What is Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)? Steps to Calculate, Grow, and Maximize MRR

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the lifeblood of any subscription business. For companies like Swipesum, which operate in payment processing with our own SaaS tools like Staitment, MRR is more than a metric—it’s a powerful driver of growth, customer retention, and revenue predictability. In this guide, we’ll explore what MRR is, how to calculate it, common pitfalls, and ways to maximize it for long-term success.

What is Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable total revenue generated from active subscriptions within a specific month, including various recurring charges. The company expects this income to be a reliable indicator of financial health and future revenue streams.

It’s a vital metric for tracking and predicting a business’s financial health. Unlike regular monthly revenue calculations, MRR excludes one-time fees, focusing solely on consistent, repeatable income from subscribers​.

For Swipesum, MRR is key to forecasting revenue, setting budgets, and tracking growth for tools like Staitment, our SaaS platform for merchant statement auditing and fee optimization. This metric helps our team make educated decisions about scaling, staffing, and investing in new features based on predictable income.

Why MRR is Essential in Subscription-Based Models

MRR serves as a foundation for critical business decisions, enabling us to track not only revenue growth but also factors like customer satisfaction and retention. Unlike one-time sales, which fluctuate, MRR offers insights into customer lifetime value (CLV), growth, and momentum. By assessing a business's financial health, MRR helps companies like Swipesum plan for the future and pivot strategies in response to predictable patterns in revenue streams.

Key Metrics Associated with MRR

MRR’s true value emerges when combined with related metrics:

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Measures the expense of acquiring a new customer and allows businesses to assess if acquisition costs align with MRR growth.
• Average Revenue per User (ARPU): Helps understand the value each user brings, allowing for targeted upselling and pricing adjustments.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Projected revenue from a customer over their entire subscription period.
• Net New MRR: Assesses monthly revenue growth or decline by factoring in new, expansion, and churned MRR, highlighting its role in evaluating pricing strategies and overall business health.

Tracking these metrics alongside MRR allows Swipesum to optimize customer acquisition strategies and maximize the revenue from each customer while maintaining efficient operations​.

Calculating MRR: Basic and Advanced Methods

Basic MRR Formula

The Basic MRR Formula is a straightforward way to calculate Monthly Recurring Revenue:

MRR = Number of Customers × Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)

This formula offers a quick snapshot of monthly recurring income, making it ideal for businesses with consistent, standard subscription pricing. For example, if Swipesum’s SaaS product, Staitment, has 100 subscribers paying $200 each month, the MRR calculation would be:

100×200=20,000

This means Staitment’s MRR would be $20,000, providing a stable forecast of recurring revenue from subscriptions.

Adjusting for Non-Monthly Billing Intervals

MRR must account for annual or quarterly billing cycles. For example, an annual contract worth $12,000 contributes $1,000 per month to MRR. Failing to adjust for billing intervals can lead to overestimated revenue, impacting forecasts and budgeting.

Including Variable Fees

Usage-based or consumption fees can be included if they are predictable. For instance, if a customer’s fees are consistently $50 based on usage, it can contribute to MRR. This is relevant for Swipesum, where some customers use additional Staitment features on top of their subscription.

Breakdown by Cohort

Breaking down MRR by cohort can provide valuable insights into the performance of different customer segments. A cohort is a group of customers who share similar characteristics, such as the month they signed up or the pricing plan they’re on. By analyzing MRR by cohort, businesses can identify trends and patterns that may not be apparent when looking at overall MRR.

For instance, a business might discover that customers who signed up in a particular month have a higher MRR than those who signed up in other months. This could indicate that the marketing efforts during that month were particularly effective, or that the customers acquired during that period are more likely to upgrade to higher-priced plans.

To break down MRR by cohort, businesses can use a spreadsheet or a tool like Baremetrics to segment their customers by different characteristics. They can then calculate MRR for each cohort and compare the results to identify trends and patterns. This approach allows businesses to tailor their strategies to different customer segments, ultimately driving growth and maximizing MRR.

