What board-level metrics should we report on attribution and pipeline sourcing? How often?

Board wants three metrics: New Logo Bookings, Expansion Bookings, and Cohort-Level Payback. Report monthly with 13-month rolling view. Attribution lives in ops; sourcing (SDR vs. AE vs. inbound) is the board-grade narrative.

The Board Deck (Quarterly, but Built Monthly)

Most boards see pipeline only as aggregate number. Operators need to break it into buckets the CFO, CEO, and lead investor care about:

Why These Five:

1. New Logo Bookings = sales engine health. Trending down while AE headcount is flat? Sales cycle or conversion broke.
2. Expansion Bookings = account health + land-expand model success. High expansion can mask weak logos if churn is hidden.
3. NDR = unit economics and customer happiness at scale. >120% = customer base is growing dollars despite churn; <110% = slow death.
4. Sales Sourcing Mix (% SDR, % AE, % inbound, % partner)** = team productivity. If inbound is <30% of pipeline and you have 10 SDRs, something is wrong.
5. Cohort Payback (CAC payback in months) = whether you're building a business or a feature. Board cares: does $1 in CAC return $3+ over 24 months?

Monthly Ops Deck (Internal)

`` [ Month 1 ] New Logos Sourced: 12 (8 SDR, 2 AE, 2 inbound) Expansion Opportunities: 28 (avg $35k) Current Payback: 16 months Pipeline by Source: 45% SDR, 30% AE, 20% Inbound, 5% Partner Churn: 3 customers, 2.1% ARR impact ``

Quarterly Board Frame (15-Minute Narrative)

1. New Logo Growth: "Added 42 logos this quarter, +12% sequentially. SDR ramp showing 8 new reps on track. AE productivity (New ARR per AE) at $850k, +15% YoY."
2. Expansion Story: "Expansion bookings $2.1M, covering 45% of growth. Account expansion rate 28% YoY, driven by Platform and Add-On products."
3. Retention & Cohort Health: "NDR 118%, up from 115% last quarter. 2020 cohort at $4.2M ARR, projecting $5.1M by year-end. CAC payback 17 months."
4. Forward: "Pipeline conversion trending at 22%, in-line with model. 90-day new logo pipeline at $28M (target $30M). No changes to forecast."

Attribution at Board Level: The Gotcha

Don't report multi-touch attribution to the board. They don't care. Report sourcing attribution (who opened the door first) instead:

• SDR-Sourced Pipeline: % of pipeline opened by SDR (measure: rep productivity, not commission).
• AE-Sourced Pipeline: % of AE logos (vs. expansion); measure: new business hunting skill.
• Inbound Pipeline: % of inbound (measure: brand, content, product-led growth health).

OpenView Benchmark (2025):

• Top 25% companies: 50–55% new logo, 35–40% expansion, <120 day cohort payback.
• Median SaaS: 40–45% new logo, 45–50% expansion, 135–150 day payback.
• Bottom quartile: <35% new logo, >55% expansion, >180 day payback.

Cadence Rule:

• Weekly: Sales ops tracks sourcing and pipeline by source (internal).
• Monthly: VP Sales reviews sourcing mix + cohort payback (ops deck).
• Quarterly: Board sees new logo growth, NDR, and cohort trend (3-year waterfall).
• Annual: Deep cohort analysis + CAC payback projection + forecast.

TAGS: board-metrics,revenue-reporting,attribution,sourcing,ndر,cohort