Free Resource
The startup metric tree, by industry
Pick your industry and see how your north star and your cash runway break down into the metrics that drive them. Every metric comes with its definition, its formula, its peer range by stage, and the operating levers beneath it, exactly as ClariFi tracks them.
- 176defined metrics
- 14industry trees
- 11with peer benchmarks
- SOMAevery metric mapped to it
Choose your industry
Each tree starts from that industry’s north star. Where the revenue model changes the root (subscription or not, agent or principal), the tree lets you switch between them.
SaaS
98 metricsRecurring revenue, built up from MRR movements, with retention and unit economics alongside.
E-commerce
73 metricsGross profit, driven by traffic, conversion, order value and returns.
Professional Services
73 metricsGross profit from billable work: utilization, rates and collections.
Consulting
73 metricsGross profit from engagements: utilization, bill rates and collections.
Legal
73 metricsGross profit from matters: billable hours, realization and collections.
Healthcare
73 metricsGross profit from patient volume, payer mix and collections.
Nonprofit
76 metricsTotal support and revenue, program spend and months of cash.
Biotech
73 metricsRunway first: cash, burn and the clinical and regulatory milestones behind them.
Technology
98 metricsRevenue or ARR, with operating spend and EBITDA close behind.
Fintech
97 metricsRecurring or transaction revenue, retention and account growth.
Marketplace
74 metricsNet revenue or gross profit depending on whether you act as agent or principal.
Manufacturing
73 metricsGross profit from output, yield, input costs and collections.
Food & Beverage
73 metricsGross profit from volume, pricing, input costs and repeat customers.
General
96 metricsA general startup tree: ARR or revenue at the top, with margins, EBITDA and cash beneath.
How to read a metric tree
Four kinds of connection, each drawn differently in the diagram. Click any metric in a tree for its full definition.
Two trunks
Every tree has a growth trunk, rooted at the industry's north star (ARR, gross profit or revenue), and a survival trunk rooted at cash runway. One tells you what you are building, the other how long you can keep building it. For biotech, runway is both.
Components
A component is part of the parent's formula, so the parent is calculated from it exactly. Gross profit is net revenue minus COGS; ARR is total MRR times 12.
Movements
Some balances roll forward month to month. Total MRR is last month's MRR plus new and expansion MRR, minus contraction and churned MRR, so each movement explains the change.
Drivers
Operating metrics that tend to move a financial one without being in its formula: pipeline, activation, utilization, return rate. Arrows show the direction. A driver is a lever to watch, not a guaranteed effect.
Supporting metrics
Ratios and diagnostics that belong to the industry but do not sit on either trunk, such as margins, retention, CAC payback, burn multiple and working-capital days. They are listed under each tree, grouped by theme, and clicking one opens the same definition panel.
Where the definitions come from
Every metric, formula and tree on these pages is generated from the metric catalogue inside ClariFi, the platform our finance team runs every client on. A definition here is the one your dashboard uses, not a separate marketing copy.
Each metric is mapped to SOMA, an open metric library from Levers Labs: 21 match it exactly, 15 are equivalent, 10 depart from it on purpose (the reason is shown on the metric), and 130are extensions SOMA does not cover, mostly industry operating drivers. The wording of each definition is ClariFi’s own.
Peer ranges are the indicative bands ClariFi uses to compare a company with its industry and stage. Treat them as direction, not as survey results. Last synced 2026-10-08.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a metric tree?
- A metric tree breaks one top-level outcome into the metrics that produce it, so you can see which lever moves the result. Formula components sit directly under the metric they calculate, and operating drivers hang off the metric they tend to move. This resource shows ClariFi's default tree for 14 industries.
- What is the difference between a north star metric and a survival metric?
- The north star is the outcome you are building toward, such as ARR for a subscription business or gross profit for e-commerce. The survival metric is cash runway: how many months the company can operate at its current burn. Each industry tree here has both trunks, except where runway is itself the goal (biotech).
- Are these metric definitions standard?
- Every metric is mapped to SOMA, an open metric library from Levers Labs: 21 match SOMA exactly, 15 are equivalent, 10 depart from SOMA deliberately with the reason stated, and 130 are ClariFi extensions SOMA does not cover. The definitions shown are ClariFi's own wording.
- Where do the benchmarks come from?
- 11 metrics carry peer ranges (25th percentile, median, 75th percentile and top 10%) by industry and company stage. They are the indicative ranges ClariFi uses to compare companies, useful for direction rather than as survey data.
- How often is the metric tree updated?
- The content is generated directly from ClariFi's metric catalogue, so a definition here always matches the product. It was last synced on 2026-10-08.
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