Answers

How do I verify Stripe revenue before buying a SaaS?

Short answer: Ask the seller to add you to Stripe with the View Only role, or to share their screen while you click through it yourself. Export 12 to 24 months of charges, refunds and payouts, match payouts to bank deposits, and check that stated MRR equals revenue actually collected. Screenshots and PDFs prove nothing.

Updated 7 October 2026 · Figures checked against their sources on 7 October 2026

What Stripe access should I ask the seller for?

Ask the seller to invite you to their Stripe account with the View Only role, which, according to Stripe's documentation on user roles (read 7 October 2026), can see payments, balances, payouts, disputes and customers and download financial reports and bulk exports, but cannot refund, pay out or change settings. If the seller will not add a user, a live screen share where you choose what to click is the next best option.

Screenshots, PDFs and spreadsheets exported by the seller are easy to edit and prove nothing on their own. Use them only to know what to look for once you have access.

What five checks prove Stripe revenue is real?

Five reconciliations cover most Stripe revenue checks for a small SaaS: charges to payouts to bank deposits, stated MRR against revenue actually collected, refunds and disputes, the top customer's share, and the effect of coupons and annual plans. Export 12 to 24 months before starting.

1. Charges to payouts to bank. Payouts in Stripe should match deposits on the business bank statement, month by month.
2. MRR against collected revenue. Stated MRR should be close to what was actually charged last month. Our checker flags MRR above revenue collected.
3. Refunds and disputes. A rising refund or dispute rate can hide behind steady gross charges.
4. Top customer share. Sort customers by lifetime payments; one customer above a quarter of revenue is a concentration risk.
5. Coupons and annual plans. Annual prepayments inflate one month; heavy discounts mean MRR may fall when they expire.

What are the signs of inflated MRR in a SaaS listing?

Inflated MRR shows up when stated MRR is higher than last month's collected revenue, when ARR is far above the last 12 months of actual revenue, or when ARR is not roughly 12 times MRR. Each of these is a rule in our free checker, and the composite below raises all three.

Here stated MRR of $6,200 is above the $5,100 actually collected last month, and $96,000 ARR is far above the $58,000 of revenue in the last 12 months. None of that proves wrongdoing; it might be recent growth. It does mean you should see the Stripe data before an offer. See ARR far above trailing revenue.

What should I do if the seller refuses Stripe access?

If a seller refuses any read-only Stripe access or screen share before an offer, treat the revenue as unverified and price it that way, or walk away. A reasonable middle ground is a signed NDA followed by View Only access, or a letter of intent that makes the offer conditional on reconciling Stripe to the bank.

What else should I check besides Stripe?

Besides Stripe, check churn computed from the same export, because MRR that is real today can still shrink fast. A 4% monthly churn, as in the composite above, keeps about 61% of revenue after a year if new sales stop. The SaaS churn stress test shows what that does to payback, and the micro-SaaS decision page lists the remaining checks: code ownership, hosting costs, and what transfers.

Sources

1. Stripe Docs, User roles, read 7 October 2026
2. FirstPass Memo, red-flag checker rules, our own rules, published as /rules.json

Related

• Red flag: MRR above revenue collected
• Red flag: ARR far above trailing revenue
• SaaS churn stress test
• Is buying a micro-SaaS worth it?
• How to value a small SaaS
• Can a Stripe account be transferred?
• Due diligence for a small SaaS
• Glossary of listing terms
• More questions buyers ask

Composite examples are invented and labelled. Figures from other sites are quoted with a link and the date we read them; FirstPass figures are asking prices and seller-stated profit, not sale prices. Informational screening only, not investment, legal or tax advice.