← Glossary

GRR

Gross Revenue Retention — retention of starting ARR before expansion credit.

What it is

GRR (gross revenue retention) shows how much starting ARR you kept before giving credit for expansion. It isolates contraction and churn quality — the retention story expansion can hide.

How it’s calculated

Typically (starting ARR − contraction − churn) ÷ starting ARR, capped at 100%. Same cohort rules as NRR; only the expansion treatment differs.

Where it breaks

GRR breaks when downgrades are miscoded as churn (or vice versa), when logos move entities and look like churn+new, or when finance uses a different starting ARR than the waterfall.

In the board pack

Put GRR next to NRR on the retention slide. Investors read both; operators use GRR to target save motions.

Keep the written definition stable across close, the board pack, and diligence so the same word never means two math models.

Related terms

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  • GRR vs NRR: Why SaaS Companies Need Both

    GRR vs NRR: what each retention metric actually measures, why they can tell opposite stories, and why great SaaS finance teams report both. A practical guide, not a glossary.