Finance Metrics Quickref

Purpose

Quick reference for any SaaS finance metric without deep teaching. Use this when you need a fast formula lookup, benchmark check, or decision framework reminder. For detailed explanations, calculations, and examples, see the related deep-dive skills.

This is not a teaching tool, it's a cheat sheet optimized for speed. Scan, find, apply.

Input

Works best with: The metric you need, name it and get the formula, benchmark, and decision context. Also useful: Your numbers, if you want the formula applied on the spot.

Anything supplied with the invocation itself, text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended ARGUMENTS: line, counts as answers already given. Use it and skip whatever it covers; don't re-ask.

Arriving empty-handed? That works too. Ask for the metric family you're working in (revenue, retention, efficiency, capital) and scan from there.

Example invocation: Quick ref: burn multiple, formula, benchmark, and whether 1.7 is bad for Series B.

Key Concepts

Metric Categories

Metrics are organized into four families:

1. Revenue & Growth, Top-line money (revenue, ARPU, ARPA, MRR/ARR, churn, NRR, expansion)
2. Unit Economics, Customer-level profitability (CAC, LTV, payback, margins)
3. Capital Efficiency, Cash management (burn rate, runway, OpEx, net income)
4. Efficiency Ratios, Growth vs. profitability balance (Rule of 40, magic number)

When to Use This Skill

Use this when:

• You need a quick formula or benchmark
• You're preparing for a board meeting or investor call
• You're evaluating a decision and need to check which metrics matter
• You want to identify red flags quickly

Don't use this when:

• You need detailed calculation guidance (use saas-revenue-growth-metrics or saas-economics-efficiency-metrics)
• You're learning these metrics for the first time (start with deep-dive skills)
• You need examples and common pitfalls (covered in related skills)