Software as a service
For security software: which reviews and coupons bring subscribers who stay past the refund window.
Security software such as VPNs, antivirus and small-business protection sells multi-year plans through review sites, coupons and search, with a money-back window and the chargebacks consumer billing brings. Tally ties each plan to the visit that won it and counts refunds and chargebacks against the same source.
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01How they sell
- SubscriptionOne-, two- or three-year plans paid up front, with a monthly option; renewals come at the end of the term.
- One-offLifetime plans or single-device licences sold once.
- FreemiumA free version or limited plan that upgrades for more devices or features.
02Payments it reads
- StripePlans through Checkout; renewals, refunds within the guarantee and chargebacks are read.
- PaddleUsed by security software sold to consumers worldwide as merchant of record; refunds and chargebacks arrive as adjustments.
What Tally can't read
- Subscriptions bought in the mobile apps through the App Store or Google Play aren't read.
- Licences sold through resellers, distributors or managed service providers who bill customers themselves aren't read.
- Commissions paid to affiliates through an affiliate network aren't read; only the revenue of the buyers they send is.
- Payments taken in cryptocurrency or gift cards through a processor other than the four aren't read.
03Where buyers come from
- Review and comparison sitesReviews with affiliate links send readers choosing between a few products; each site's link gets its own row.
- Coupon sitesCoupon pages catch buyers hunting for a discount at checkout time; their row shows revenue and refunds together.
- Problem searchesSearches for how to protect a device, unblock a site or remove malware bring people with a problem to fix today.
- Tech YouTubeSponsored segments and reviews send viewers carrying a discount link.
- AI assistantsPeople asking an assistant which VPN or antivirus to trust land in the AI channel.
04What Tally answers
Which review site's buyers stay past the money-back window?
Lifetime value by first source takes refunds and chargebacks off each source's customers, so a review site whose readers refund within the window is weighed on what it actually kept.
Lifetime valueAre chargebacks tied to one coupon site?
Chargebacks are counted against the sale they reverse; open those receipts and each shows its visits and credited source, so a pattern behind one coupon page shows sale by sale.
ReceiptsAre coupon sites taking credit for buyers others found?
Path to purchase draws a flow from first source to credited source; a coupon site that appears often on the credited side but rarely as a first source is closing sales that reviews and search started.
Path to purchaseWhich countries buy, and which only browse?
The country breakdown carries visitors and revenue for each country, so a market with plenty of traffic and little revenue stands out.
Sources with revenueDoes the free version's download lead to paid plans?
Mark the download with data-fast-goal and the goals view gives completions, converting visitors and the revenue of those visitors.
Goals and funnels
05Numbers worth watching
- Refunds and chargebacks
- Refunds and chargebacks by source, the first number to read for channels built on discounts.
- Revenue by source
- Revenue behind each review site, coupon partner and sponsored creator, after refunds.
- Renewals
- Renewals by first source, which for multi-year plans arrive slowly and settle the question for good.
- Conversion
- Paying visitors over all visitors, by country and device in the breakdowns.
06An example
Lifetime value by first source
All time: every payment since 1 Nov 2025. The period above doesn't apply.
| First source | Customers | Lifetime revenue | Average value | Renewals | Repeat rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoogleOrganic Search | 325 | $40,560 | $125 | 845 | 52% |
| ChatGPTAI Assistants | 126 | $21,071 | $167 | 391 | 61% |
| Direct | 178 | $18,216 | $102 | 374 | 44% |
| NewsletterEmail | 94 | $17,362 | $185 | 357 | 69% |
| Hacker NewsOrganic Social | 84 | $11,741 | $140 | 227 | 55% |
| x.comOrganic Social | 115 | $10,190 | $89 | 161 | 33% |
| RedditOrganic Social | 84 | $9,016 | $107 | 160 | 40% |
| PerplexityAI Assistants | 42 | $6,342 | $151 | 101 | 57% |
| Every source | 1,048 | $134,498 | $128 | 2,616 | 51% |
A customer is a visitor linked to a sale, counted under the source of their first visit. Lifetime revenue is net of refunds and chargebacks; repeat rate is the share who paid more than once (a renewal, an upgrade or another purchase). $13,167 from 426 payments not linked to a visitor is in no row.
07Setting up
- Any HTML siteAdd the tag to the head of every page, the pricing page and the page that hands off to checkout included.
- PaddlePass the visitor's id in customData when Paddle checkout opens, so refunds and chargebacks are credited back to the right source.
- Give every affiliate, coupon partner and sponsored creator its own UTM campaign.
08Questions
Are chargebacks counted with refunds?
Yes, together under refunds: Stripe chargebacks and Paddle's chargeback adjustments come off the source the original sale was credited to.
A buyer's first visit was a review site and their last a coupon page. Who gets credit?
The coupon page, as the last visit that didn't come direct. The review site is kept as the first visit, and lifetime value by first source credits it there.
Our customers pay for three years up front. How does renewal show?
As a payment on the subscription when the term ends, credited to the first payment's source; until then, the customer has one payment and the source's lifetime value reflects only that.