Common MRR Calculation Mistakes to Avoid

1. Miscounting Non-Monthly Billing: Avoid inflating MRR by incorrectly including annual or quarterly fees as full monthly amounts.
2. Including Non-Recurring Revenue: Exclude one-time fees and setup charges, as they distort true MRR and could mislead financial planning.
3. Ignoring MRR Types: Track churned, expansion, and contraction MRR to maintain a comprehensive view of your revenue landscape. Swipesum monitors each MRR type to identify revenue leaks and maximize growth.
4. Overlooking Churn MRR: Evaluate the financial impact of subscription cancellations on your revenue by calculating churn MRR. Monitoring churn MRR alongside metrics like Net New MRR is crucial for understanding overall MRR dynamics and assessing pricing strategies and revenue health.

Types of MRR for Deeper Insights

Understanding the different types of MRR allows you to identify areas for improvement:

• New MRR: Revenue from new subscribers each month, reflecting customer acquisition efforts.
• Example: Swipesum attracts new clients through targeted marketing campaigns, contributing directly to New MRR growth.
• Expansion MRR: Increased revenue from existing customers upgrading or adding services.
• Example: If a Swipesum customer adds additional features to their Staitment account, this boosts Expansion MRR, showcasing our ability to provide continued value.
• Churned MRR: Lost revenue from customers who cancel or downgrade.
• Example: Addressing churned MRR through improved support and user experience is vital to Swipesum’s long-term growth.
• Reactivation MRR: Revenue from previously churned customers returning.
• Example: Staitment customers who re-engage after a pause boost our Reactivation MRR, showing that they see ongoing value in our services.
• Reduced Revenue: Loss of revenue from subscriptions transitioning from higher to lower payment plans during a specific month.
• Example: Downgrade MRR is calculated by comparing the amounts from higher and lower subscription tiers, illustrating the impact of reduced revenue on overall MRR.

Monitoring each type allows Swipesum to strategically adjust customer success efforts, pricing, and service offerings for maximum impact.

Strategies to Increase MRR

Increasing MRR in a subscription business is about reducing churn, acquiring high-quality leads, and expanding revenue from current customers. Here’s how Swipesum maximizes our MRR for sustained growth:

Reinforce Your Value

Nothing impacts MRR growth like churn. Swipesum focuses on delivering strong, ongoing value through features like Staitment’s advanced fee audits and real-time analytics, which keep our customers engaged and satisfied. By showing how our services cut costs and streamline operations, we build customer loyalty and reduce churn​.

Get Your Pricing Strategy Right

Pricing is both an art and a science. Swipesum uses A/B testing and market research to find optimal pricing for Staitment. Segmenting plans (Basic, Pro, Enterprise) based on customer needs has helped us appeal to a broader audience while maintaining sustainable revenue growth.

Make It Easy to Scale

Allow customers to access the next level of service easily. Swipesum offers flexible options for Staitment users, letting them add features like transaction volume tracking or premium analytics with just a few clicks, increasing our Expansion MRR.

Optimizing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for MRR Growth

Reducing CAC while maximizing MRR is essential for long-term profitability. The relationship between CAC and MRR allows companies to see if acquisition costs justify the revenue gained. MRR represents the income a company expects to receive monthly from customers, highlighting its importance in assessing financial health and forecasting future revenue streams:

• Focus on High-Impact Acquisition Channels: Swipesum targets high-value customers through channels that have proven successful, like industry webinars and targeted content marketing.
• Reduce Dependence on a Single Revenue Source: Swipesum diversifies our income streams within Staitment by offering additional paid features, spreading revenue across a variety of customer needs.

