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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

4:19

What Public SaaS Comps Reveal About Earning a Premium...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/09/26

Only 9% of public software companies trade above 10x revenue — do you know which metrics separate them from the 68% stuck below 5x?In episode #389, Ben Murray breaks down what public comps reveal about how premium SaaS valuations are actually created. You can't value a private SaaS business straight off public multiples, but the correlations between metrics and enterprise value tell you exactly what buyers reward — and if you're a founder or CFO eyeing an exit, these are the numbers that

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5:27

Founders, Are You Exit Ready?

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/09/24

Founders, if a buyer asked for your metrics tomorrow, could your data prove your financial performance or would holes in it kill the deal? In episode #388, Ben Murray breaks down the metrics acquirers use to underwrite your SaaS business — and why so many exits fail before they start. Due diligence is about de-risking the acquisition, and buyers with deep bench strength will pour through your data looking for weaknesses. If you can't control the financial narrative with accurate, defensible

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3:00

Your Dev Team's AI Bills Are Hitting the Wrong Line...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/09/16

Is your dev team's AI spend buried in the wrong part of your P&L — quietly distorting your gross margin and making your AI ROI impossible to measure?In episode #387, Ben Murray tackles one of the most pressing accounting questions hitting SaaS CFOs and controllers right now: how to properly classify AI development costs across your chart of accounts. With dev teams racking up daily charges from multiple AI providers, getting these expense codes wrong doesn't just create accounting

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5:09

Why AI-Powered SaaS Dashboards Are Making ERP...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/08/27

Is your ERP dashboard actually built on data that matters — or is it just a chart of accounts dressed up to look useful?In episode #386, Ben Murray breaks down why traditional ERP dashboards are losing ground to AI-generated, prompt-built SaaS reporting and what that means for CFOs and finance leaders right now. If your team is still relying on static dashboards anchored to your general ledger, you're missing three out of four key SaaS data sources before you even start the analysis. The

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5:24

How AI Is Writing 84-Data-Point Board Reports — And...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/08/22

What if AI could produce a better board memo than any CFO — and you could trust every data point in it?In episode #385, Ben Murray breaks down how he is using AI to generate complete 5-page financial board reports, and more importantly, why the outputs are reliable. This isn't AI hype — it's a working FP&A process Ben is running today inside his fractional CFO practice. If you're still manually assembling dashboards, PDFs, and narrative summaries before every board meeting, this

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6:26

Should AI Run Your Board Meetings? A CFO's Framework...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/08/19

Is your board meeting time being wasted on reporting instead of judgment and quality discussion? In episode #384, Ben Murray addresses how AI can transform board meeting prep for SaaS finance leaders. If your board decks are packed with data but the important issues still get buried, and board members show up with wildly different levels of prep, you already know the problem. Every hour spent reviewing numbers that should have been read beforehand is an hour not spent on the judgment calls

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5:06

How to Vibe Code Finance Dashboards for Your SaaS...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/08/08

Can you actually trust the numbers when AI writes your board report?In episode #383, Ben Murray breaks down how to vibe code finance dashboards that hold up to CFO standards. Every finance leader is being sold the same promise: that AI will do your analysis for you, but the hype skips the part that decides whether the output is usable. If you are putting AI-written numbers in front of your board or investors, the difference between a trusted report and an embarrassing one comes down to

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4:01

The 2026 ARR per Employee Benchmarks: Where...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/08/07

Seeing the millions-per-employee AI headlines and wondering where your SaaS company actually stands? In episode #382, Ben Murray covers the latest ARR per FTE benchmarks from Ray Rike's Benchmarkit data. Social media is full of ARR per employee hype, but almost none of it tells you how the number was defined, whether contractors are counted, or how your company compares once you cut the data the way it actually matters. If you are benchmarking efficiency for a board deck, a raise, or a

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3:46

How Much Are Tech CFOs Actually Making in 2026?

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/07/22

In episode #381, Ben Murray covers the latest 2026 tech CFO compensation benchmarks across base, bonus, equity, and severance. If you set finance comp or negotiate your own, guessing at the market rate is expensive in both directions. Underpay and you risk losing your best finance leader. Overpay and you burn cash you cannot spare. This episode gives you the median numbers and the revenue tier splits that decide what competitive actually looks like.Why the median CFO package of $285K

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5:26

The Latest GRR Benchmarks

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/07/02

Is gross revenue retention under attack at your SaaS company? The latest benchmark data says the ground has shifted under everyone. In episode #380, Ben Murray breaks down the latest SaaS gross revenue retention benchmarks from Ray Rike's Benchmarkit report, the same data set Ben uses to benchmark his own client base. GRR is one of the power three metrics, and it is hard to scale without it. Pricing models are changing; seat-based pricing is under pressure, and AI is reshaping how revenue

