New Live ARR

What it measures

The monthly recurring value of contracts that both went live during the period and represent a brand-new customer, multiplied by 12. It counts only subscription revenue from logos you didn't have before — never upgrades to existing accounts, and never one-time setup, services, or usage fees. Crucially, it excludes contracts that are signed but not yet live: only revenue that is actively billing counts. This is the annualized run-rate contribution of your acquisition engine, measured at the moment customers actually start paying.

Why it matters

New Live ARR tells you the annual run-rate value of new-customer revenue that is actually hitting your books — not potential revenue from contracts signed but stuck in implementation. That distinction is why operators trust it as the cleanest read on sales effectiveness and market traction: it measures committed dollars from new logos that have crossed the finish line into live billing. Finance teams use it to forecast cash because live revenue converts to cash on a known schedule. Investors use it to separate true acquisition growth (new logos) from expansion (upsells), which carry different risk profiles. If signed-but-not-live deals are piling up, New Live ARR is the metric that keeps that gap honest.

How to read it

Read New Live ARR as a trend, never a single number. Compare it quarter over quarter and against the prior-year period to strip out seasonality and sales-cycle noise. New Live ARR rising in step with bookings is the signature of an acquisition engine that converts cleanly from signature to live revenue. If signed bookings are growing but New Live ARR lags, you have an activation or implementation bottleneck — deals are landing but not going live. Flat or declining New Live ARR while total ARR still grows is a yellow flag: it means you're leaning on expansion from existing customers and not winning enough new logos. Remember New Live ARR is gross inflow only; pair it with churned and downsell ARR to know whether the live base is actually net growing.

What good looks like

Watch-outs

• Counting contracts that are signed but not yet live. New Live ARR includes only revenue actually billing — a contract signed in January that starts billing in March belongs to March, not January. Premature counting overstates the live base and breaks the link to cash.
• Confusing new logos with new revenue. If an existing customer adds a product and their value rises $50K, that's Upsell Live ARR, not New Live ARR. Keep new logos separate from expansion or you can't diagnose which growth lever is working.
• Using full contract value instead of annualized run-rate. A three-year, $90K new-customer deal is $30K of New Live ARR ($30K/year), not $90K — annualize on the contract term or you'll inflate the run-rate and double-count future years.
• Treating New Live ARR as a net or retention number. It's pure gross inflow; pair it with churned and downsell ARR and Net New Live ARR or you'll mistake a leaky business for a growing one.

Worked example