Get expert advice on measuring Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), a crucial metric for SaaS companies. It explains MRR’s importance in forecasting financial stability and growth by detailing calculation methods and different MRR types like New, Expansion, Churned, Contraction, and Reactivation MRR. Strategies to increase MRR, such as upselling and effective use of content marketing, are also discussed, emphasizing the metric’s role in long-term business profitability.
In This Article
Share On:
Metrics are a key element that helps businesses evaluate their performances. One such metric is monthly recurring revenue. Recurring revenue can be the spine of any SaaS company, making a business or company so appealing. One method that makes SaaS companies more comprehensive is calculating monthly recurring revenue and annual recurring revenue. Companies get a long-term view of their financial standing through this calculation.
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) based companies commonly provide subscription-based services. For them, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is an essential metric that helps companies determine the monthly revenue they can expect from the customers in return for their products and services. By paying close attention to a company’s monthly recurring revenue, a company can easily measure its growth and decline correctly and know exactly where it stands in the market.
What is Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?
It is essential to understand what is mrr. Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the monthly income that a company can expect to receive by selling its products and services. Subscription-based SaaS companies often use this metric. MRR can be said to be a standardized measure of a company’s monthly income. MRR is highly beneficial in letting companies know how well they are performing and can also help them predict the upcoming stages of their business.
Companies need to understand and calculate their month-to-month differences in their subscription service’s revenue figures. Companies can also tend to undergo significant loss if, by any means, the monthly recurring revenue figure is miscalculated.
Calculate monthly recurring revenue to track the monthly income generated from subscription-based services or products.
How to calculate Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?
Monthly recurring revenue formula – Calculating monthly recurring revenue is multiplying the total number of active subscribers by the average monthly subscription fee.
Every individual company’s MRR will vary based on its business model. Monthly recurring revenue can be given as follows:
MRR = Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) x Total Number of Accounts
For some companies, the average revenue per account (ARPA) is replaced with the average revenue per user, and the total number of users replaces the total number of accounts. MRR provides a normalized and smooth view of the revenue, and through MRR, companies can quickly evaluate their growth rate.
Quick Example of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
Let us take a quick example of any SaaS business with the below-mentioned customers.
Customer Name
Monthly Subscription Amount Paid
Rahul
$20
Meena
$20
Joy
$50
Ekta
$60
Anita
$100
The MRR for the above-mentioned values will be given as follows:
MRR = Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) x Total Number of Accounts
Where
ARPA is given as
ARPA = Monthly Recurring Revenue / Number of Active Customers (Users)
So, the ARPA here becomes $50
50 (ARPA) * 5 (Total Number of Accounts) = $250 MRR
Types of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
There are five types of MRR, as mentioned below:
New MRR
New MRR is the revenue that is processed from new customers.
2. Expansion MRR
Expansion MRR is the additional monthly recurring revenue from existing customers. This figure is an upgrade in revenue and is usually a result of an up-sell or cross-sell.
3. Churned MRR
Churned MRR is determined as the revenue lost due to subscription cancellations.
4. Contraction MRR
Contraction MRR is the revenue lost (downgrade) from the existing customers.
5. Reactivation MRR
Reaction MRR is the MRR received from customers who have reactivated using a particular company’s service.
The MRR, as mentioned above calculations creates a baseline for companies and businesses to understand their sustainability, growth, and short- and long-term goals.
Expert tips to increase the company’s MRR:
Upsell, Cross-sell, and Promote.
Monthly recurring revenue is expected to grow when businesses upsell, cross-sell, and promote add-ons whenever possible. Upselling and cross-selling are the two most important terms for SaaS businesses. The most critical factor for successful upselling is reaching out to the right prospects at the right time. Upselling helps a business sell products to customers willing to pay for the upgraded product or service and maximizes the potential revenue that a company is expected to receive from the up-selling efforts.
Creatively split the features
Clubbing all the features under a single plan might bring unwanted trouble. Most clients choose the features independently instead of opting for everything at once. The more segregated the parts are, the better they seem to be. Therefore, SaaS companies must devise an established plan to split the features carefully.
