Fractional CFO for fashion & clothing companies
Fashion is an inventory-led P&L with hard seasonality. Pre-orders set production commitment months before the season ships, and the gap between sell-in and sell-through decides whether the next collection is funded by cash flow or by markdowns. The DTC darlings of 2018-2021 have largely retrenched; most growing brands now blend wholesale and DTC.
Open-to-buy and seasonal inventory commitment is where most fashion P&Ls succeed or fail. Markdown reserves on aged inventory, the wholesale-to-DTC margin bridge including chargebacks and markdown support, and returns provisioning by category and channel all sit between invoice gross margin and a defensible contribution margin.
Flow provides financial modelling, FP&A and fractional CFO advisory to fashion and clothing companies across contemporary apparel, accessories, footwear, denim, activewear and DTC-only labels. Our startup CFO work forces markdown and return assumptions onto the P&L before the founder presents it.
KPIs to track for "fashion & clothing" startups
We're very 'KPI-driven' fractional CFOs, and we make sure to monitor the right metrics for your startup.
Revenue
Gross margin
Contribution margin
Full-price sell-through
Markdown rate
Returns rate
AOV
Repeat purchase rate
Wholesale share
Days inventory outstanding
Advertising as % of revenue
LTV / CAC
Financial modelling for "fashion & clothing" startups
As fractional CFOs, we build KPI-driven financial models that are insightful and easy to maintain.
Financial modelling is both art and science - models must be robust, but also understandable, and useful for both internal planning and VC fundraising purposes. Hire a fractional CFO who knows how to handle both sides of the equation.
Open-to-buy and seasonal commitment
Pre-order book, factory commitments and open-to-buy modelled against forecast sell-through by season and category. Shows whether the next collection is funded by cash flow or by markdowns on the previous one.
Full-price sell-through and markdown reserves
Sell-through by SKU, colour and size against price-point tiers, with markdown cadence and aged-inventory reserves built into the P&L. Forces a real markdown number rather than the founder's optimistic full-price assumption.
Wholesale-to-DTC margin bridge
Invoice gross margin walked to net of chargebacks, markdown support, RTV and co-op for wholesale, against DTC contribution after returns and shipping. Surfaces which channel is actually profitable at season-end.
Returns provisioning by category and channel
Return rates modelled separately for denim, footwear, intimates and outerwear across DTC, marketplace and wholesale. Categories with 40% return rates do not deserve the gross margin from the invoice.
SKU productivity and depth/breadth
Revenue and contribution per SKU against carry cost, with breadth versus depth tested for the next buy. Surfaces the long-tail SKU drag that quietly erodes contribution every season.
MER and cohort LTV for DTC labels
Blended ROAS, paid-social MER and cohort LTV by acquisition channel, with returns netted into LTV. Separates the brands actually building a repeat business from those funding a fashion show with paid social.
Founders and investors we've worked with
We've supported winning builders across fashion & clothing and beyond.
TBô
We acted as fractional CFO to TBô, a Zurich-based tech-enabled DTC male underwear brand, building a bottom-up financial / operating model with cohort-level KPIs and positioning the company for its next venture round.
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Onlogist
We acted as fractional CFO to Onlogist, a Hamburg-based online marketplace for last-mile vehicle transfer, providing confidential valuation guidance and operating model support.
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Marcura
We acted as fractional CFO to Dubai-based Marcura, owner of maritime payroll and B2B payments platform MarTrust, advising on the strategic e-Wallet vendor selection and supporting product/finance integration.
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Hector
We acted as fractional CFO to Hector Aurumi, a Dubai-based specialist software house with AI/ML, IoT and data science expertise, providing confidential valuation guidance to the management team.
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Bonart
We've worked as fractional CFO with Bonart, a Zurich-based independent Swiss strategic advisory and execution platform for PE and investor fundraising, providing long-term confidential valuation guidance.
See moreRecent fractional CFO track record
See our fractional CFO and financial modelling experience across fashion & clothing and beyond.
Simple pricing
No hidden costs, no complicated long-term contracts. We understand how important flexibility is for fashion & clothing startups.
Per month
- Accounting / FP&A tech stack implementation
- Monthly financial statements and reporting pack
- Quarterly board pack with detailed financial analysis (with variance analysis vs. budget, relevant KPI observations etc.)
- Investor-friendly output
Per month
- Everything in Core, plus
- Operating model (via an online platform like Runway or Excel-based)
- Ongoing model maintenance, refining projections, burn/runway management
- Customer cohorts modelling, churn and retention analysis
- LTV / CAC, unit economics analysis
- Cap table management
Per month
- Everything in Grow, plus
- M&A / fundraising support; review of business plan
- Pitch deck preparation
- Investor approach strategy / list building
- Due diligence support and deal negotiation
- Valuation as required and free access to Multiples Pro
Packages shown are illustrative, final pricing is tailored to client requirements.
Explore our fractional CFO offering for similar verticals
We're a specialized fractional CFO to consumer products companies.
Our fractional CFO experience spans across all consumer products verticals.
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We know tech inside & out.
We provide fractional CFO services to companies operating across the entire tech.
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We help you scale by providing fractional CFO advice, through fundraising and a successful M&A exit.
VC fundraising for fashion & clothing companies
We help you prepare materials, reach out to investors in our extensive network, negotiate fair term sheets and structure the VC round.
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