Skip to content
StartupCFO logoStartupCFO.AI
All industries

Metric Tree

E-commerce Metric Tree

Gross profit, driven by traffic, conversion, order value and returns. 153 metrics, each with its definition and formula, mapped from the north star Gross Profit, the profitability root Operating Income, and the survival metric Cash Runway down to the operating KPIs your team can move.

Growth & revenueProfit & efficiencyCash & capitalOperating KPIsDrivers/KPI or driver pushes up or downappears elsewhere in the tree

Growth trunk

What you are building: the north-star metric and what it is made of.

Profitability trunk

Whether the business earns money: operating income, gross profit less operating expenses.

Survival trunk

How long you can keep building: runway and the cash, burn and revenue behind it.

Supporting metrics

Also part of the E-commerce tree in ClariFi: the ratios and diagnostics you read alongside the trunks.

Growth
Customers
Balance sheet
Pipeline
Contracts
Retention
Profitability
Unit economics
Expenses
Workforce
Efficiency
Working capital
Cash

All 153 metrics in the E-commerce tree

Definitions and formulas as ClariFi uses them. Metric names in formulas refer to other entries on this page.

Growth and revenue

40 metrics

Balance sheet

Debt-to-Assets Ratio
Total liabilities ÷ total assets: the share of what the company owns that is financed by what it owes. Total debt is read as total liabilities, the figure the balance sheet reports.
Formula: Total Liabilities ÷ Total Assets
Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Total liabilities ÷ total equity: how much of the business is funded by what it owes rather than by its owners.
Formula: Total Liabilities ÷ Total Equity
Deferred Revenue
Amounts billed or collected for work not yet delivered, at month end: a liability until earned.
Interest Coverage
Operating income ÷ interest expense: how many times the month's operating profit covers its interest.
Formula: Operating Income ÷ Interest Expense
Non-current Assets
Total assets less total current assets: fixed assets, intangibles and other assets held beyond a year.
Formula: Total Assets − Total Current Assets
Non-current Liabilities
Total liabilities less total current liabilities: obligations due beyond a year.
Formula: Total Liabilities − Total Current Liabilities
Return on Assets
Net income annualised (the month × 12) ÷ total assets. Xero's Return on Investment publishes no formula; this is the standard return on assets.
Formula: (Net Revenue − Total Expenses) × 12 ÷ Total Assets
Return on Equity
Net income annualised (the month × 12) ÷ total equity. n/a when equity is zero or negative.
Formula: (Net Revenue − Total Expenses) × 12 ÷ Total Equity
Term Assets to Liabilities
Non-current assets ÷ non-current liabilities, as Xero labels it. Xero publishes no formula; this is the standard reading of its name.
Formula: (Total Assets − Total Current Assets) ÷ (Total Liabilities − Total Current Liabilities)
Total Assets
Everything the company owns, current and long-term, at month end.
Total Equity
Total assets less total liabilities, at month end. Negative when accumulated losses exceed the capital raised.
Total Liabilities
Everything the company owes, current and long-term, at month end.

Contracts

Contracted ARR
Annual value of the customer contracts in force at the month end, from the contract register. A renewal is never counted twice. Shown with its coverage of MRR × 12 (or trailing-12-month revenue).
Customer Concentration Index (HHI)
Herfindahl-Hirschman index of customers' shares of contracted annual value.
Remaining Performance Obligations
Contracted revenue not yet recognised, from the contract register. Open-ended contracts are reported separately.
Revenue Concentration
The largest customer's share of contracted annual value, customers grouped by normalised name.

Customers

Churned Customers
Customers lost in the month.
Customer CMGR
Compound monthly growth rate of customers over the last twelve months.
Formula: pow(Total Customers ÷ Total Customers (12 months ago), 1 ÷ 12) − 1
Customer Growth Rate
Month-over-month change in total customers.
Formula: Total Customers ÷ Total Customers (last month) − 1
Gross Customer Churn Rate
Customers lost in the month as a share of the customers at the start of it. Where customers are not under contract, the company defines what counts as a churned customer and the figure is recorded directly.
Formula: Churned Customers ÷ Total Customers (last month)
Net Customers
New customers less churned customers.
Formula: New Customers − Churned Customers
New Customers
Customers acquired in the month. Reactivated customers are not new: counting them would understate CAC.
Retained Customers
Customers at the start of the month less those who churned.
Formula: Total Customers (last month) − Churned Customers
Total Customers
Paying customers at the end of the month. For a marketplace, demand-side active users only.

