We have a fractional CFO and a part-time fractional HR Director who keep our overhead low as we scale. How do we list these fractional players on our Accountability Chart, and do they have true authority over their seats?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A seat on your Accountability Chart represents a function, not a payroll status. It does not matter if a seat is occupied by a full-time W-2 employee, a part-time contractor, or a fractional executive. If the seat is necessary for your business to function, it must be on the chart.

Place the fractional CFO and fractional HR Director in their respective boxes on the chart. Under their names, list their five core roles clearly.

To make this relationship work, these fractional leaders must have absolute authority over their seats. If your fractional CFO does not have the authority to manage your accounting team, enforce cash flow rules, and direct your tax strategy, they are acting as a glorified consultant, not a leader.

This means they must run their respective Level 10 Meetings™, own their departmental Rocks, and hold their direct reports accountable just like any full-time leader would.

The only difference is capacity. Because they are fractional, their time is limited. You must adjust their deliverables and Rocks to match their contracted hours, but you must never compromise on their GWC™ alignment. If they do not truly get, want, and have the capacity to lead that function within those designated hours, they are in the wrong seat. Treating fractional leaders with full structural respect is the only way to build a scalable, professional organization.