Our long-tenured VP of Finance gets and wants her seat, but she completely lacks the capacity to handle the complex tax structuring and working capital calculations our buyer is demanding. How do we address this capacity gap on the Accountability Chart without replacing her?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a common issue when preparing for an exit. Your long tenured leader fits your core values and wants the seat, but the capacity requirement has outgrown them due to the intense demands of due diligence and exit readiness. This is a GWC™ issue on capacity, and you cannot ignore it. You have two structural options on your Accountability Chart. The first option is to keep her in the seat but narrow its scope. Look at her five key roles. If she is bogged down by complex tax structuring and transactional modeling, you can pull those specific roles out of her seat. You can then create a temporary, fractional, or specialized seat under her, such as an Exit Finance Specialist, or outsource those roles to a specialized M and A advisory firm. This allows her to focus on the core accounting functions she excels at. The second option is to move her to a seat that she fully GWCs and bring in a dedicated CFO who has successfully navigated exits before. This is a tough right person, right seat decision, but it is necessary to protect your valuation. If you choose the first option, make sure the modified seat is clearly defined on the Accountability Chart and that she still owns the overall accountability for the department metrics. Do not let sentimentality compromise the rigor of your financial due diligence.