Growth

Revenue Growth Rate (MoM)
Month-over-month change in net revenue. Over a period it stays a MONTHLY rate, compounded, so the monthly bands still apply.
Formula: Net Revenue ÷ Net Revenue (last month) − 1
Revenue Growth Rate (YoY)
Change in net revenue against the same month a year earlier. Seasonality cancels.
Formula: Net Revenue ÷ Net Revenue (12 months ago) − 1

Pipeline

Average ACV
Average annual contract value of valued, active contracts.
Lead Conversion Rate
New customers in the month ÷ new leads in the month. A same-month approximation: a lead often converts in a later month.
Formula: New Customers ÷ New Leads
Lead Qualification Rate
Leads qualified in the month ÷ new leads in the month.
Formula: Qualified Leads ÷ New Leads
New Leads
Sales leads created in the month.
Qualified Leads
Leads qualified into a sales opportunity in the month.
Sales Cycle
Average days from opening a deal to closing it, over deals closed in the window.
Weighted Pipeline
Pipeline deals' annual value × their win probability; a deal with no probability contributes zero.
Win Rate
Closed deals won as a share of deals closed in the window, renewals included.

Pricing

Average Discount Rate
Average discount or promotion rate on sales.
Average Order Value
Average revenue per order.
Orders per Customer / Month
Orders per customer per month.

Retention

Cohort Net Dollar Retention (TTM)
Contract value in force at this month end of customers whose contracts were in force twelve months earlier, over their value then. Biased downward: an expansion recorded by editing a contract changes both ends of the year and is not counted, while churn always is. No benchmark band until register history exists.
Cohort Retention
Retention by acquisition cohort from the client's cohort tables, each cohort divided by its own base.

Revenue

Net Revenue
Revenue recognised in the month from every source, recurring and one-time, net of credits and refunds booked as contra-revenue.

Profit and efficiency

42 metrics

Efficiency

Revenue Burn Multiple
A year's net burn over the annual run-rate revenue added over the year (year-on-year, so seasonality cancels); quarter-on-quarter, badged, with fewer than 15 months.
Formula: (Total Expenses summed over the last 12 months − Net Revenue summed over the last 12 months) ÷ ((Net Revenue summed over the last 3 months − sum(Net Revenue (12 months ago), 3)) × 4)
Rule of 40
Annualised revenue growth plus net margin, in points.
Formula: pow(1 + Revenue Growth Rate (MoM), 12) − 1 + Net Margin

Expenses

COGS
Direct costs of delivering the product or service: hosting, infrastructure, support and payment processing. A ledger's Cost of Revenue line maps here; sales and marketing are operating expenses, not COGS.
Depreciation & Amortization
Depreciation of fixed assets and amortisation of intangibles in the month: non-cash expenses.
G&A Expenses
General and administrative costs: rent, legal, accounting, HR and office.
Income Tax
Income tax expense in the month. Never payroll, sales, property or other operating taxes.
Interest Expense
Interest paid on loans, notes and credit lines in the month.
Operating Expenses
Costs other than COGS: salaries, marketing, rent, software and professional services.
Other Operating Expenses
Operating expenses not recorded as R&D, sales and marketing or G&A: the remainder after the three departments, so the four always add up to operating expenses.
Formula: Operating Expenses − R&D Expenses − Sales and Marketing Spend − G&A Expenses
Payroll Expense
Wages, salaries, payroll taxes and employee benefits in the month, from P&L accounts named as such (contractors excluded). A floor when a payroll account is named otherwise.
R&D Expenses
Research and development costs: engineering salaries, tools and infrastructure.
Sales and Marketing Spend
Cost of the sales team, marketing campaigns, advertising and other customer acquisition.
Total Expenses
Every cost of the month, operating and non-operating. ClariFi computes it from COGS, operating expenses and the source's own below-the-line amount unless a person entered it.