Use Content Marketing to the Fullest
Regular content helps businesses establish brand awareness, directly impacting the MRR. Being active on social media and other content-related platforms allows companies to spread the positive word about their presence. Content marketing improves organic search traffic but also helps improve overall business performance and builds brand trust.
Use Pre-Payment Methods
Customers think a little longer before opting for an annual prepaid plan. Hence, companies need to develop various discount coupons and offer so that customers stay committed for an extended period.
Increase the leads
If a business can calculate the marketing ROI, it will notice a massive lead increase, leading to higher MRR. MRR can be seen as a product obtained from the leads. A decent and well-built marketing strategy will help businesses eventually receive a significant return on investment.
Final TakeAway
One of the most defined ways to amplify a SaaS company’s overall revenue stream is to understand the MRR truly. Calculating and understanding all the dimensions of MRR is not relatively easy, but it is equally important. MRR metric provides all the necessary information needed to gain a brief understanding of the financial insights and, in return, keep the company profitable over the long term. Monthly recurring revenue can be constantly improved by acquiring new customers, building a strong sales pipeline, cross-selling, up-selling, updating the pricing models, and building and putting proactive marketing strategies in the right place.
FAQs
How do you calculate monthly recurring revenue?
The formula for calculating monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is as given below:
MRR = Monthly (ARPR) Average Revenue Per User x Total Number of Monthly Users
Consistency and predictability of monthly recurring revenue (MRR) ensure that a company or a business can easily forecast its future revenue.
What does monthly recurring revenue mean?
Monthly recurring can be the predictable monthly revenue a business generates from all the active subscribers in a particular month. This also includes various charges from coupons, recurring add-ons, and discounts.
Why is Monthly Recurring Revenue important?
MRR essentially measures standardized monthly revenue for the company. Revenue standardization is essential for businesses that offer various pricing tiers for their goods or services. MRR is an average figure for recurring monthly revenue for a business.
Are there any limitations to using MRR as a metric?
Indeed, utilizing Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) as a statistic has limits.
Secondly, because MRR only accounts for revenue generated regularly, it may only partially reflect the revenue generated by a company in a given time. One-time sales and project-based revenue are examples of non-recurring revenue sources that need to be recognized in MRR.
Second, MRR makes the unassumable assumption that all consumers will always pay their membership costs. Consumers’ ability to cancel subscriptions or not renew them can affect MRR.
Third, MRR does not account for price adjustments or changes in a customer’s subscription amount, which may influence revenue. For instance, the MRR might not accurately reflect the effects of a consumer upgrading or downgrading their subscription package on income.
The cost of obtaining or keeping consumers, which might affect a business’s profitability, is not considered by MRR. If client acquisition or retention costs are significant, a high MRR may only sometimes indicate a profitable business.
Overall, MRR can be a valuable statistic for tracking the recurring revenue produced by a firm. Still, it’s vital to consider its limits and use them with other metrics to get a complete picture of a company’s financial success.
How can MRR be increased?
You are aware of your MRR and how to calculate it at this point. Here are six recommendations to boost your recurring income:
Generate additional opportunities for upsells
Offer several pricing tiers
Client Retention techniques
Generate additional opportunities for upsells
Offer your clients what they require and generate additional leads and new clients.
What is the difference between MRR and ARR?
Without recurring income, your business can be left to wither away. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) is the annualized amount of predictable revenue your business will produce, just as monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the amount of predictable money your firm generates monthly from clients.
How is MRR calculated?
MRR calculation is easy. Simply multiply the average revenue per user by the number of monthly users (ARPU). For calculating MRR for subscribers under annual plans, the annual plan price is divided by 12, and the result is multiplied by the number of consumers on the annual plan.
Manjusha Karkera is an enthusiastic content marketer who has created numerous engaging and compelling writing pieces for various clients and companies over the years. She enjoys writing pithy content and copy on various sectors like fashion, beauty and wellness, sports, fitness, education, etc. Prior to Team upGrowth, she worked as a Marketing Communications Specialist. Her overall experience includes all forms of content writing and copywriting.
Digital Marketing Bootcamp
Leave a Reply