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4:29

Why AI ARR Alone No Longer Lifts Your Software Valuation

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/06/24

AI ARR is easy to announce. Proving it is where most SaaS finance teams are about to get exposed. In episode #379, Ben Murray tackles the new bar for AI financial transparency and what it means for your next budget season. The public markets have already moved the goalposts. Launching AI was the 2024 story. Reporting AI ARR was the 2025 story. Now investors and boards want to see AI margins, customer outcomes, and proof that AI revenue is actually dropping to the bottom line. That same

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4:33

Here's What Separates the 9 Public SaaS Companies...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/06/23

Is your SaaS company stuck in the valuation doghouse while a handful of names trade at a massive premium? In episode #378, Ben Murray breaks down Meritech's June 2026 public software comps report and the widening valuation gap across SaaS. The median revenue multiple has fallen 64% from its pre-ZIRP peak, and most public software now trades below 5X. If you are a SaaS founder or CFO, the multiple attached to your business depends on a short list of traits the market now rewards. This

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6:54

12 Steps to Creating an Outcome-based Pricing Plan

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/06/12

Everyone says seat-based pricing is dead, but do you actually have an outcome you can charge for?In episode #377, Ben Murray breaks down the 12 steps to building an outcome-based pricing plan, drawn from analyzing real, live outcome-based pricing pages and the fine print buried in their terms and conditions. Outcome pricing is complex to design and even harder for customers to understand: when are they charged, and where is the failure point at which they aren't? For SaaS founders and CFOs

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6:35

5 Takeaways for CFOs from the 2026 AI Pricing Report

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/06/10

Is your 2027 software budget ready for the AI spend that's about to blow past every forecast you've built? In episode #376, Ben Murray covers five takeaways for CFOs from the Pricing I/O AI Pricing Report, produced in partnership with Benchmarkit, which surveyed 296 software buyers in Q1 2026. With budget season around the corner and demand for tokens, agentic AI, and tools like ChatGPT and Claude climbing fast, the gap between what buyers want and where AI pricing is heading has never

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5:15

Your AI Subscription Pricing Is Losing Money on the...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/06/02

Do you actually know which of your AI customers are making you money and which are quietly destroying your gross margin?In episode #375, Ben Murray breaks down the shape of AI usage and why the distribution curve of your customers determines whether your AI subscription product is profitable. This is why Anthropic and GitHub changed their pricing. Heavy users on a flat subscription can quietly turn a 40% gross margin into a negative one, and most finance teams are not tracking token usage

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5:18

4 SaaS P&L Metrics That Break When You Kill Per-Seat...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/05/31

The pricing model that built the SaaS industry is being replaced in real time. Is your finance team ready for what it does to your core metrics? In episode #374, Ben Murray breaks down the four SaaS P&L metrics that break when per-seat pricing dies. Public tech leaders are already shifting fast. ServiceNow now drives 50% of net new business from non-seat-based pricing, Workday is reporting hundreds of millions in AI ARR, and GitHub is moving Copilot to usage-based billing. If you are a

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5:25

Per-Seat Pricing Is Dying: What the Shift to...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/05/29

Is per-seat pricing dying a slow death, and is your SaaS expense structure ready for its replacement? In episode #373, Ben Murray breaks down the shift from per-seat subscriptions to usage and outcome-based pricing, and what it means for your finance org. Bloomberg projects subscription pricing falling from 60% to 30% of SaaS models over the next decade, while outcome-based pricing climbs from 10% to 60%. This is no longer a thesis on a slide. GitHub, Salesforce, Zendesk, Intercom, Figma,

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3:16

The Two SaaStr Annual Slides Every SaaS Operator...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/05/20

Are you a legacy SaaS company quietly hoping for a recovery that isn't coming?In episode #372, Ben Murray breaks down two slides from Jason Lemkin's State of SaaS keynote at SaaStr Annual that every SaaS operator and CFO needs to confront. The four categories Lemkin laid out will tell you exactly where your company sits in the AI transition, and whether your ARR growth is real or borrowed time. If you're building, leading, or financing a SaaS business right now, this is the reality check

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4:15

2 AI Metrics Every SaaS CFO Should Track Today

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/05/10

If you're shipping AI product lines, are you measuring the two metrics that actually tell you whether your AI is making money — or burning it?In episode #371, Ben Murray covers two AI unit economics metrics every SaaS CFO and founder should be tracking today: the Inference Expense Ratio and the Work-to-Inference Ratio. Traditional SaaS metrics aren't enough anymore — and a year from now, when your board, investors, and potential acquirers start asking for AI margin and efficiency data, the

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4:24

What Belongs in AI COGS? The Financial Framework SaaS...

SaaS Metrics School ·

2026/05/09

Are AI inference costs already eating into your gross margin — and you can't even see them on your P&L?In episode #370, Ben Murray breaks down exactly what belongs in AI COGS for SaaS companies offering an AI-first or AI-infused product line. Inference bills are stacking up fast, infrastructure-layer spend is the surprise line item nobody priced in, and most finance teams haven't built the GL account structure to capture any of it cleanly. If you don't get the framework in place now,

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389 results

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