Gross Retention excludes expansion - it shows pure churn / contraction loss. The gap between NRR and GRR is the expansion lift.
Peak NRR of 110% in FY2018-Q4. Latest is 104% - that's -6pp from peak.
BlackLine is above the Finance Tech Public median by +0pp (cell median: 104%)
BlackLine (BL) is a finance tech company at the public stage. As of its most recent disclosure (FY2027-Q1), BlackLine reported a Net Revenue Retention rate of 104% - a mid-pack result for B2B SaaS at this segment.
BlackLine's NRR peaked at 110% in FY2018-Q4, 6pp above today's level. Over the past three years, the metric has contracted by 6pp. The most recent quarter gained 2pp QoQ.
Within its peer set (finance tech companies at public stage in the $100k-$500k acv band), BlackLine's NRR is roughly in line with the cell median of 104%. Compare against the full peer cell aggregate for distribution and top performers.
CS team segments: Enterprise · Mid-Market
CSM model: hybrid
Education programs: BlackLine University
Customer Advisory Board: Yes
Top customer exec: Stuart Van Houten - Chief Commercial Officer (since 2025)
CCO comp tied to retention: Yes - aligned BlackLine's KPIs as one of the measures of the compensation plans for... customer success managers
Named CS initiatives across recent disclosures (newest first).
Shift from seat-based to platform and consumption-based pricing to increase LTV and expansion.
"The adoption of our platform, Studio360, continues to build, with the metric reaching 13% of eligible ARR"
Launch of agentic AI offerings (Prepare, Match, Collect, Accruals) to automate manual finance tasks.
"Today is about sharing with you the momentum we are building as we translate that vision into reality... AI and our Verity portfolio"
Collaborative program for customers to act as design partners for AI roadmap.
"That's also part of why we launched that AI hub... it's really about pushing the envelope with these customers"
Shift from seat-based to value-based platform pricing to unlock Studio 360 value.
"By combining the innovation of Studio 360 with a commercial model aligned to value and not seats"
Launching agentic AI (Verity Prepare, Collect, Accruals) to automate accounting workflows.
"We have an accelerating product cycle this year, with an emphasis on launching and monetizing our Verity AI agents"
Transitioning customers from seat-based to platform-based pricing to decouple growth from user counts.
"Our platform pricing model is designed to decouple our growth from a simple seat count"
Agentic AI workforce including Verity Prepare and Verity Collect to automate financial operations.
"With Vera as the supervisor of our agentic workforce, we are launching a suite of powerful agents"
Shift to a platform-centric unlimited user pricing model to drive transformation.
"Our new pricing model, introduced earlier this year, has proven to be a clear winner"
Challenges acknowledged by management. Useful peer signals - your team is probably not alone.
Ongoing churn in the lower mid-market segment acting as a headwind to retention rates.
"The lower mid-market headwind we have discussed in prior quarters continued to weigh on the overall rate"
Impact of Middle East conflict and potential data sovereignty requirements in Europe.
"I worry more about... the geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Europe and what that might mean for us"
Strategic shift away from lower mid-market causing elevated attrition.
"Q4 was the peak of our churn and attrition cycle, driven largely by... choices in the lower middle market."
External M&A activity impacting customer retention rates.
"expected churn associated with external M&A this quarter, which impacted this rate by about two points."
Higher automation levels leading to customers needing fewer user licenses.
"customers can achieve their outcomes with the need for fewer licenses, which is leading to user attrition."
Planned churn from moving away from the lower end of the market.
"planned churn from our strategic de-emphasis of the lower end of the market is nearing its conclusion."
Curated quotes about customer outcomes, retention, renewals.
"How do we make sure for those customers that feel like they've stalled on a journey? ... How do we get those customers back on track"
"Time to value, Adam. Time to value. We've got to people are willing to invest if they're going to see a payback."
"We have implemented more rigorous deal qualification processes and strengthened coordination between our account management and customer support teams."
"For every new customer we're adding, it's significantly larger than the customer that's going."
"This isn't a step back; it's a strategic refocus on what has always been key to BlackLine's success: direct engagement with our customers."
"We are really experiencing two types of attrition... success-based attrition... and attrition that relates to under-adoption."
Side-by-side NRR, customer cohorts, commercial structure, and CS motion.
BlackLine appears on 2 of our retention leaderboards.
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| Period | NRR | GRR | Source type | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2027-Q1 | 104% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2026-Q1 | 102% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2025-Q4 | 102% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
| FY-2025 | 105% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
| FY2025-Q3 | 103% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2025-Q2 | 105% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2025-Q1 | 104% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2024-Q4 | 102% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY-2024 | 102% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
| FY2024-Q3 | 105% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2024-Q2 | 104% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2024-Q1 | 105% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY-2023 | 106% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
| FY2022-Q4 | 109% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
| FY2022-Q2 | 106% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2022-Q1 | 109% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2020-Q1 | 108% | - | 10-Q-mdna | source ↗ |
| FY2018-Q4 | 110% | - | 10-K | source ↗ |
Generate a live retention report against BlackLine and your full peer cell. Ungated. Downloadable as PDF.