Cost Structure · Updated June 2026
OpEx Ratio Benchmarks
S&M, R&D, and G&A as % of revenue by industry and ARR band. All 7 industries across 4 ARR bands — complete P&L allocation benchmarks.
Total OpEx ratio — SEC EDGAR, by industry segment (public companies)
| Industry segment | Median | Cohort | Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure | 79.3% | n=10 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| General B2B SaaS | 67% | n=8 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| Security / Compliance | 76.5% | n=9 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| MarTech / Sales Tech | 65.2% | n=9 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| Vertical SaaS | 57.4% | n=10 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| Fintech / Payments | 66.3% | n=8 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| HR / Workforce | 44.4% | n=6 | TTM Q4 2025 |
| Healthcare / MedTech | 74.3% | n=8 | TTM Q4 2025 |
All segments combined median: 69.7% (n=68)
Primary source: SEC EDGAR companyfacts API (data.sec.gov), us-gaap XBRL facts, computed TTM per-company and aggregated as a segment median. See data/benchmarks_public.json for the full derivation (method, company sample, period) behind every number on this page.
Method: sum(opex tag set, incl. AdvertisingExpense/R&D-optional extensions per spec §3.3) / Revenue, TTM, cohort median. Period: TTM ending 2025-12-31. Companies used: 68 (SEC CIKs, see derivation.cik_sample in benchmarks_public.json). Flags: G1, G2, G3.
Definition traps
G1 — Revenue tag varies by issuer
Public companies report revenue under different us-gaap XBRL tags depending on when they adopted ASC 606:
RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax or ...IncludingAssessedTax (post-2018), or the older Revenues tag (pre-ASC 606, or issuers who never switched). This pipeline checks all three tags and uses whichever has data for the period — flagged here whenever a segment's cohort includes at least one company using a fallback tag.G2 — OpEx is often reported as line items, not one aggregate tag
Many issuers do not report a single
OperatingExpenses total — they report S&M / R&D / G&A (or combined SG&A + R&D) as separate XBRL facts. This pipeline sums the correct tag set per issuer (never mixing the two schemes, to avoid double-counting), including two spec-approved extensions: AdvertisingExpense as an S&M alternative, and an R&D-optional path (flagged RD_NOT_SEPARATELY_REPORTED) for issuers that never file a separate R&D line.G3 — TTM sometimes requires a Q4 plug
10-Q filings report cumulative year-to-date figures, not always a discrete quarter. Where a discrete Q4 fact is not filed directly, this pipeline derives it as Q4 = FY (10-K total) − sum(Q1+Q2+Q3, 10-Q). Every company/period where this plug was used is logged explicitly — never silently assumed.
Private company context (attributed, not canonical)
S&M / R&D / G&A by industry and ARR band (Bessemer / KeyBanc, attributed)
S&M, R&D, G&A % of revenue — all industries and ARR bands
| Industry | ARR Band | S&M % | R&D % | G&A % | Total OpEx % | Implied FCF Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure SaaS / Horizontal — best operating leverage at scale | ||||||
| General B2B SaaS | $5M–$20M | 58% | 32% | 18% | 108% | −32% |
| General B2B SaaS | $20M–$50M | 52% | 28% | 14% | 94% | −18% |
| General B2B SaaS | $50M–$100M | 42% | 24% | 11% | 77% | −1% |
| General B2B SaaS | $100M+ | 34% | 20% | 9% | 63% | +13% |
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure — R&D heavy; low S&M due to PLG | ||||||
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure | $5M–$20M | 38% | 45% | 16% | 99% | −21% |
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure | $20M–$50M | 30% | 40% | 13% | 83% | −5% |
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure | $50M–$100M | 25% | 35% | 10% | 70% | +8% |
| Dev Tools / Infrastructure | $100M+ | 22% | 30% | 8% | 60% | +18% |
| Security / Compliance — S&M heavy; long sales cycles require large field teams | ||||||
| Security / Compliance | $5M–$20M | 62% | 35% | 20% | 117% | −43% |
| Security / Compliance | $20M–$50M | 55% | 30% | 16% | 101% | −27% |
| Security / Compliance | $50M–$100M | 44% | 26% | 13% | 83% | −9% |
| Security / Compliance | $100M+ | 36% | 22% | 10% | 68% | +6% |
| MarTech / Sales Tech — high S&M due to competitive acquisition environment | ||||||
| MarTech / Sales Tech | $5M–$20M | 60% | 22% | 16% | 98% | −26% |
| MarTech / Sales Tech | $20M–$50M | 55% | 20% | 14% | 89% | −17% |
| MarTech / Sales Tech | $50M–$100M | 50% | 20% | 12% | 82% | −10% |
| MarTech / Sales Tech | $100M+ | 38% | 18% | 9% | 65% | +7% |
| Fintech / Financial Services — compliance and regulatory overhead inflates G&A | ||||||
| Fintech / Financial Services | $5M–$20M | 55% | 30% | 22% | 107% | −39% |
| Fintech / Financial Services | $20M–$50M | 50% | 28% | 18% | 96% | −28% |
| Fintech / Financial Services | $50M–$100M | 46% | 28% | 14% | 88% | −20% |
| Fintech / Financial Services | $100M+ | 38% | 24% | 11% | 73% | −5% |
| Vertical SaaS — moderate S&M; domain expertise provides natural differentiation | ||||||
| Vertical SaaS | $5M–$20M | 50% | 28% | 16% | 94% | −26% |
| Vertical SaaS | $20M–$50M | 44% | 26% | 15% | 85% | −17% |
| Vertical SaaS | $50M–$100M | 36% | 22% | 12% | 70% | −2% |
| Vertical SaaS | $100M+ | 28% | 18% | 10% | 56% | +12% |
| HR / Workforce | ||||||
| HR / Workforce | $5M–$20M | 58% | 26% | 17% | 101% | −35% |
| HR / Workforce | $20M–$50M | 52% | 24% | 15% | 91% | −25% |
| HR / Workforce | $50M–$100M | 44% | 22% | 13% | 79% | −13% |
| HR / Workforce | $100M+ | 36% | 20% | 10% | 66% | 0% |
Sources: KeyBanc Capital Markets SaaS Survey 2023, Bessemer State of the Cloud 2024, public SaaS company 10-K/10-Q filings 2023–2025. FCF margin implied = Gross Margin % − Total OpEx % (simplified).
The operating leverage trajectory
Total OpEx above 100% of revenue is common up to $30M ARR — you are investing ahead of revenue. The question is trajectory: is each dollar of new ARR generating less incremental cost? Dev Tools companies front-load R&D; security and martech companies front-load S&M. G&A above 15% at any scale signals overhead that should compress. Above $100M ARR, best-in-class companies reach 60–70% total OpEx — producing 6–18% FCF margin at 75%+ gross margins. That is the operating model the public markets premium-price.Sponsored placement
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