Executive Summary
- Revenue was $4.62M, 5.7% below the $4.90M plan, primarily from enterprise timing slippage.
- Gross margin improved to 78.4%, 2.4 pts above budget, reflecting infrastructure efficiency.
- Net burn is $0.71M/month, 9.2% above budget; runway remains approximately 17.0 months.
- Board decision needed: approve S&M reallocation and defer non-critical hiring to preserve runway.
KPI Cards
Budget vs. Actual
Blue = Budget, Slate = Actual. Values in $M; negatives extend below zero.
| Metric | Budget | Actual | Var $ | Var % | Status |
|---|
Revenue Variance Bridge
Revenue shortfall was driven primarily by new business and timing/slippage; expansion partly offset the gap. (4.90 − 0.19 + 0.08 − 0.10 − 0.07 = 4.62)
Cash Runway Projection
Assumed monthly net burn: $0.71M · Runway end ~17.0 months (approx Nov 2027).
Runway assumptions
Runway months = $12.1M cash ÷ selected monthly burn. Adjust to test sensitivity.
Gross Margin Trend
Six-quarter improvement from 72.1% to 78.4%.
Risks & Mitigations
Revenue below plan
MediumPipeline slippage in enterprise segment; mitigate with tightened sales forecasting and stage-gating.
Elevated burn vs budget
MediumS&M overspend without proportional bookings; mitigate by pausing lowest-ROI channels.
Concentration risk
Low-MediumTop 5 customers are ~28% of ARR; mitigate by diversifying ICP and expanding mid-market.
Runway sensitivity
MediumBurn creep to $0.85M/mo cuts runway to ~14 months; hold hiring pace.
Decisions Needed This Quarter
Approve S&M reallocation
Cut $0.15M/quarter from underperforming paid channels toward outbound.
Recommended: ApproveHiring plan
Defer 3 of 8 planned Q3 hires to protect runway.
Recommended: Defer non-critical rolesFundraise timing
Begin Series B prep at ~12 months of runway (approx early 2027) vs wait.
Recommended: Start groundwork nowWhat the CFO should say
- Revenue landed 5.7% under plan, driven mostly by enterprise timing slippage, not lost demand — pipeline coverage remains healthy at ~3.4x.
- Gross margin expanded to 78.4% (+2.4 pts vs budget) on infrastructure efficiency; unit economics are improving.
- Net Revenue Retention of 111% shows the base is compounding; expansion is offsetting churn.
- Burn ran ~9% hot on S&M; we are reallocating to higher-ROI motions and deferring non-critical hires.
- Runway is ~17 months; we will begin Series B groundwork now to raise from a position of strength, not necessity.
- Bottom line: fundamentals are strengthening; the ask this quarter is disciplined spend reallocation and one hiring decision.
Source trail
Structure derived from a Primary source X post by @einsttein_ describing a one-prompt CFO-ready board one-pager. All figures for Northwind SaaS, Inc. are fictional, internally consistent, and for demonstration only.