Profitability

EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation: net income plus D&A, interest expense and income tax, less interest income, built from identified ledger lines.
EBITDA Margin
EBITDA as a share of net revenue.
Formula: EBITDA ÷ Net Revenue
Expense Ratio
Total expenses as a share of net revenue.
Formula: Total Expenses ÷ Net Revenue
Gross Margin
Gross profit as a share of net revenue. For a marketplace that reports gross merchandise value (GMV) as its revenue, this is the margin on GMV and is not compared with a benchmark.
Formula: (Net Revenue − COGS) ÷ Net Revenue
Gross Profit
Net revenue less COGS.
Formula: Net Revenue − COGS
Interest Income
Interest earned on cash and investments in the month.
Net Income
Net revenue less total expenses.
Formula: Net Revenue − Total Expenses
Net Margin
Net income (net revenue less total expenses) as a share of net revenue.
Formula: (Net Revenue − Total Expenses) ÷ Net Revenue
Operating Income
Net revenue less COGS and operating expenses: what the business earns from operating before depreciation is added back (EBITDA) and before interest, tax and other items below the operating line (net income). The root of the profitability trunk.
Formula: Gross Profit − Operating Expenses
Operating Margin
Operating income as a share of net revenue.
Formula: Operating Income ÷ Net Revenue

Unit economics

CAC
Sales and marketing spend per new customer over the trailing three months. With spend and no new customers it is not meaningful and is shown as such, never as a figure.
Formula: Sales and Marketing Spend summed over the last 3 months ÷ New Customers summed over the last 3 months
CAC (same month)
Same-period CAC: this month's sales and marketing spend per new customer this month. Shown beside ClariFi's trailing-three-month CAC.
Formula: Sales and Marketing Spend ÷ New Customers
Cost to Serve
COGS per customer, over the average customers of the month.
Formula: COGS ÷ ((Total Customers (last month) + Total Customers) ÷ 2)
Customer Lifetime (months)
1 ÷ the trailing-12-month churn rate, capped at 60 months; blank with fewer than 3 churned customers in the year.
Formula: min(1 ÷ (Churned Customers summed over the last 12 months ÷ sum(Total Customers (last month), 12)), 60)
Gross Margin (trailing 12 months)
Gross profit over the trailing twelve months as a share of revenue over the same months, used by LTV and Payback; the month's own gross margin, badged, when fewer months exist.
Formula: Gross Profit summed over the last 12 months ÷ Net Revenue summed over the last 12 months
LTV
Gross-margin lifetime value per customer: monthly revenue per customer × trailing-12-month gross margin × lifetime, where lifetime is 1 ÷ the trailing-12-month churn rate, capped at 60 months and blank with fewer than 3 churned customers in the year.
Formula: Monthly Revenue per Customer × Gross Margin (trailing 12 months) × Customer Lifetime (months)
LTV:CAC Ratio
Gross-margin LTV divided by CAC: how many times a customer repays what it cost to acquire.
Formula: LTV ÷ CAC
Monthly Revenue per Customer
What an acquired customer pays each month, used by Payback and LTV: ARPA for subscription clients; net revenue over the month's average customers for contractual clients (marketplaces: per demand-side user, GMV on the principal basis); not defined for charities, biotechs, or clients whose customers are not contractual without a confirmed churn definition.
Payback Period
Months of gross profit per customer needed to repay CAC: CAC ÷ (monthly revenue per customer × trailing-12-month gross margin).
Formula: CAC ÷ (Monthly Revenue per Customer × Gross Margin (trailing 12 months))
Revenue Payback
CAC ÷ monthly revenue per customer: payback on revenue rather than gross profit. Shown beside Payback Period, never stored or targeted.
Formula: CAC ÷ Monthly Revenue per Customer

Workforce

Average Employee Count
The average of last month-end's and this month-end's headcount.
Formula: (Headcount (last month) + Headcount) ÷ 2
Employee Retention Rate
The share of last month-end's employees still employed: 1 − departures ÷ last month-end's headcount. Departures and headcount must describe the same people, a headcount that includes contractors, or one entered by hand beside a synced employee list, can make it read low or below zero.
Formula: 1 − Employees Departed ÷ Headcount (last month)
Employee Turnover Rate
Employees who left in the month ÷ the month's average employee count.
Formula: Employees Departed ÷ ((Headcount (last month) + Headcount) ÷ 2)
Employees Departed
Employees who left in the month. From QuickBooks it is blank whenever any inactive employee has no release date recorded, since the count would then be a floor.
Employees Hired
Employees who started in the month.
Headcount
Full-time-equivalent employees at month end.
Payroll Cost per Employee
The month's payroll expense divided by month-end headcount.
Formula: Payroll Expense ÷ Headcount
Payroll Cost Ratio
Payroll expense as a share of net revenue.
Formula: Payroll Expense ÷ Net Revenue
Revenue per Employee
Net revenue in the month divided by headcount.
Formula: Net Revenue ÷ Headcount

