I run a small SaaS analytics tool side hustle, and I've built 8 spreadsheet templates. The #1 question I get from founders: "How do you project MRR without building a whole financial model?"
Here's the method I teach:
- Track New MRR — log every new customer by month. Use a simple bucket: count * avg revenue.
- Track Expansion — existing customers who upgraded. This is the hidden growth lever.
- Track Churn — not just logos, but revenue churn. A $500 customer churning hurts more than a $50 one.
- Compute Net MRR = Prior MRR + new + expansion - churn.
- Cohort analysis — group customers by acquisition month, see how they retain over 12 months. This tells you if your business is getting better.
I automated all this into a 10-tab Google Sheets calculator. It comes with:
- The 5 core tabs above
- A scenario builder (9 projections)
- Unit economics (LTV, CAC, payback)
- 4 dynamic charts
Free to test: grab the template template at https://microtoolsb2b.gumroad.com/l/ql-lWx_7RdHKapnWbyWeUw== (I set it to pay-what-you-want for the first 50 downloads from this post).
What's your biggest SaaS metric headache? I've built models for retention cohorts, COGS, CLV — happy to share specific formulas in the comments.
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