The average number of units, seats, or items included on each invoice.
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Units per invoice measures the volume component of each transaction. It is calculated by dividing total units sold by total invoices over a period.
A unit could be a software seat, a consulting hour, a product item, or any other countable thing you sell. If you sell software at 50 euros per seat and the average invoice includes 20 seats, units per invoice is 20.
This metric captures expansion within accounts. A customer might start with 10 seats and grow to 50 over time. That growth shows up in units per invoice.
For service businesses, units might be hours, days, or project components. For product businesses, units are literal items. The principle is the same: how much volume does each billing cycle capture?
Increasing units per invoice means growing accounts, upselling more seats, or bundling more services into each transaction.
Units per invoice measures how much customers buy each time they are billed. It separates volume from price. You can grow revenue by increasing units, increasing price, or both. This metric tracks the volume side.
For subscription businesses, this often means seats or licences. For service businesses, it might mean hours or projects. Whatever your unit is, tracking how many you sell per invoice reveals expansion and contraction patterns.
Units per invoice is an expansion indicator. Growing accounts shows up here before it shows up in revenue. If average units are increasing, accounts are expanding. If average units are decreasing, accounts are contracting or churning down.
This metric also reveals upsell effectiveness. If you have an upsell motion but units per invoice stays flat, the motion is not working.
Combined with average unit price, units per invoice determines invoice value. Improving either increases revenue without acquiring new customers.
Calculate units per invoice:
Units per invoice = Total units sold / Total invoices
Track this monthly. Break it down by:
To increase units per invoice:
A software company sells seats at 10 euros each. Average is 15 seats per invoice. They implement automated alerts when customers approach their seat limit, prompting expansion conversations. Average increases to 22 seats per invoice.
A consultancy sells projects individually. Average is 1 project per invoice. They create packages that bundle three related services at a discount. Customers who buy packages generate 2.8 units per invoice on average.
A SaaS company averages 20 seats per invoice across all customers. They shift acquisition focus toward enterprise accounts with 100+ employees. Enterprise customers average 85 seats per invoice, increasing the overall average.
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