# Countingup Financial Model Accounting software with an inbuilt business current account for UK small businesses - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/countingup - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/countingup.xlsx - Category: Fintech - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $127M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: UK - Customer: B2B2C ## About the company Countingup combines accounting software with a business current account for UK small businesses. It brings bookkeeping, tax and cash-flow workflows closer to the banking activity that generates the underlying transaction data. The product can acquire businesses directly and through an accountant-oriented channel, then expand the relationship into future lending, insurance, cards, or supplier services. Its value proposition is a simpler financial operating system for a small-business owner. The model should combine active business accounts, monthly software ARPU, and retention with card or account transaction volume and net interchange. Additional financial products should have separate adoption and take-rate schedules, allowing the forecast to show the relative contribution of subscription and banking economics. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Single-ledger product combining: business current account (Mastercard), invoicing, automatic bookkeeping, VAT/Self Assessment/Corporation Tax filing (MTD-compliant), live P&L, accountant hub - Target users: UK sole traders and limited companies; also accountancy firms serving small clients via an Accountant Hub - Core value props: eliminates manual data transfer between banking and accounting; auto-categorises transactions into P&L; real-time tax estimates; replaces separate bank + accounting software subscriptions - Moat claims: "complex technology - no fintech has done it" (bookkeeping + invoicing + tax engine); first-mover; embedding fintech in SaaS drives ARPU 2–5x vs standalone; stickier unified experience ## Market - UK small business universe: 8.6m small businesses - Addressable non-users: 6.1m UK business owners don't use accounting software - Time lost: 600m hours/year wasted on bookkeeping - No TAM/SAM/SOM £/$ figures provided in deck - Competitive benchmark: Xero cited at $17bn market cap ## Revenue model - Revenue streams implied but not explicitly priced in deck: - SaaS subscription fee for accounting/tax software - Banking interchange/transaction revenue from Mastercard business account - Future upsell: lending, insurance, credit cards, supplier switching, forecasting mentioned as opportunities - No pricing page, ARPU, or fee schedule shown in deck ## Traction & metrics - Paid customers: ~11,000 at time of deck (read from slide 8 chart at ~month 35 of operation) - Total capital raised to date: $29m - Comparison benchmark: Xero had ~8,000 paid customers at equivalent capital deployment ($29m, ~month 33–34 post-founding) - Reviews: Trustpilot 4.6/5 from 1,340 reviews - rated #1 vs Starling, Coconut, Anna Money, Amaiz, Tide, Metro Bank, Mettle, Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, RBS Business - App Store: 4.6/5 from 783 ratings - Google Play: 4.8/5 from 645 ratings - Awards: Accounting Excellence Best Business Banking App 2019; The Contracting Awards 2019 Winner; British Bank Awards Best Newcomer 2020; The Card & Payments Awards - No revenue figures, MRR/ARR, churn rate, or growth rate in £/$ stated in deck ## Competition / moat - Named competitors by implication (Trustpilot comparison): Starling, Coconut, Anna Money, Amaiz, Tide, Metro Bank, Mettle, Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, RBS Business - Countingup's stated differentiation vs pure neobanks: has accounting + tax built in, not bolted on - Stated differentiation vs pure accounting SaaS (Xero, QuickBooks): has the current account natively - no bank feed latency or re-authorisation - Moat: single-ledger tech stack (bookkeeping engine + invoicing engine + tax engine); first-mover in combined product in UK; ARPU expansion via fintech-in-SaaS flywheel ## Team & funding ask / use of funds --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** SaaS + fintech blended model - subscription ARR driver (monthly recurring fee per active account) layered with interchange/banking revenue per transaction. Closest archetype is a SaaS ARR model with a second revenue line for banking take-rate. Not a pure marketplace or DTC inventory model. The Accountant Hub adds a B2B2C channel on top of direct. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 5 years (monthly for Year 1–2, quarterly Year 3–5). Monthly granularity needed early because customer acquisition ramp and product attachment rates matter at this stage. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** | Driver | Value / source | | -- | -- | | Addressable UK SMB universe | 8.6m | | Non-software-users (primary TAM) | 6.1m | | Starting paid customers (base year) | ~11,000 | | Monthly new customer additions | derived from ~11k over ~35 months ≈ 300–400/month average; accelerating per chart | | Monthly churn rate | 2–3% - typical early-stage fintech; no deck data | | Monthly subscription ARPU | £9–£15/month - benchmarked against Coconut (~£9.99) and Xero (£12–£30); no deck pricing | | Banking interchange take-rate | 0.3–0.5% of card spend - UK Mastercard debit interchange cap | | Avg monthly card spend per account | £2,000–£4,000 for SMB | | Gross margin on SaaS | 70–75% - cloud infra + payment processing costs | | Gross margin on banking revenue | 40–50% - card scheme costs, float management | | Blended gross margin | ~60–65% | | CAC | £50–£120 blended - no deck data; benchmarked on UK neobank comps | | S&M as % revenue | 40–60% at current stage | | Accountant Hub - B2B2C channel contribution | 15–25% of new customers via accountant referral; no deck data | - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base:** ~300 net new customers/month, 2.5% monthly churn, ARPU £12/month subscription + £10/month banking - **Bull:** Accountant Hub drives B2B2C acceleration to 500+ net new/month; churn 1.5%; ARPU uplift via upsells (lending, insurance) - **Bear:** Churn increases to 4% (competitive pressure from Starling, Tide); new adds slow to 150/month; banking revenue compresses - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. Assumptions dashboard (all inputs in one place) 2. Customer waterfall (new adds, churn, net active, cumulative) 3. Revenue build (subscription ARR + banking take-rate + future upsell lines) 4. P&L (gross profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBITDA) 5. Cash & runway (burn rate vs capital raised - $29m baseline) 6. Scenario toggle (Base / Bull / Bear) 7. Xero benchmark overlay (optional - mirrors slide 8 narrative) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Countingup financial model free? Yes. The Countingup model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.