Best Practices for Tracking and Analyzing MRR

Using analytics tools, such as Baremetrics, provides real-time insights into MRR trends, allowing Swipesum to make data-driven adjustments to our growth strategy and assess the business's financial health. Here’s how to leverage data for maximum impact:

1. Project Monthly Recurring Revenue: Forecast MRR growth by analyzing historical revenue and churn trends. Swipesum manually projects growth while also using analytics software to estimate future MRR.
2. Set MRR Goals: Establish both standard and stretch MRR goals. For Swipesum, the standard goal might reflect linear growth, while a stretch goal could assume an exponential growth rate with new product launches.

Tracking and Analyzing MRR for Growth

Long-term growth requires analyzing MRR trends and patterns over time. Here’s how Swipesum leverages MRR data for strategic decision-making:

• Identify Trends and Patterns: Swipesum tracks seasonality and customer engagement patterns, allowing us to predict revenue dips and proactively launch campaigns to mitigate them.
• Data-Driven Decisions: By analyzing MRR data, Swipesum optimizes pricing and refines acquisition channels. For example, insights from MRR growth and churn analysis help us tailor our offerings to align with customer needs.
• Net New MRR: Swipesum evaluates net new MRR to assess monthly revenue growth or decline. By factoring in new, expansion, and churned MRR, we gain a comprehensive view of our pricing strategies and overall business health.

Industry Benchmarks and Growth Rates

Industry benchmarks and growth rates provide a useful context for evaluating a business’s MRR. By comparing their MRR to industry benchmarks, businesses can determine whether they’re performing above or below average. They can also use industry growth rates to set realistic targets for their own MRR growth.

For example, a SaaS business might find that the average MRR growth rate for their industry is 10% per month. If their own MRR growth rate is only 5% per month, they may need to adjust their pricing strategy or marketing efforts to catch up with the industry average.

To find industry benchmarks and growth rates, businesses can research industry reports and studies, or use online tools like Baremetrics to access benchmark data. This information can help businesses set realistic growth targets and make informed decisions about their pricing strategy and marketing efforts.

Limitations of MRR

While MRR is a useful metric for evaluating a business’s financial health, it has several limitations. One limitation is that it doesn’t account for non-recurring revenue, such as one-time fees or variable fees. This means that businesses with a high proportion of non-recurring revenue may not get an accurate picture of their financial health from MRR alone.

Another limitation of MRR is that it doesn’t account for customer acquisition costs. This means that businesses may be generating a high MRR, but still losing money if their customer acquisition costs are too high.

To overcome these limitations, businesses can use additional metrics, such as customer acquisition cost and lifetime value, to get a more complete picture of their financial health. By considering these metrics alongside MRR, businesses can make more informed decisions about their growth strategies and ensure they are on a path to sustainable profitability.

Projecting Monthly Revenue

Projecting monthly revenue is an important part of financial planning for businesses. By projecting their MRR, businesses can anticipate their future revenue and make informed decisions about investments and resource allocation.

To project monthly revenue, businesses can use historical data and industry benchmarks to estimate their future MRR. They can also use tools like Baremetrics to forecast their MRR based on their current growth rate and customer acquisition costs.

For example, a business might use Baremetrics to forecast their MRR for the next quarter based on their current growth rate and customer acquisition costs. They can then use this forecast to make informed decisions about investments and resource allocation.

By projecting monthly revenue, businesses can anticipate their future revenue and make informed decisions about investments and resource allocation. This can help them achieve their financial goals and drive growth.

Final Thoughts on Maximizing MRR for SaaS Success

For SaaS companies and startups like Swipesum, understanding the recurring revenue MRR definition is crucial. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable total revenue generated from active subscriptions within a specific month, including various recurring charges. It’s more than just a financial figure—it’s a core pillar of our strategy for sustainable growth and customer satisfaction. By continually tracking and optimizing MRR, we gain insights into customer behaviors, improve our services, and drive long-term value for both our clients and Swipesum.

With a focus on clear pricing, effective customer acquisition, and proactive churn management, you can build a thriving, scalable business model that prioritizes growth without compromising customer satisfaction. Let MRR be your guiding metric for success.