Climbing higher changes your perspective — each step in the margin ladder offers a clearer view of your business’s true profitability. Profitability isn’t just a single number—it’s a layered story, told in different voices depending on what you choose to include or leave out. Each margin metric peels back a different part of that story, starting with the broadest view and narrowing until you see the final bottom line. Understanding how these margins connect, and how each one

A clear path doesn’t always mean a smooth journey — but it reveals where you’re actually headed. Why Understanding Net Margin Matters For many founders, reaching profitability marks a turning point. It signals that the business model is starting to hold — that the company is bringing in more than it spends and that net income is finally showing up on the financials. After long periods of uncertainty or break-even operations, that shift often feels like confirmation that somet

Two companies. Same EBITDA. Different margins. The gap between them isn’t size — it’s efficiency. EBITDA vs EBITDA margin “EBITDA shows what you made. EBITDA margin shows how well you made it.” Early on, founders are drawn to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) because it answers a direct, grounding question: how much money is this business actually making from operations? It’s clean, cash-adjacent, and immune to the noise of depreciation,

Growth is visible. Profit takes structure. “We’re doing more than ever. Bigger team, bigger clients, bigger revenue. So why does profit still feel flat?” It’s a common moment — founders start hitting visible milestones, revenue keeps climbing, and yet the pressure doesn’t ease. In fact, things feel tighter. The team is busier. Monthly stress levels aren’t dropping. And despite all that progress, the business doesn’t feel more profitable. That disconnect often comes down to Op

Growth without structure erodes margins. This is where delivery efficiency starts. Recognized revenue often signals growth, but not always ease. The business might be selling more, earning more, even expanding in visible ways — but something underneath hasn’t caught up. It still feels constrained. Each month carries pressure. Each decision feels heavier than it should — even when your numbers seem healthy on paper. That’s where gross profit margin benchmarks help expose under

“Recurring beauty, like recurring revenue, depends on what's quietly holding it up.” Three Metrics, One Misunderstood Term: Recurring Revenue Most recurring revenue metrics are built with good intentions — to track growth, measure stability, or report performance. But under the surface, many of those numbers don’t mean what people assume they mean. A founder might report strong Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) while losing ground on customer retention. Another might report st

The path ahead may look steady — but is your foundation built to carry it? Breathing is easier when cash is sitting in the bank. But liquidity isn’t just about how much you have — it’s about how much you’ll need. And how soon you’ll need it. Plenty of founders check the cash balance and think: “We’re good for now.” But what if payables are stacking up? Or are customer payments slower than usual? The number in your bank account might not tell the whole story. This is where the

Burn isn’t always chaotic. Sometimes it’s measured — and managed. You’ve probably said it before: “We burned about $100K last month.” It’s a common phrase — short, useful, and easy to throw into a board deck or investor update. But what often gets missed is this: that burn number can mean two completely different things — namely, Net Burn vs Operating Burn. And if you’re not clear on which one you’re using, you may be telling the wrong story. Most teams track Net Burn  — the

Clarity turns scattered numbers into structured growth — just like a well-planned forest. One of the hardest things about SaaS ( software-as-a-service ) accounting is that cash and revenue don’t move at the same pace. You can close a big contract, invoice the full amount, and see your bank balance jump — but that doesn’t mean you’ve earned it yet. In SaaS, revenue is earned as you deliver the service, not when the money shows up. If you’re not tracking that distinction, your