Cash and capital

59 metrics

Cash

Average Bank Balance (month-end basis)
The average of last month-end's and this month-end's cash balance. QuickBooks' Average Bank Balance averages DAILY balances, which needs a bank feed ClariFi does not read; this is the month-end approximation and is labelled so.
Formula: (Cash Balance (last month) + Cash Balance) ÷ 2
Cash Balance
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the month. May be negative (overdrawn).
Cash Flow Margin
Net cash flow as a share of net revenue: how much of each dollar of sales the month turned into cash.
Formula: (Cash Balance − Cash Balance (last month)) ÷ Net Revenue
Cash Received
Gross cash received into the bank accounts in the month.
Cash Runway
Months of cash left: the latest balance, projected forward with the burns recorded since, divided by the larger of the average net burn of the months that burned among the last three (the last four when fewer than two of the last three burned) and the net burn of the most recent month that burned; when fewer than two of the last four months burned, divided by the plain three-month average net burn. A month with no recorded figures counts as burning, at no less than the largest net burn recorded in the last twelve months (more when the balances on either side imply more). Blank when not burning, when the latest balance is more than three months old, or when the projected cash ran out before this month; shown as 120 months when longer; "Out of cash" when the latest recorded balance and the cash projected from it are both zero or negative.
Cash Spent
Gross cash paid out of the bank accounts in the month.
Days Cash on Hand
Days of operating expenses the cash balance would pay for with no new cash: cash ÷ operating expenses × the days in the month.
Formula: Cash Balance ÷ Operating Expenses × days()
Financing Cash Flow
Net cash from financing activities in the month: equity, loans and repayments.
Investing Cash Flow
Net cash from investing activities in the month.
Months of Cash
Cash balance ÷ the average monthly total expenses over up to twelve months (at least three recorded). Includes donor-restricted cash; never blank for a break-even organisation.
Net Burn
Net cash consumed by operations in the month: total expenses less net revenue, floored at zero. Over a period it is rebuilt from the components and shown as a monthly figure.
Formula: max(Total Expenses − Net Revenue, 0)
Net Cash Flow
Cash in less cash out over the month: the change in the cash balance from the previous month end.
Formula: Cash Balance − Cash Balance (last month)
Operating Cash Flow
Net cash from operating activities in the month, as the ledger's statement of cash flows reports it.
Operating Cash Flow (estimated)
QuickBooks' formula from ClariFi's own figures: net income + depreciation & amortisation − the month's increase in non-cash working capital (current assets less cash, less current liabilities). For a ledger with no cash-flow statement (Xero); current liabilities include any short-term debt, which a statement would classify as financing.
Formula: Net Revenue − Total Expenses + Depreciation & Amortization − (Total Current Assets − Cash Balance − Total Current Liabilities − (Total Current Assets (last month) − Cash Balance (last month) − Total Current Liabilities (last month)))
Operating Cash Flow Ratio
Operating cash flow (as the ledger reports it) annualised ÷ total current liabilities.
Formula: Operating Cash Flow × 12 ÷ Total Current Liabilities

