For e-commerce brands.
Margin, inventory, and cash that tie out.
Inventory, shipping, returns, gross margin, seasonality, acquisition cost, and working capital, modelled together so cash timing matches reality.
Startup Suite is an AI planning workspace that helps e-commerce founders model true unit margin, inventory, and working capital so cash timing matches reality.
This page is fore-commerce and DTC operators modelling margin, inventory, and cash.
- Orders & AOV
- Repeat purchase rate
- Channel & promo mix
- COGS, shipping & payment fees
- Returns
- Inventory & working capital
- True unit-margin model
- Inventory & cash-flow plan
- Lender-ready financial model
- Forecast Engine
- Scenario Workbench
- AI mentors
You shouldn't need a finance team to answer this
The everyday questions this module makes simple.
Returns and shipping eat the margin
Gross looks healthy until returns, fees, and freight quietly take the profit.
Cash is trapped in inventory
You're profitable on paper but can't make payroll because it's all sitting in stock.
Seasonality whiplash
A great Q4 hides a brutal Q1, and the plan never saw it coming.
See how Startup Suite models e-commerce margins
Edit COGS, returns, and ad spend and watch true unit margin and cash recompute, then see what a free-shipping or supplier-cost scenario does.
Net COGS, shipping, fees, and returns into the margin you actually keep, then tie inventory to cash timing for a lender-ready model.
- Assumptions
- Model
- Scenarios
- Mentor Review
- Outputs
AI mentorCurrent margins and cash timing, contribution covers acquisition with runway to spare.
Not a dashboard, a model that connects end to end.
Editable assumptions change the model, scenarios expose the trade-offs, an AI mentor explains the risk, and the result is an output you can defend. Example view · illustrative.
Edit returns rate and shipping cost
Editable assumption
True unit margin and cash recompute
KPI impact
Compare base, free-shipping, and returns-up
Base / upside / downside
Flags when ad spend stops paying back
AI risk insight
Lender-ready financial model
What you can defend
Illustrative, capabilities and typical targets, not guaranteed outcomes.
Why founders reach for this
Margin, inventory, and cash that tie out.
COGS, shipping, payment fees, and returns netted out, the margin you actually keep.
- True unit margin
- Inventory & working capital
- Seasonality
Decisions you can make this week
Practical calls this module helps you get right, no finance background needed.
The capabilities that earn the work.
True unit margin
COGS, shipping, payment fees, and returns netted out, the margin you actually keep.
Inventory & working capital
Model the cash tied up in stock and the timing of when it comes back.
Seasonality
Plan around the peaks and troughs instead of being caught out by them.
Acquisition & contribution
Tie ad spend to contribution margin, so growth doesn't quietly lose money.
From signal to decision.
- 1
Connect sales & ads
Pull orders, payouts, and ad spend from your stack.
- 2
Set unit economics
COGS, shipping, returns, and fees per product line.
- 3
Model the season
Map demand and inventory across the calendar.
- 4
See the cash
Watch working capital and runway move with each decision.
More than a spreadsheet, more than a consultant
| Feature | Spreadsheetthe old way | Consultant$10k+ / model | Startup Suiteconnected workspace |
|---|---|---|---|
| True unit margin (COGS, shipping, fees, returns) | Manual | ||
| Inventory & working-capital cash timing | Hard | ||
| Scenario compare (returns / free-ship / channel) | Tabs | On request | |
| AI mentor explains the cash risk | Hourly | ||
| Lender-ready financial model output |
- True unit margin (COGS, shipping, fees, returns)
- Manual
- Inventory & working-capital cash timing
- Hard
- Scenario compare (returns / free-ship / channel)
- Tabs
- AI mentor explains the cash risk
- Lender-ready financial model output
- True unit margin (COGS, shipping, fees, returns)
- Inventory & working-capital cash timing
- Scenario compare (returns / free-ship / channel)
- On request
- AI mentor explains the cash risk
- Hourly
- Lender-ready financial model output
- True unit margin (COGS, shipping, fees, returns)
- Inventory & working-capital cash timing
- Scenario compare (returns / free-ship / channel)
- AI mentor explains the cash risk
- Lender-ready financial model output
Built for your specific model.
DTC brand
Own-site sales with paid acquisition, model contribution margin after CAC, returns, and fees.
Output · Contribution-margin model
Marketplace seller
Amazon and marketplace channels, model referral fees, FBA costs, and channel-level profit.
Output · Channel P&L
Subscription box
Recurring physical product, model churn, replenishment, and inventory against recurring revenue.
Output · Recurring margin model
See the Subscription box modelRetail & wholesale
Stockists and wholesale margins, model landed cost, markups, and terms across channels.
Output · Wholesale margin stack
Questions founders ask
Do you handle returns and shipping in margin?+
Yes, COGS, shipping, payment fees, and returns are netted into a true unit margin, not just gross.
Can it model inventory and working capital?+
Yes. The cash tied up in stock and the timing it returns are modelled, so your runway reflects reality.
What is an e-commerce financial model?+
It projects revenue and the true margin you keep after COGS, shipping, fees, and returns, then ties inventory and working capital to cash timing so profit and cash both make sense.
Is this just a spreadsheet template?+
No. Edit returns or shipping and the margin and cash update live, scenarios compare side by side, and an AI mentor flags the cash risk, then it produces a lender-ready model.
What outputs can I export?+
A true unit-margin model, an inventory and cash-flow plan, and a lender-ready financial model, every figure traceable to an assumption.
Adjacent capabilities.
Make this the last spreadsheet you build
Build your plan, connect your data, and see this working on your own numbers, no finance team required.
From idea to investor-ready · built for founders, not finance teams