Neural Profit Engines
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Core engine

Fractional CFO

World-class CFO firepower on a flexible retainer.

Full-scope strategic financial leadership — board reporting, investor materials, capital strategy and AI-powered decision support — without the cost of a full-time hire.

Overview

What you get

Vernon embeds with your leadership team as your outsourced Chief Financial Officer, owning the full finance function: planning, reporting, capital, controls and AI-augmented decision support.

Every retainer is anchored by the NPE Neural CFO toolbox — the same connected stack of ledger, cash, macro and ML data used by the rest of the engine library.

Designed for North Bay SMBs scaling through $2M–$20M in revenue, especially those navigating a financing event, a strategic pivot, or an exit window inside 24–36 months.

Deliverables

What's included

  • ◆Board-level monthly reporting package (P&L, balance sheet, cash, KPIs)
  • ◆Investor- and lender-ready financial materials and data rooms
  • ◆Capital strategy: debt, equity, lines of credit, owner distributions
  • ◆Pricing, margin and unit-economics architecture
  • ◆KPI design and weekly operating reviews with the leadership team
  • ◆AI-powered decision support across pricing, hiring and capex calls
  • ◆Quarterly Five Rings strategic review (offense + defense)
  • ◆Annual budget and rolling re-forecast
Scope

In & out of scope

In scope
  • ＋Direct partnership with the CEO and leadership team
  • ＋Oversight of bookkeeping, controller and external accountants
  • ＋Bank, lender, investor and board communications
  • ＋Hands-on involvement in major financial decisions
Out of scope
  • −Day-to-day transactional bookkeeping (delivered via Neural Bookkeeping or your existing team)
  • −Tax return preparation (coordinated with your CPA)
  • −Audit fieldwork (coordinated with your auditor)
Best for

Is this the right engine?

  • →Founders without a senior in-house finance leader
  • →Companies preparing for SBA, bank or equity financing
  • →Operators planning succession, recap or sale in 1–3 years
  • →Boards that want financial discipline without a full-time hire
Process

How it runs

  1. 01
    Weeks 1–2

    Diagnostic deep-dive: ledger hygiene, cash position, KPI baseline, capital structure.

  2. 02
    Weeks 3–6

    Stand up the Neural CFO stack: 13-week cash, driver model, KPI dashboard, board pack v1.

  3. 03
    Month 2+

    Recurring weekly operating review, monthly board pack, quarterly Five Rings strategy session.

Other engines

Pairs well with

Operations
Cash Runway Command
Know what every decision does to runway — before you make it.
View engine →
Strategy
Neural FP&A
Offense and defense in one integrated operating system.
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Strategy
Perception, Branding & Strategy
AI-driven market intelligence that turns big data into disruptive SMB strategy.
View engine →
Strategy
Business Valuation
Seven valuation lenses — from textbook DCF to NPE's Two-Sword model.
View engine →
Supporting
Neural Bookkeeping
The clean, AI-ready data foundation every strategy requires.
View engine →

Ready to put Fractional CFO to work?

30-minute call. No pitch. Just whether this is the right engine for your next move.

Book CFO call →