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Recurring revenue

Recurring revenue: MRR, ARR, churn and renewal

Track your subscription revenue: MRR, ARR, average ticket, movements in the period (new, expansion, contraction and churn), churn rate, net revenue retention (NRR) and the lifecycle actions (renew, upgrade, downgrade and cancel).

The Recurring revenue screen (side menu) computes the metrics of a recurring-revenue business from your Subscriptions. It is currency-neutral: it uses your organization's currency. All value sums are done in integer cents to avoid rounding errors.

The metrics

  • MRR (monthly recurring revenue): sum of the MRR field of subscriptions with status Active.
  • ARR (annual recurring revenue): MRR × 12.
  • Active subscriptions and average ticket (MRR ÷ number of active subscriptions).
  • Churn rate: MRR lost in the period ÷ MRR at the start of the period.
  • Net revenue retention (NRR): (start + expansion − contraction − churn) ÷ start. It excludes new revenue and measures the existing base only.

Movements in the period

Whenever a subscription changes status or value, the CRM records the transition in the history. The period movements are derived from that history:

  • New (new MRR): a subscription that became active with MRR greater than zero.
  • Expansion: an active subscription whose MRR increased (upgrade).
  • Contraction: an active subscription whose MRR decreased (downgrade).
  • Churn: an active subscription that stopped being active (canceled/paused) or dropped to zero MRR.
  • Net new = new + expansion − contraction − churn.

Subscription lifecycle

  1. Renew: keeps the subscription active and pushes the next billing forward by one month.
  2. Upgrade: enter the new MRR (must be higher than the current one); this counts as an expansion.
  3. Downgrade: enter the new MRR (must be lower than the current one); this counts as a contraction.
  4. Cancel: marks the subscription as Canceled (churn). The record is NOT deleted, so the transition stays in the history and shows up in the movements.
💡 Because the actions record the transition in the history, they automatically feed the movements and rates of the period. Use the period selector at the top to view earlier months.

Product usage

Each subscription has the fields "Usage in the period" (number) and "Usage unit" (e.g., users, GB, calls). Fill them on the subscription itself or with the "Usage" button in the table. The value shows next to each subscription, so you can relate consumption and revenue.

The MRR trend is reconstructed from the history movements (approximate, since there are no persisted monthly snapshots). The MRR at the start of the period is estimated from the current MRR minus the net movement of the period.

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Recurring revenue: MRR, ARR, churn and renewal · Sellio