Have you ever seen a public company restate its ARR? In episode #296, Ben Murray dives into a real-world example from the London Stock Exchange—Celebrus Technologies—and unpacks why and how they updated their Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) definition.

Key Highlights:

• Financial restatements ≠ just GAAP: ARR, a non-GAAP metric, is increasingly being scrutinized as pricing and revenue models evolve.

• Case Study: Celebrus Technologies

  • Old ARR definition: Included license revenue, cloud, support & maintenance, third-party software licenses, and project revenue (i.e. services).

  • New ARR definition: Focuses solely on Celebrus software licenses and managed services—excluding third-party licenses and project revenue.

• Why the change?

  • To better align with how peers in their sector define ARR.

  • To give investors a “cleaner” view of core recurring software revenue.

• Impact of the change: ARR restated downward and now reported at 18.8M (FY25).

• Ben’s take: This is a positive trend. While managed services are still debatable as “recurring,” overall transparency in ARR definitions is improving across public SaaS companies.

Bonus Insight:
ARR restatements, especially when they lower reported revenue, are rare—but this signals a maturing investor focus on true recurring revenue quality.

Upcoming Webinar:
Join Ben Murray and Ray Rike on July 17 as they explore how public SaaS companies are defining and calculating ARR.

>> https://thesaascfo.webinarninja.com/live-webinars/10693368/register

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In episode #295 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray breaks down how to benchmark your CAC Payback Period accurately—and why generic social media posts can lead you astray.

Too many founders rely on simplified benchmark numbers, such as “12 months or less is good,” without understanding the nuances behind the data. Ben explains why ACV segmentation is critical, how top-quartile companies perform across different contract sizes, and where you can obtain customized benchmarks for your SaaS business.

Key topics include:

• Why aggregate CAC Payback benchmarks are dangerous to follow blindly

• How CAC Payback performance varies by Annual Contract Value (ACV)

• Top quartile benchmarks from (Ray Rike’s database)

• CAC Payback ranges

• Why product segmentation matters—don’t combine CAC across SMB and enterprise lines

• How to get free, custom benchmarks to evaluate your own performance

Remember: You can’t optimize what you don’t benchmark correctly.

Get free custom SaaS benchmarks: Benchmarkit.ai

Download my CAC Payback Period template: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-cac-payback-period-with-variable-revenue/

In episode #294 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray dives into one of the most important metrics for SaaS operators and investors: CAC Payback Period—with a focus on adapting it for usage-based pricing models.

Whether you’re B2B, B2C, or AI-focused, CAC Payback is a must-have metric when you're investing heavily in go-to-market strategies. But how do you accurately calculate it when your business has subscription + usage revenue?

Ben walks through:

• The standard CAC Payback formula and why it matters

• How to define "customer" accurately to calculate CAC

• How to adjust the denominator of the formula to include usage-based revenue

• How to estimate usage revenue when there’s no clear minimum

• Public company trends in reporting ARR in usage-based models

• Practical judgment calls that SaaS CFOs must make when incorporating usage data

If you're only including subscription ARR in your CAC Payback, but you're generating significant usage revenue—you’re underestimating your efficiency.

Learn more: https://www.thesaascfo.com/how-to-calculate-cac-payback-period-with-variable-revenue/

Coming Up Next:

CAC Payback Period Benchmarks—why you can't just trust the averages you see online.

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