Accounting Retention Rate (Per-Unit) Calculator FAQ

It estimates the share of starting customers, accounts, subscriptions, or other units that remain at the end of a period after new additions are excluded.

A unit can be a customer, account, subscriber, member, contract, license, or another item tracked consistently over time.

You can use a month, quarter, year, or another period, provided every input covers the same start and end dates.

It is customer retention when the unit is a customer. The same method can also be applied to other consistently tracked unit types.

The calculation is: retained units divided by beginning units, multiplied by 100. Retained units are estimated as ending units minus new units.

The ending count provides the period-end total before new additions are removed to estimate the remaining opening group.

Include them when they were not active at the start and are treated as additions under your consistent reporting definition.

Units lost equal beginning units minus retained units, with the result capped at zero by the calculator.

Usually it does when retention is between 0% and 100%. If the aggregate calculation produces retention above 100%, the calculator caps lost units at zero, so the two figures do not work as simple complements.

Yes. This can occur when ending units minus reported new units exceed beginning units. Check reactivations, acquisitions, data changes, and new-unit classification.

They can raise the retained-unit estimate if they are not separately categorized. Define whether reactivations are new, retained, or a separate group and apply that treatment consistently.

The comparison may not be meaningful. Where possible, restate one period or document the change before comparing results.

It is an operational estimate based on supplied counts. Formal reporting may use different definitions, controls, and policies.

Unit retention measures counts of units. Revenue retention measures revenue and can change because of pricing, upgrades, downgrades, or spend changes.

The calculator isolates retention rather than net growth. Compare beginning and ending totals separately to assess overall unit-count change.

Cohort tracking can directly match starting units to their later status and can provide more detail than an aggregate estimate.

They are not directly equivalent because they cover different time spans. State the period length clearly and use consistent intervals for trend analysis.