Client Profile:
Digitally native fashion brand selling through own website and major marketplaces
(Annual revenue ~₹30 Cr; pan-India operations; D2C + Marketplace hybrid model)
Key Challenges:
- No visibility into region-wise product performance or logistics cost leakage
- Inventory was overstocked in low-performing warehouses, increasing fulfillment costs
- Margins differed significantly across SKUs, but data was not accessible in one place
- Financial reporting was fragmented across platforms (Shopify, Amazon, Flipkart)
CFO Pulse Approach:
🔰 CFO Shield (Stage 1)
- Mapped SKU-level COGS and ensured proper recording of fulfillment, marketing, and return costs
- Integrated data from multiple sales channels into a centralized finance system
- Created uniform cost heads for accurate margin tracking
📊 CFO Dashboard (Stage 2)
- Developed Power BI dashboards showing SKU-wise, region-wise, and channel-wise profitability
- Visualized return rates, delivery time, and logistics cost per order
- Built a real-time sales vs inventory heatmap to flag slow movers
🔍 CFO Lens (Stage 3)
- Identified that checkered shirts sold 3x better in South India, while printed designs performed better in West
- Helped reduce dead stock by 23% through inventory reallocation
- Exposed that one channel was eroding 8% margins due to high return & COD failure rates
🧠 CFO Brain (Stage 4)
- Advised on pricing corrections across 15 SKUs based on customer acquisition cost and fulfillment margins
- Built a demand-forecasting model to support smarter purchase planning
- Helped client shift to a decentralized fulfillment strategy, optimizing delivery speed & cost
Tangible Results:
- Reduced logistics costs by 23% through regional SKU optimization
- Increased gross margin by 6.7% by eliminating unprofitable product-channel combinations
- Built a live business cockpit for founders to track sales, returns, and profitability in real-time
- Enabled data-backed decisions on product expansion and discount strategy
✅ Case Study 6: Multi-Location Skincare Services Brand
Client Profile:
Premium skincare and dermatology clinic chain with multiple locations across a metro city
(Annual revenue: ~$3.5 million USD; doctor-led brand with high marketing and operating overheads)
Key Challenges:
- Founders lacked visibility into branch-level profitability and performance KPIs
- No clarity on cost per service due to bundled pricing and unallocated expenses
- High utility and operating costs across locations, with no tracking or control system
- Financial reports were delayed and disconnected from operational metrics
CFO Pulse Approach:
🔰 CFO Shield (Stage 1)
- Cleaned up accounting structure to accurately allocate revenue and costs across clinics
- Created cost structures per treatment type, factoring in doctor time, materials, and equipment use
- Implemented standardized monthly closing and internal reporting practices
📊 CFO Dashboard (Stage 2)
- Built real-time Power BI dashboards to monitor revenue per clinic, service, and practitioner
- Created operational dashboards to track electricity consumption, inventory usage, and prepaid package redemption
- Enabled live view of collections, appointments, and cash balances
🔍 CFO Lens (Stage 3)
- Identified low-margin services with high delivery cost
- Detected inefficiencies in utility consumption — particularly in 2 high-footfall clinics
- Optimized service scheduling to increase average revenue per doctor-hour
🧠 CFO Brain (Stage 4)
- Advised management to reprice 9 key services based on cost insights and market benchmarks
- Rolled out a performance-linked bonus structure for branch managers using profitability KPIs
- Built an expansion model using per-location breakeven and ROI projections
Tangible Results:
- Improved EBITDA margin by 5.2% YoY through pricing corrections and cost rationalization
- Reduced annual energy costs by ~$6,000 USD across three clinics
- Improved real-time financial control and branch-level accountability
- Built a scalable FP&A framework to support expansion into two new cities
✅ Case Study 2: Manufacturing Company – Electrical Components
Client Profile:
Emerging manufacturer of control panels and power distribution units (turnover ~₹28 Cr)
Challenges:
- Founders lacked financial visibility on project costing vs actual spend
- Inconsistent revenue recognition and poor controls over material wastage
- No proper system for inventory tracking → excess stock & blocked working capital
- Struggling to assess long-term profitability and break-even
CFO Pulse Approach:
🔰 CFO Shield
- Implemented correct cost accounting structure for BOM-based projects
- Fixed improper revenue recognition (earlier based on delivery, not milestones)
📊 CFO Dashboard
- Developed Power BI dashboard with job-wise profitability, material consumption, and margin tracking
- Introduced project progress vs billing visual reports
- Inventory aging & reorder level alerts introduced
🔍 CFO Lens
- Conducted variance analysis for 8 months of completed jobs → identified underquoting pattern
- Suggested vendor negotiations for repeat materials → brought down procurement costs by 6%
- Monitored monthly wastage reports → reduced material loss by 12%
🧠 CFO Brain
- Built product-wise pricing tool based on real-time cost inputs
- Created a breakeven analysis model to help plan minimum order booking
- Helped founders rethink sales strategy based on profit per job, not top-line
Tangible Impact:
- Improved net margins from 4.5% to 9.2% within 12 months
- Reduced inventory holding by ₹1.2 Cr through clean-up and stock policy changes
- Created pricing discipline that improved quoting accuracy for future orders
- First-time visibility into profitability per job & segment
