Abir Syed, CPA, is the Co-Founder of UpCounting and a seasoned finance professional with experience as a fractional CFO for multiple DTC brands.
Biography
Abir Syed is the Co-Founder of UpCounting and a seasoned CFO who unlocks 8- and 9-figure growth for eCommerce brands.
He’s worked with DTC companies like Obvi, Manmade, RoseSkin, and Bambu Earth to scale sustainably and stay profitable.
Beyond UpCounting, Abir has raised over $60M in funding as a finance executive and continues to serve as a fractional CFO for multiple high-growth brands. Having also led an eCommerce brand himself, he gained first-hand experience in marketing and media buying, giving him a rare ability to connect financial strategy with real-world growth.
On stage, Abir makes scaling feel practical and refreshingly real, translating complex financial insights into strategies founders can actually use.
Social Accounts
Expertise
eCommerce / Paid Advertising / Risk Management / Growth Marketing / Performance Marketing / Financial Forecasting / ERP Implementation / Financial Modeling
More info about UpCounting ⤵️
The Elite Accounting Firm
UpCounting is a premier accounting firm specializing in comprehensive financial services tailored for eCommerce businesses. By consolidating diverse expertise under one roof, UpCounting streamlines operations for eCommerce brands, eliminating the complexities associated with accounting and bookkeeping. Featured in To know more about UpCounting services, visit the website.
Why Have Abir as Your Speaker
He's been on every side of the table.
Big 4 CPA, VP Finance, eCommerce founder, media buyer, fractional CFO. Abir has operated at every layer of the stack, which means he knows exactly where brands make expensive financial mistakes, and how to fix them.
His sessions leave with frameworks, not concepts.
As a featured speaker at Commerce Roundtable and through his webinar with Motion's Creative Strategy Summit, the feedback is consistent: founders leave with something they can use on Monday morning.
He speaks the language your audience already uses.
Abir is one of the few CFOs who has also been on the marketing side so his frameworks are built around the decisions founders are actually making. The Chew on This podcast episode on cash flow mistakes DTC brands make is a good preview.
Featured Appearances
All Appearances
42:39
YouTube
How to Build a Marketing Budget for DTC Brands
How to Build a Marketing Budget for DTC Brands In this session from Commerce Roundtable San Diego, Ronak Shah, Co-Founder and CEO of Obvi, and Abir Syed, a fractional CFO for eCommerce brands, break down how to build a smart, scalable marketing budget. They share how to interpret key financial data, understand marketing expenses within your P&L, and use contribution margins and LTV to CAC ratios to make better decisions that drive growth. They also dive into practical strategies for improving
01:03:28
YouTube
This Cash Flow Mistake is Killing Your Business...
💲 Upcounting - Unlock your eCommerce brand’s massive growth! UpCounting scales your business by bringing diverse expertise under one roof, saving you time and avoiding the pitfalls of outsourcing to multiple companies 🔗 https://www.upcounting.com/ 💰 Channel Segmentation: Treat each sales channel (DTC, wholesale, Amazon) as a separate business unit with distinct financial characteristics, including cost structures, cash conversion cycles, and marketing strategies. 📊 Accurate COGS: Regularly
56:37
YouTube
How Creative Strategy Can Improve Contribution Margin With Abir Syed
Want to ship more winning Meta, TikTok, and YouTube ads? Motion is a creative analytics platform used by ecom and DTC brands like Vuori, True Classic, The Farmer’s Dog, HexClad, and hundreds more. We bridge the gap between media buyers and creative teams with fast, visual reporting for your Meta, TikTok, and YouTube ads. -- LEARN MORE ABOUT MOTION -- Motion connects with your Facebook and TikTok ad accounts, pulls in all your ad creative data, and makes beautiful, visual dashboards. ► Explore
30:07
YouTube
Build a Financially Sound eCommerce Business with Nima Sotoadeh, Abir Syed & more | Ecom North 2024
Mike Pignatelli (Chief Executive Officer of Unloop), Abir Syed (Co-Founder of UpCounting), Nima Sotoadeh (Founder of Broya), Matt Putra (Chief Executive Officer of Eightx), Kayley Perry (Accounting Operations Manager at Unloop) on How to Build a Financially Sound eCommerce Business.
01:05:17
YouTube
Scaling Meta Ads Through The Eyes Of A Fractional CFO
Get daily live Meta Ads coaching: https://www.skool.com/meta-ads-mastery Book a 1-hr consulting call here: https://calendly.com/digitaladguide/fb-ads-consultation?month=2025-10 Read my reviews here: https://share.google/6V7u5SbAFXnOuv4Ms 00:00 – Intro – Abir Syed Presentation 03:50 – Who is Abir Syed? 08:00 – The Hardest Decision 11:20 – How Do We Budget 20:04 – Contribution Margin 36:44 – Incrementality 48:10 - Cashflow 52:31 – Fragility 56:30 – The Scale Equation 01:05:00 – Join my Meta
51:53
YouTube
The Most Important Financial Metrics Every Digital Marketer Needs
Learn the most important financial metrics that every digital marketer needs to know for sustainable business growth and successful marketing performance. From better articulating the value of conversion rates and click-through rates to analyzing customer lifetime value and true return on investment, Abir covers it all! -- ABOUT ABIR -- Abir Syed is the Cofounder of UpCounting and a CPA who has run various startups as VP of Finance. He's a CFO by day, and an advertiser by night -- helping Ec
36:49
YouTube
From Med School Dreams to FinTech Triumph: Abir Syed's Unconventional Path. | EP. 6.
In this insightful episode of World's Greatest Minds, host Kasim Aslam sits down with Abir Syed, a CPA and FinTech innovator who has transitioned into a fractional CFO for high-growth e-commerce brands. Abir co-founded UpCounting, a finance firm tailored for DTC brands, helping them unlock smarter growth through integrated accounting and marketing strategies. With a track record of raising $50 million in funding and building finance systems from scratch, Abir is passionate about preempting fina
44:52
YouTube
191 Your Business Is Profitable and Broke with Abir Syed
Your profit report says things are great. Your bank account disagrees. What's actually happening? In this episode, e-commerce CFO Abir Syed breaks down the profitability paradox that quietly kills growing businesses: why strong margins and a healthy P&L can coexist with a genuine cash crisis, and how founders who don't model their cash conversion cycle find themselves on a treadmill of expensive short-term debt they can never escape. Abir, Anthony, and Chris dig into the three financial metric
Scalability School
Building A Bullet-proof Plan For Growth In 2026 — Scalability School
This episode is a practical walk-through of forecasting for e-commerce growth, specifically how media buyers and operators should think about revenue targets, paid spend, CAC/ROAS degradation, contribution margin, fixed costs, and cash flow without building a fantasy plan that assumes everything
Bad Books, Big Problems: Avoid the Hidden Risks Lurking in Your Financials [read]
How Creative Strategy Can Improve Contribution Margin With Abir Syed [watch]
The Most Important Financial Metrics Every Digital Marketer Needs [watch]
ThumbstopLive | Abir - Creative Strategy's CFO l | August 5th [watch]
Counting on Success: The Importance of E-Commerce Accounting [listen]
Breaking the Mold: Why Market Credibility is the Secret Sauce with Trueform [listen]
How can you scale Amazon in a way that makes your accountant happy? [listen]
Build a Financially Sound eCommerce Business with Nima Sotoadeh, Abir Syed & more [watch]
Mentioned in Inventory Costs: How to Calculate & Reduce Them (Plus 10 Mistakes to Avoid) [read]
Mentioned in Why $19 Is Apple’s Favorite Price for Accessories" by Wall Street Journal
Abir Syed