What TTM revenue means
TTM revenue is the total revenue a business earned over the trailing twelve months: the most recent 12 consecutive months, regardless of where its fiscal year starts. It is also called LTM (last twelve months) revenue. Corporate Finance Institute describes TTM as a current, seasonally adjusted view of a company's results and treats TTM and LTM as interchangeable terms (CFI, "Trailing Twelve Months (TTM)").
TTM revenue = sum of monthly revenue for the 12 most recent complete months
TTM revenue is backward-looking and recorded, not projected. That is its strength: it smooths seasonality and lumpy annual renewals, and it ties to records a buyer can check. It is also its weakness: a fast-growing or shrinking business looks different today than its trailing average. This guide covers how to calculate TTM, how it differs from run rate and ARR, how buyers use it, and the mistakes that distort it. Nothing here is accounting or tax advice.
How to calculate TTM revenue
From monthly figures
If you keep monthly revenue, add the last 12 complete months. On 19 October 2026, the TTM period would normally be October 2025 through September 2026, because October 2026 is not complete.
Example monthly revenue (adjusted gross, after refunds):
- Oct–Dec 2025: $14,000, $14,500, $16,500
- Jan–Mar 2026: $15,200, $15,800, $16,400
- Apr–Jun 2026: $17,000, $17,300, $18,100
- Jul–Sep 2026: $18,600, $19,200, $19,900
TTM revenue = $45,000 + $47,400 + $52,400 + $57,700 = $202,500
Next month, drop October 2025 and add October 2026. That rolling update is why TTM is often called a rolling 12-month figure.
From annual and year-to-date statements
Public-company analysts usually build TTM from filings. CFI gives the standard formula (CFI):
TTM = latest fiscal-year figure + current year-to-date figure − prior-year year-to-date figure
Example: fiscal 2025 revenue was $180,000; January–September 2026 revenue is $157,500; January–September 2025 revenue was $135,000.
TTM = $180,000 + $157,500 − $135,000 = $202,500
The two methods should agree if the underlying data is consistent, which makes this formula a useful cross-check on monthly reports.
From payment-provider exports
Small software companies often have cleaner payment data than bookkeeping. To build TTM revenue from a provider export:
- Export successful charges, refunds, and disputes for the 12 complete months, plus a buffer month on each side to catch late refunds.
- Decide on one date basis (charge date or refund date) and apply it to every month.
- Remove sales tax or VAT collected on behalf of governments if it is included in the charge amount.
- Convert currencies at a documented rate, ideally the rate on each transaction date.
- Subtract refunds and lost disputes, and decide whether processor fees are excluded from revenue (the usual approach) or deducted.
- Sum by month, then sum the 12 months, and reconcile the total to bank deposits plus fees and timing differences.
If you sell through several providers or an app store, repeat for each and combine. Record which accounts and products are included so a buyer can check the boundary.
TTM revenue vs run rate vs ARR
These three are frequently confused in sale listings.
TTM revenue sums what actually happened over 12 months. Using the example above: $202,500.
Annualized run rate multiplies a recent period by a factor to estimate a year:
Run rate = latest month's revenue × 12 or latest quarter × 4
Using September: $19,900 × 12 = $238,800. Using the third quarter: $57,700 × 4 = $230,800. Run rate is forward-leaning and flatters any month that included one-time sales or annual prepayments. Andreessen Horowitz specifically warns against annualizing one month of bookings (a16z, "16 Startup Metrics").
ARR annualizes only normalized recurring subscriptions in force at a date:
ARR = normalized MRR × 12
Stripe's documentation, for example, calculates MRR from monthly-normalized active and past-due subscriptions, excludes one-time invoices and trialing subscriptions, and sets ARR as MRR × 12 (Stripe Support, "Understanding MRR and ARR"). If September's $19,900 included $1,500 of setup fees and a $1,200 annual prepayment that normalizes to $100 per month, normalized MRR would be roughly $19,900 − $1,500 − $1,200 + $100 = $17,300, and ARR $207,600.
