We need to split our overwhelmed Finance and Administration seat into two distinct seats, but our current cash flow does not allow us to hire a new person to fill the second seat. How do we transition our Accountability Chart today when one person must temporarily sit in both seats?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not let a temporary cash flow constraint stop you from designing the correct Accountability Chart. If the seat needs to be split to allow the business to scale, you must draw it as two distinct seats today.

Create the new Finance seat and the new Administration seat as separate boxes on your chart, each with its own five core roles and distinct metrics. If your current manager is going to run both for now, place their name in both boxes.

This dual-hatting serves two critical purposes. First, it brings radical clarity to their daily work. When they are doing bookkeeping, they are sitting in the Finance seat. When they are managing facilities or HR paperwork, they are sitting in the Administration seat. This prevents tasks from slipping through the cracks.

Second, it highlights the exact resource constraint that is holding your business back. During your Level 10 Meeting, you will clearly see that this manager is carrying a double load, which explains why certain Rocks might be delayed.

Use Keith Cunningham's Thinking Time to map out the financial trigger points required to fund the new hire. As soon as cash flow allows, you can recruit for the administrative seat, remove the manager's name from that box, and seamlessly transition the responsibilities without disrupting the rest of the organization.