growing mix of tools aimed at

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3:19

Stripe, MRR, and the Retention Metrics Nobody Warned...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/06

In episode #352 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben explains why SaaS and AI founders need to get control of their Stripe data early — before transaction volume and product complexity make it unmanageable. Drawing on years of fractional CFO experience, he explains how messy Stripe data can undermine revenue accuracy, MRR schedules, retention metrics, and due diligence readiness if the data flow isn’t clearly mapped from day one.Resources Mentioned Ben’s 7th Annual Tech Stack

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3:36

The Difference Between Bookings, Invoices, and Revenue

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/02/03

In episode #351 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben breaks down one of the most misunderstood areas of SaaS finance: the difference between bookings, invoices, and revenue. Using the SaaS revenue cycle as a framework, he explains how a signed contract flows through invoicing, revenue recognition, and ultimately cash collection — and why confusing these concepts leads to bad metrics, poor forecasting, and cash flow surprises.Resources Mentioned Blog

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5:43

Can You Actually Prove the ROI of Customer Success?

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/01/30

Justifying investment in customer success is far harder than justifying spend in sales and marketing. In episode #350, Ben walks through a practical framework for evaluating the ROI of customer success and retention programs by tying customer success investment directly to ARR, MRR, and revenue retention performance. Instead of relying on vague qualitative benefits, this episode outlines how finance and SaaS leaders can quantify retention improvements and translate them into real financial

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3:09

The Pitfalls of Using Your CRM to Report Official ARR...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/01/27

Many SaaS teamstry to use their CRM to report ARR and MRR, but this creates serious risks—especially in forecasting, retention analysis, and due diligence. In episode #349, Ben explains why your CRM is rarely the correct source of truth for recurring revenue and where ARR should actually come from to ensure financial accuracy and credibility with investors and acquirers.Resources Mentioned How to Disclose ARR:https://www.thesaascfo.com/cfos-guide-to-disclosing-headline-arr-numbers/ Ben's

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6:26

Why a Perfect SaaS P&L Can Still Hide Serious Problems

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/01/23

In episode #348 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray responds to a thoughtful LinkedIn comment that challenged a common assumption: that a well-structured SaaS P&L tells the whole story. While a properly built chart of accounts and SaaS P&L are foundational, Ben explains where hidden risks can still exist beneath clean financial statements. Using real-world examples from SaaS founders and finance teams, this episode explores how revenue commingling, misclassified expenses, role

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367 results

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