Our long-tenured VP of Finance is a perfect core values fit and gets and wants their seat, but they lack the capacity to build the complex forward-looking financial forecasting models that prospective buyers are demanding for our exit. How do we handle this GWC issue without firing a loyal leader?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic capacity issue on the GWC (Gets it, Wants it, has the Capacity) tool. Your VP of Finance likely excels at historical accounting, but the current demands of the seat now require advanced corporate development and predictive financial forecasting to satisfy sophisticated buyers.

You cannot compromise on the requirements of the seat just to accommodate a loyal person. If you do, you risk destroying your enterprise value during due diligence.

Redefining the Seat

The solution lies in redefining the seat on your [Accountability Chart](/qa/how-can-we-use-keith-cunninghams-thinking-time-framework-to-diagnose-whether-our-current-accountability-chart-structure-is-actually-the-primary-bottleneck-preventing-us-from-reaching-our-next-revenue-milestone). You need to split the seat into two distinct functions:

• Keep your current leader: Place them in a Controller or VP of Accounting seat. Here, they can excel at what they do best and where they fully GWC the roles, focusing on historical accuracy and operational finance.
• Create a new, strategic Chief Financial Officer (CFO) seat: This seat will specifically own the predictive financial modeling and investment relations roles that are crucial for a successful exit.

Implementing the Solution

Because you likely cannot afford a full-time strategic CFO immediately, consider these steps:

1. Hire a fractional CFO: This is a common strategy for businesses preparing for an exit. A fractional CFO can fill this new strategic seat without the overhead of a full-time executive.
2. Reporting structure: The fractional CFO will report to your [Integrator](/qa/fractional-to-fulltime-integrator-transition) and work collaboratively alongside your internal VP of Finance.
3. Clear responsibilities: Ensure a clear division of labor to avoid overlap and leverage the strengths of both individuals. The fractional CFO focuses on the forward-looking, strategic financial picture, while your internal VP of Finance maintains operational financial integrity.

This structural adjustment respects your loyal leader by keeping them in a seat where they succeed and feel valued, while simultaneously ensuring your business has the strategic financial muscle required to secure a clean exit and maximize your [exit valuation](/qa/owner-sitting-in-multiple-seats-exit-valuation). This approach prioritizes structure before people, which is essential when preparing for a sale.

Related questions

• [How should an owner use Thinking Time to design the next iteration of the Accountability Chart for an exit?](/qa/thinking-time-accountability-chart-exit-prep)
• [We need to add an Integrator seat to prepare our business for a clean exit in two years, but we are torn between promoting our loyal head of operations or hiring an expensive external corporate executive. How do we make this decision objectively?](/qa/promoting-vs-hiring-integrator-exit-prep)
• [We are preparing for an exit and want to run an AI-powered operation, but we do not know how to redefine the major roles of our existing seats to reflect these automated workflows. How do we rewrite the roles on our Accountability Chart when AI takes over the repetitive tasks?](/qa/ai-operations-accountability-chart-roles)
• [We are three years away from a clean exit, and I need to know who owns the due diligence and pre-exit preparation process on our Accountability Chart. Do we create a temporary seat for exit readiness, or does this responsibility fall on the Integrator?](/qa/exit-readiness-accountability-chart-seat)