Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator Examples
See worked per-unit retention examples for customer, subscription, account, and member counts across different reporting situations.
These examples show how removing new additions from the ending total changes the view of retention. Each case uses counts rather than revenue, so the result describes unit retention only.
Customer retention with net decline
Monthly customer retention for a service business
Input Summary
Beginning customers
500
Ending customers
470
New customers
50
Calculation Breakdown
- 1Retained customers470 - 50420
- 2Customers lost500 - 42080
- 3Retention rate(420 / 500) * 10084.0%
- 4Churn rate(80 / 500) * 10016.0%
Result Summary
Churn rate
16.0%
Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator
Estimated retention is 84.0%, with 420 retained customers and 80 lost customers.
Subscription retention with stable ending units
Quarterly subscription retention for a software product
Input Summary
Beginning subscriptions
2,000
Ending subscriptions
2,000
New subscriptions
300
Calculation Breakdown
- 1Retained subscriptions2,000 - 3001,700
- 2Subscriptions lost2,000 - 1,700300
- 3Retention rate(1,700 / 2,000) * 10085.0%
- 4Churn rate(300 / 2,000) * 10015.0%
Result Summary
Churn rate
15.0%
Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator
Estimated retention is 85.0%, even though the total subscription count did not change.
Account retention with no new additions
Annual account retention for an established portfolio
Input Summary
Beginning accounts
800
Ending accounts
760
New accounts
0
Calculation Breakdown
- 1Retained accounts760 - 0760
- 2Accounts lost800 - 76040
- 3Retention rate(760 / 800) * 10095.0%
- 4Churn rate(40 / 800) * 1005.0%
Result Summary
Churn rate
5.0%
Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator
Estimated retention is 95.0%, with 760 retained accounts and 40 lost accounts.
Member count requiring data review
Semiannual membership tracking with reactivations or classification changes
Input Summary
Beginning members
1,000
Ending members
1,180
New members
100
Calculation Breakdown
- 1Retained members1,180 - 1001,080
- 2Members lostmax(0, 1,000 - 1,080)0
- 3Retention rate(1,080 / 1,000) * 100108.0%
- 4Churn rate(0 / 1,000) * 1000.0%
Result Summary
Churn rate
0.0%
Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator
The result is 108.0% retention and should be reviewed before reporting.
How to Read Your Results
Retention rate shows the estimated percentage of opening units still active at period end after new additions are excluded.
Retained units are an estimate based on aggregate counts; cohort-level records provide a more direct measure.
Lost units show the estimated count of opening units that did not remain active.
Churn rate is the share of beginning units lost under the calculation's assumptions.
Compare periods only when the dates, unit definition, and treatment of new units are consistent.
Assumptions & Important Notes
- All input counts refer to the same reporting period.
- New units are separately identified and included in the ending total.
- A unit is consistently defined as a customer, account, subscription, member, or other tracked item.
- Examples use aggregate-count estimates rather than matched individual-unit records.
Related Examples
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can ending units stay flat while retention is below 100%?
New units may replace units that left. Subtracting additions reveals the estimated retention of the opening group.
What happens if there are no new units?
Retained units equal ending units, so retention is ending units divided by beginning units times 100.
Can I use these examples for revenue retention?
No. Revenue retention needs revenue amounts and may reflect upgrades, downgrades, pricing, and spending changes.
Why does an example show retention above 100%?
Aggregate data can produce that result when reactivations, acquisitions, or unit-definition changes are not separately classified.
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