Once you start reporting to investors monthly, the KPI pack becomes the most important document you produce. The right metrics, presented consistently, build investor trust; the wrong metrics undermine it.
What you'll learn
→ What to include → Revenue and unit economics → Cash and runway → Customer and operational KPIsWhat to include
Six core sections: revenue (mix, growth rate, retention), gross margin (trend and unit economics), operating expense (by function, headcount), cash and runway, customer metrics (acquisition, retention, NPS), and operational KPIs specific to your business model.
Keep it under 6 pages. Investors read fast. Lead with one chart per page, supporting numbers below, qualitative commentary on the side. Save deeper analysis for board meetings; the monthly pack is for situational awareness, not deep dives.
Revenue and unit economics
Revenue: track monthly and trailing twelve months (TTM) on the same chart. Show year-over-year growth and month-over-month growth. For SaaS: ARR, MRR, net revenue retention, gross revenue retention. For e-commerce: revenue, gross merchandise volume, repeat rate, AOV.
Gross margin: report consistently month after month with one definition. If you change definitions (e.g., adding hosting costs to COGS), restate prior periods on the same basis and disclose the change. Inconsistency is the fastest way to lose investor trust.
Cash and runway
Show cash balance at period end, cash burn (monthly average over last 3 months), and runway (cash divided by burn). For early-stage companies this is often the headline metric, investors want to know how long you can operate without their next cheque.
Calculate two runway scenarios: current burn assuming flat performance, and 'plan burn' factoring known hires and growth investments. The gap tells the story of execution risk. Honesty about runway pressures earns more investor goodwill than over-optimism.
Customer and operational KPIs
Customer metrics: paying customer count, monthly net adds, customer acquisition cost (CAC) by channel, lifetime value (LTV), LTV/CAC ratio, payback period in months. Cohort retention curves are particularly powerful, they tell investors whether your product is sticky.
Operational KPIs depend on your model: for marketplaces, GMV and take rate; for vertical SaaS, seats and feature adoption; for trading, inventory turns and gross margin per SKU. Pick 5-8 that capture the unit economics; do not flood the pack with every metric.
This guide is general information, not professional advice. For situations that involve specific facts, talk to your accountant, or hire one of ours from the marketplace.