Name the churn before you chart it

Every subscription metrics dashboard eventually includes a churn chart. Trouble starts when finance means “logo churn,” product means “seat churn,” and the membership team means “failed payment after retry.”

Before RidgeBase Service draws a bar, we ask three questions in the briefing:

1. Is churn counted on customers, subscriptions, or revenue?
2. Does a pause or gift period count as churned?
3. Which date stamp wins — cancellation request or service end?

Write the answers in a one-page glossary. Put that glossary in the appendix of the board pack. Then build the chart. Teams that reverse the order spend the meeting debating the axis instead of the story.

If two definitions must coexist — for example logo churn for retention ops and revenue churn for finance — label both charts with the definition in the subtitle. Silent dual charts are how meetings derail.