In this paper, an approach is presented that allows for a linkage between cutting process induced damage and the mechanical properties of the machined structures. For carbon fibre reinforced polymers, the milling and remote laser cutting processes are analysed. Open hole tensile test specimens, that are either milled or remote laser cut with three different cutting parameter configurations are tested. With a two-dimensional heat conduction simulation, the temperature field resulting from laser cutting is determined and thus the thermally induced damage is quantified. Those results are compared to micro-sections. The following structural analysis is based on an anisotropic damage model and is taking the thermal pre-damage into account. For this purpose two different thermal damage modelling approaches, based on damage variables and material parameter reduction, are compared. The influence of the cutting process on the structural properties is determined and compared with experimental results.