So the same business shows $202,500 TTM, $238,800 run rate, and $207,600 ARR. None is wrong; each answers a different question. Read more in MRR vs ARR and calculate with the MRR and ARR calculator.
Trailing 30-day revenue vs TTM revenue
RevenueBug's headline metric is trailing 30-day revenue: successful payment principal minus refunds and disputes, before provider fees, for the latest 30 days from a connected provider. It is useful for current momentum and is updated daily, but a single 30-day window is sensitive to annual renewals, launches, and refunds. It is also not necessarily subscription MRR (methodology).
A daily revenue history lets you look beyond one window. Summing 12 trailing months of the same adjusted-gross revenue gives a provider-sourced TTM revenue figure, which a buyer can then reconcile to bank deposits and tax returns. Treat any figure from one connected account as covering only that account's products and payments; verification is not an audit. See verified MRR.
How buyers use TTM revenue
Earnings multiples. SDE and EBITDA multiples are typically applied to trailing-twelve-month earnings, which start from TTM revenue. See SDE vs EBITDA.
Revenue multiples. Some listings quote a multiple of TTM revenue, others of ARR or run rate. A 3x multiple of TTM and a 3x multiple of run rate are different prices for a growing company. Always confirm the denominator; see ARR multiples and the SaaS valuation calculator.
Reconciliation. TTM revenue should tie to payment-provider exports, bank deposits, and, where a full tax year is included, to tax returns. The SBA advises buyers to conduct a thorough, objective investigation of an existing business, with an accountant's help reviewing financial statements and tax returns (SBA, "Buy an existing business or franchise").
Trend. Buyers compare TTM with the prior TTM period:
TTM growth = (current TTM revenue ÷ prior-year TTM revenue) − 1
If prior-year TTM was $150,000, growth is $202,500 ÷ $150,000 − 1 = 35%. They also compare the latest month annualized with TTM. When run rate is well above TTM, the business is growing; when it is below, it is shrinking, and a TTM-based price may be too high.
When TTM revenue misleads
- Fast growth. A product that doubled in the last six months has a TTM well below its current scale. Show TTM alongside current MRR and monthly trend.
- Decline. A shrinking business looks healthier on TTM than on current revenue. Buyers will weight recent months.
- One-time events. A big launch, a lifetime-deal campaign, or a single large contract inflates TTM. Separate recurring from non-recurring revenue.
- Late refunds and disputes. Revenue reported early can be reversed. Use figures that reflect subsequent refunds; see gross vs net revenue.
- Incomplete months. Including a partial current month understates TTM, or overstates it if you substitute a projection.
- Mixed definitions. Gross charges in some months and net payouts in others make the sum meaningless.
- Currency effects. Non-USD revenue converted at different rates over time can change TTM without a change in sales.
Frequently asked questions
What does TTM stand for in revenue?
Trailing twelve months: the 12 most recent consecutive months of revenue. It is also called LTM, last twelve months.
Is TTM the same as annual revenue?
Only when the trailing period happens to match the fiscal year. Annual revenue covers a fixed fiscal year; TTM rolls forward each month or quarter.
Is TTM revenue better than ARR for valuation?
They suit different businesses. ARR fits predictable subscription revenue and is forward-looking. TTM fits businesses with one-time or mixed revenue, and is the usual base for earnings-based valuations. Many buyers look at both.
Should TTM revenue include refunds?
TTM revenue should be stated after refunds and disputes if you call it net or adjusted gross revenue. State the definition explicitly, and keep it consistent across all 12 months.
How do I calculate TTM for a business younger than a year?
You cannot produce a true TTM. Report total revenue since launch with the number of months, plus the latest monthly figure. Avoid presenting an annualized run rate as if it were trailing revenue.
Does RevenueBug show TTM revenue?
RevenueBug's headline figure is trailing 30-day revenue, with a daily revenue history on each public profile. Anyone summing that history should remember it reflects only the connected provider accounts and is not an audit.