# 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:

| Metric | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise | Blended |
|--------|-----|------------|------------|---------|
| CAC | $____ | $______ | $______ | $______ |
| LTV | $____ | $______ | $______ | $______ |
| LTV:CAC | ___:1 | ___:1 | ___:1 | ___:1 |
| Payback (mo) | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Gross Margin % | ___% | ___% | ___% | ___% |

**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.**