Working capital

% Overdue Payable
Payables past due as a share of all payables, at month end.
Formula: (AP 1-30 Days Past Due + AP 31-60 Days + AP 61-90 Days + AP Over 90 Days) ÷ Total Accounts Payable
Accounts Payable Turnover
How many times payables were paid in the month: COGS ÷ average accounts payable (this month end and last). COGS stands in for purchases, which the ledgers do not report as a total.
Formula: COGS ÷ ((Total Accounts Payable (last month) + Total Accounts Payable) ÷ 2)
Accounts Receivable Turnover
How many times receivables were collected in the month: net revenue ÷ average accounts receivable (this month end and last).
Formula: Net Revenue ÷ ((Total Accounts Receivable (last month) + Total Accounts Receivable) ÷ 2)
Active Vendors
Distinct vendors on bills dated in the month.
AP 1-30 Days Past Due
Payables 1-30 days past due, the overdue part of the 0-30 bucket.
AP 31-60 Days
Payables 31-60 days past due.
AP 61-90 Days
Payables 61-90 days past due.
AP Balances Past Due
Every payable past its due date at month end: 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and over 90 days past due.
Formula: AP 1-30 Days Past Due + AP 31-60 Days + AP 61-90 Days + AP Over 90 Days
AP Current (0-30 days)
Payables not yet due or 1-30 days past due.
AP Over 90 Days
Payables more than 90 days past due.
AR 1-30 Days Past Due
Receivables 1-30 days past due, the overdue part of the 0-30 bucket.
AR 31-60 Days
Receivables overdue by 31-60 days.
AR 61-90 Days
Receivables overdue by 61-90 days.
AR Balances Past Due
Every receivable past its due date at month end: 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and over 90 days past due.
Formula: AR 1-30 Days Past Due + AR 31-60 Days + AR 61-90 Days + AR Over 90 Days
AR Current (0-30 days)
Receivables within payment terms (0-30 days).
AR Over 30 Days %
Receivables more than 30 days overdue as a share of all receivables.
Formula: (AR 31-60 Days + AR 61-90 Days + AR Over 90 Days) ÷ Total Accounts Receivable
AR Over 90 Days
Receivables overdue by more than 90 days.
AR Over 90 Days %
Receivables more than 90 days overdue as a share of all receivables.
Formula: AR Over 90 Days ÷ Total Accounts Receivable
Average Inventory Value
The average of this month-end's and last month-end's inventory.
Formula: (Inventory (last month) + Inventory) ÷ 2
Bills Paid on Time
Bills fully paid in the month on or before their due date.
Cash Conversion Cycle
Days from paying for stock to collecting from customers: days sales of inventory + days sales outstanding − days payable outstanding, for Ecommerce, Manufacturing and Food & Beverage clients. Every other industry is treated as holding no inventory, so its cycle is DSO − DPO even when inventory is recorded, a business that holds stock should be set to one of those three industries.
Formula: Inventory ÷ COGS × days() + Days Sales Outstanding − Days Payable Outstanding
Cash Ratio
Cash ÷ total current liabilities, at month end.
Formula: Cash Balance ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Current Ratio
Total current assets ÷ total current liabilities, at month end.
Formula: Total Current Assets ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Days Payable Outstanding
Average days taken to pay bills: accounts payable ÷ COGS × the days in the month, as QuickBooks defines it (D22). Month-end payables, and COGS standing in for purchases.
Formula: Total Accounts Payable ÷ COGS × days()
Days Sales of Inventory
Average days to sell the inventory on hand: inventory ÷ COGS × the days in the month.
Formula: Inventory ÷ COGS × days()
Days Sales Outstanding
Average days to collect payment: accounts receivable ÷ net revenue × the days in the month, as QuickBooks defines it (D22). Month-end receivables, and total revenue standing in for credit sales.
Formula: Total Accounts Receivable ÷ Net Revenue × days()
Gross Margin Return on Investment
Gross profit earned in the month for each dollar of average inventory: gross profit ÷ average inventory.
Formula: Gross Profit ÷ ((Inventory (last month) + Inventory) ÷ 2)
Inventory
Goods held for sale and the materials to make them, at cost, at month end.
Inventory Turnover
How many times inventory was sold and replaced in the month: COGS ÷ average inventory (this month end and last).
Formula: COGS ÷ ((Inventory (last month) + Inventory) ÷ 2)
Invoices Issued
Customer invoices dated in the month.
Net Credit Sales
Invoices issued in the month less credit notes issued in the month.
On-Time Payment Rate
Of the bills fully paid in the month, the share paid on or before the due date.
Formula: Bills Paid on Time ÷ Paid Bills
Open Invoices
Customer invoices not fully paid at month end.
Overdue Bills
Vendor bills past due and not fully paid at month end.
Overdue Invoices
Customer invoices past due and not fully paid at month end.
Paid Bills
Vendor bills fully paid in the month.
Paid Bills (Value)
The full amount of each vendor bill whose final payment fell in the month, including any part paid in earlier months.
Quick Ratio
Quick assets, cash and accounts receivable, the current assets that turn into cash quickly, ÷ total current liabilities. Inventory is excluded.
Formula: (Cash Balance + Total Accounts Receivable) ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Total Accounts Payable
Bills the company owes vendors and suppliers, at month end.
Total Accounts Receivable
Invoices owed to the company and not yet paid, at month end.
Total Current Assets
Cash, receivables, inventory and other assets expected to turn into cash within a year, at month end.
Total Current Liabilities
Payables, accrued expenses, short-term debt and other obligations due within a year, at month end.
Unpaid Bills
Vendor bills not fully paid at month end.
Working Capital
Total current assets less total current liabilities: what is left after paying the bills due within a year.
Formula: Total Current Assets − Total Current Liabilities

