ACV Trend
Period-over-period percent change in Average Contract Value (mean ARR per active customer logo). A rising ACV trend signals pricing power, successful tier upgrades, or a mix-shift toward larger customers; a falling ACV trend signals seat compression, discounting pressure, or a mix-shift toward smaller customers. The board reads this alongside `total_customers` and `customers.net_revenue_retention` to disambiguate which lever is moving — logo growth vs. expansion vs. price. Common pitfall: ACV mix-shifts (a wave of new SMB logos at low ACV) can drag the average down even when existing-customer ACV is rising — segment-cut ACV is more diagnostic than the blended number. — Customers KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier)
No public third-party standard anchors this KPI yet, so I'mBoard authors and maintains the definition — transparently labeled as editorial tier. See the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system and the back-attribution workstream.
Rogue ID: customers.acv_trend_pct
Type: Percentage (%)
Domain: Customers
Definition
Period-over-period percent change in Average Contract Value (mean ARR per active customer logo). A rising ACV trend signals pricing power, successful tier upgrades, or a mix-shift toward larger customers; a falling ACV trend signals seat compression, discounting pressure, or a mix-shift toward smaller customers. The board reads this alongside total_customers and customers.net_revenue_retention to disambiguate which lever is moving — logo growth vs. expansion vs. price. Common pitfall: ACV mix-shifts (a wave of new SMB logos at low ACV) can drag the average down even when existing-customer ACV is rising — segment-cut ACV is more diagnostic than the blended number.
Formula
acv_trend_pct = (ACV_current_period − ACV_prior_period) ÷ ACV_prior_period, where ACV = total ARR ÷ total active customer logos. The blended view is sensitive to logo-mix shifts; segment-cut ACV (by cohort, ACV band, or product tier) is more diagnostic.Why it matters
Separates "more customers" from "bigger customers" in growth narrative. Combined with logo count, isolates the pricing-power signal that NRR and ARR alone can blur.
How to interpret
No citation-grade absolute benchmark exists — compare to the company's own trailing trend and to deliberate strategy (a downmarket push should show ACV declining). Pair with segment cuts: a blended ACV that's flat may hide an upmarket cohort growing 20% offset by a downmarket cohort growing 50% in count. Persistent decline with flat NRR signals discounting / seat compression — surface the cause in retention_insights or expansion_opportunities.
Related KPIs
sales.avg_contract_valuecustomers.total_customerscustomers.net_revenue_retentioncustomers.expansion_opportunitiessales.arr
Source
I'mBoard editorial — authored and maintained by I'mBoard, first published 2026-04-01. No third-party standard is cited for this KPI; when one emerges, the definition is back-attributed and promoted to the published tier (a minor version bump). Read the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system, attribution rules, and dispute process.
Stage relevance
| Company stage | Priority |
|---|---|
| Series A | Recommended |
| Series B | Recommended |
| Series C+ | Recommended |
| Public | Recommended |
Suggested for stages: Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- Sales
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/customers/acv_trend_pct.json - All Customers KPIs:
/api/ontology/customers.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
Customers KPIs
Retention, health, NPS, concentration. 16 KPIs in this domain — 5 anchored to third-party standards, 11 editorial.
ARR at Risk
Sum of ARR from customers flagged "at-risk" by the customer-success team — typically driven by usage decline, low health score, executive turnover at the customer, missed milestones, or explicit churn intent. The board reads this as the worst-case near-term churn exposure if no intervention happens. Common pitfall: the "at-risk" definition drifts across CSMs and quarters; standardize the criteria (e.g. health score below threshold OR 30-day usage drop > X% OR cancellation request received) and version-control the playbook so the absolute number is comparable period-over-period. Pair with `percent_arr_at_risk` for the proportional read. — Customers KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).