GASP
Customer Success Retention Metrics Outcome Efficiency

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

This metric is defined in Core Metrics. Customer Success references it as a key outcome metric.

Customer Success owns NRR as the primary outcome metric.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR): The percentage of revenue retained from existing customers over a period, including expansion, contraction, and churn. Also known as Net Dollar Retention (NDR).

Also known as: NRR, NDR

Formula

NRR = MRR of cohort today / MRR of same cohort 12 months ago × 100
NRR = (Beginning MRR + Expansion MRR - Contraction MRR - Churned MRR) / Beginning MRR × 100
NRR-O = MRR of cohort today (organic only) / MRR of same cohort 12 months ago × 100
NRR-M = (Beginning MRR + All Expansion MRR − Contraction MRR − Churned MRR) / Beginning MRR × 100
NRR-M ≈ NRR-O + Reactivation + Cross-Module + New Buying Centre + Pricing Adjustment + Recontracting expansion

Benchmarks

  • Below 90%: Leaky bucket. Growth requires constant new acquisition.
  • 90-100%: Stable. You keep what you have.
  • 100-110%: Good. Existing customers grow. (Median for VC-backed SaaS: 101-106%)
  • 110-120%: Great. Strong expansion motion.
  • 120%+: Exceptional. Top quartile performance.

What It Tells You

Can you grow without adding new customers? NRR is a critical indicator of SaaS sustainability because it measures whether your existing customer base is expanding or contracting. High NRR reduces dependence on new customer acquisition for growth.

Common Mistakes

  • Calculating over inconsistent time periods
  • Including new customer revenue (that's not NRR)
  • Excluding small customers or segments
  • Confusing with Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)

Dual-Lens: Operating / Market Forms

This metric has two governed forms derived from the same Commercial Event Ledger using Attribution Taxonomy Layer tags.

Operating Form: Cohort NRR (NRR-O)

NRR-O uses the cohort method and includes only organic expansion — growth from the same product and usage realisation. It excludes expansion from new modules, new buying centres, reactivation, and pricing actions.

CEL Source:
`Revenue_Event`
ATL Inclusion:
- `lifecycle_attribution` ∈ (`Retention`, `Expansion`) - `expansion_classification` ∈ (`Same_Product`, `Usage_Realisation`) - Excludes: `expansion_classification` ∈ (`New_Module`, `New_Buying_Centre`, `Pricing_Adjustment`, `Recontracting`) and `lifecycle_attribution` = `Reactivation`
NRR-O = MRR of cohort today (organic only) / MRR of same cohort 12 months ago × 100

What it tells you: True product-market fit signal — are customers expanding because the product delivers more value, independent of commercial motion?

Market Form: Account NRR (NRR-M)

NRR-M uses the account-level formula method and includes all expansion types. Only net-new logo acquisition is excluded. This matches what public SaaS companies report and what investors benchmark.

CEL Source:
`Revenue_Event`
ATL Inclusion:
- All `expansion_classification` values included - Only `lifecycle_attribution` = `Acquisition` excluded
NRR-M = (Beginning MRR + All Expansion MRR − Contraction MRR − Churned MRR) / Beginning MRR × 100

What it tells you: The total revenue retention and expansion picture that investors use for benchmarking and valuation.

Bridge

NRR-M ≈ NRR-O + Reactivation + Cross-Module + New Buying Centre + Pricing Adjustment + Recontracting expansion

The delta (NRR-M − NRR-O) is the **Expansion Integrity Gap** — how much of reported NRR comes from commercial motion (cross-sell, reactivation, pricing) versus organic product expansion. A wide gap means NRR depends on sales execution rather than product-led growth. Not inherently bad, but the board should know which engine drives retention. SaaS Metrics Standards Board recommends the cohort method; public SaaS companies report account-level NRR (NRR-M). ---

Related Metrics

Connected in the GASP relationship graph.

Upstream — what drives this

Sources

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GASP Standard v1 · Last updated

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