What is the difference?

ACV vs ARR

Annual Contract Value

Annual Recurring Revenue

What is it?

Annual Contract Value (ACV) is the dollar amount an average customer contract is worth to your company in one year. There tends to be less universal consensus on the definition of ACV compared to some other SaaS metrics, such as Annual Recurring Revenue. For example, some companies include one-time initial charges like setup or training in their ACV calculations, while others don’t.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the sum of all subscription revenue expressed as an annual value. For most companies, ARR is the sum of all new business subscriptions and upgrades (sometimes called expansion), minus downgrades (or contractions) and cancelled subscriptions. Though not a Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP) value, it's the Revenue equivalent used by every SaaS company. ARR is used interchangeably with Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).

Formula

ƒ Sum(Value of all Customer Contracts for 1 year) / Count(# of Customers under Contract)
ƒ Sum(Recurring Revenue irrespective of billing interval expressed as an annual value)

Example

You have 100 customers. 30 signed a 3-year contract with a contract value of $90,000, equivalent to $30,000 / year. 30 signed a 2-year contract with a contract value of $80,000, equivalent to $40,000 / year. 40 signed a 1-year contract with a contract value of $50,000, equivalent to $50,000 / year First Year Annual Contract Value = ( (30,000 x 30) + (40,000 x 30) + (50,000 x 40) ) / 100 customers Year 1 ACV = $41,000 Second Year Annual Contract Value = ( (30,000 x 30) + (40,000 x 30) ) / 60 customers Year 2 ACV = $35,000 Third Year Annual Contract Value = (30,000 x 30) / 30 customers Year 3 ACV = $30,000

If a customer subscribes to a service with a 1-year renewal agreement for $12,000, then Annual Recurring Revenue would be; ARR = $12,000 If a customer subscribes to a service for $10,000 (with no contract), then Annual Recurring Revenue would be; ARR = $0 If a customer subscribes to a service with a monthly renewal agreement for $1,000 per month, then Annual Recurring Revenue would be; ARR = $1,000 * 12 = $12,000

Published and updated dates

Date created: Oct 12, 2022

Latest update: Mar 31, 2023

Date created: Oct 12, 2022

Latest update: Jun 13, 2023