ARPA (Average Revenue Per Account)

ARPA (Average Revenue Per Account) is the average recurring revenue your business earns from a single paying account over a period. An account is a customer or organization, not an individual seat, which makes ARPA the natural per-customer metric for B2B products where one account can hold many users.

How to calculate ARPA

Divide total recurring revenue for the period by the number of active paying accounts.

Using MRR as the numerator gives you monthly ARPA. If $28,000 in MRR is spread across 350 accounts, ARPA is $80/month. Keep the numerator and denominator on the same time basis, monthly with monthly, annual with annual.

Teams often track new-account ARPA separately from blended ARPA. A rising new-account ARPA means you're landing bigger customers than your existing base, a strong sign for upmarket motion.

ARPA vs ARPU

The difference is the denominator. ARPU divides by individual users, ARPA divides by accounts. In a self-serve product where every account has one user, the two match. In B2B, a single account might carry 40 seats, so ARPA is far higher than ARPU. Report the one that maps to how you actually charge.

Why ARPA matters

• Deal quality — ARPA reveals whether growth comes from more customers or bigger ones.
• Expansion — climbing ARPA usually reflects expansion revenue, where existing accounts upgrade, add seats, or grow usage. That expansion is what drives strong net revenue retention.
• Unit economics — a higher ARPA generally supports a healthier LTV and gives you more room to spend on acquisition.