Metrics and reporting
What this page is for: the numbers the company runs on, defined exactly, plus who reads them and when.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-15, by Head of Finance
Which accounts feed each metric lives in
handbook/chart-of-accounts.md(Reporting rollups), and which accounts count as cash lives inhandbook/cash.md.
The numbers we run on
| Metric | Exact definition | Source | Target or benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRR | Subscription revenue recognized in the month (4000). Excludes onboarding fees (4100). ARR is MRR times 12. | QuickBooks P&L, closed months only | 2026 Operating Plan v3 |
| Gross margin | Revenue less cost of revenue (5000-5999), as a % of revenue | QuickBooks P&L | 75% or better |
| Net burn | See Burn and runway below | Mercury, checked against QuickBooks | Plan v3 |
| Runway | See Burn and runway below | Mercury | 24 months or more |
| Net revenue retention | MRR this month from customers who existed 12 months ago, divided by their MRR then | Stripe | 110% or better |
Boundary cases: Annual prepays count toward MRR as they're recognized, not when billed. Free trials are not revenue. Onboarding fees are services revenue, never MRR.
Burn and runway
- Gross burn: All cash out of Mercury operating checking, excluding transfers to treasury.
- Net burn: Gross burn less cash collected from customers (Stripe payouts and wires).
- Financing inflows: The Series A and any future equity or debt proceeds are excluded from net burn.
- One-time items: Left out of run-rate burn when the Head of Finance says so, and listed in the monthly package. Current list: the November 2026 offsite.
- Lookback window: Trailing three full closed months.
- Runway: Runway cash (operating plus treasury, per
handbook/cash.md) divided by average monthly net burn over the lookback window.
Customers and revenue
- Customer list of record: Stripe.
- Collections versus revenue: About 35% of ARR is billed annually in advance, so cash collected runs ahead of revenue in renewal months. Deferred revenue (2400) is the bridge.
- Customer concentration: Flag any customer over 10% of ARR. Today none is.
People and payroll
- Headcount of record: Gusto. Contractors are listed separately.
- Loaded cost: Salary plus 22% for payroll taxes and benefits.
- Contractors: Engaged through Ramp bills, coded to 6150 Contractors by team, and not counted in headcount.
- Bonuses and commissions: Quarterly bonuses accrued monthly at target and paid the month after quarter end. Sales commissions paid monthly on collected cash.
Plan and forecast
- Budget or forecast of record: Google Sheets, "2026 Operating Plan v3", board-approved March 2026. Variance is measured against it.
- Hiring plan: Four roles in Q4 2026 (two engineers, one AE, one support lead), tracked in the plan's Headcount tab.
- Known changes coming: The November 2026 offsite (about $60,000, one-time). A per-seat price increase for new customers in January 2027.
- Seasonality: Annual renewals cluster in December and January, so collections spike then while MRR doesn't.
Who reads the numbers
| Audience | What they get | Cadence | What they always ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEO | Reporting package (Google Slides) | Monthly, by BD8 | Runway, and burn against plan |
| Board | Board pack: the reporting package plus a KPI page | Quarterly | Net revenue retention, gross margin trend |
| Investors | Update email | Monthly, by BD10 | MRR growth and runway |
- Preferred format: Lead with MRR, net burn, and runway, then one paragraph of commentary per material variance. The September 2026 package is the model; it's saved in
handbook/sources/. - Reporting only on closed months: numbers for a month that isn't closed (per
handbook/close-process.md) are labeled preliminary.