Operating KPIs

4 metrics

Conversion

Add-to-Cart Rate
Percentage of sessions that added at least one item to a cart.

Demand

Email List Size
Marketable email subscribers at month end.
Website Sessions
Total sessions across web and app during the month.

Operations

Return Rate
Percentage of shipped units returned during the month.

Drivers

8 metrics

Conversion

Page Load Seconds
Median product-page load time in seconds.
Products With Reviews
Share of live products carrying at least one customer review.

Demand

Lead Magnet Downloads
Downloads of guides, discounts or other offers that collect an email.
Organic Search Clicks
Clicks from unpaid search results.
Paid Ad Impressions
Impressions served by paid advertising.
Signup Form Views
Views of the email signup form or popup.

Operations

Order Accuracy Rate
Share of orders shipped with the right items and variants.
Size Guide Usage Rate
Share of orders where the buyer viewed the size or fit guide.

Questions about the E-commerce tree

What is the north star metric for a E-commerce company?
In ClariFi's default E-commerce tree the growth trunk is rooted at Gross Profit. Net revenue less COGS. The profitability trunk is rooted at Operating Income: gross profit less operating expenses, whether the business earns money. The survival trunk is rooted at Cash Runway, which tells you how long you can keep building.
What metrics should a E-commerce startup track?
This tree defines 153 metrics for E-commerce: the three trunks (Gross Profit, Operating Income and Cash Runway) with the formula components, operating KPIs and their drivers under them, plus supporting ratios such as margins, retention, unit economics and working capital. Start with the roots and the first level beneath each, then add KPIs and drivers as you can measure them.
What is the difference between a component and a KPI?
A component is part of a metric's formula, so the parent is calculated from it exactly (gross profit is revenue minus COGS). A KPI is an operating measure that leads the parent but is not part of its formula, for example pipeline or activation rate. Below a KPI sit its drivers, the operating measures that move it, and below those the levers: the actions your team takes. KPIs and drivers show direction, not a guaranteed effect.
How is Gross Profit calculated?
Gross Profit = Net Revenue − COGS.

Source: ClariFi metric catalogue, synced 2026-10-27 (catalogue version 38475750).

See the E-commerce tree run on your own books

In ClariFi, the tree fills with your figures every day. See exactly what moved each number and why, change an input and watch every metric built from it recalculate, and give each target an owner. Our experts set it up and sign off on the numbers.

How ClariFi uses the tree

Go deeper

Service

Fractional CFO for startups

Board packs, forecasts, and fundraising support without a full-time hire.

Free tool

Burn Rate Calculator

Gross burn, net burn, and burn multiple from your monthly cash flows.

Guide

Finance for Marketplace and GMV Businesses

A finance playbook for two-sided platforms covering take rate, gross versus net revenue, liquidity, and unit economics.

Insight

Startup CFO Digest: Week 45, November 2026

This week's themes center on the operational and financial realities of AI at scale, the tightening of VC capital, and the importance of stress-testing unit economics before they crack. Founders face pressure on both sides: AI promises to unlock margin and reduce burn, but only if you model it honestly and don't count on earnouts or VC abundance to save a weak business plan.

Glossary

ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)

Annualized value of your subscription revenue at a point in time.

Free tool

Runway Calculator

See how many months of runway your cash and burn give you.