Selling your company is like performing a well-rehearsed finale. You can’t freestyle it and expect a standing ovation.

You need a team of advisors to help choreograph a smooth exit – whether partial, full or through succession.

But most small business owners don’t have a fractional CFO on the team keeping tempo and therefore lose an opportunity to maximize value at sale.

So, let’s break down what really happens during sale, from a fractional CFO’s perspective, and why your financial choreography before and during the process determines whether you exit gracefully or leave money on the table.

2–5 Years Out: Setting the Stage

Objective: Build value, clarity, and trust in your numbers.

This is when a fractional CFO quietly builds the foundation of a saleable business: Clean books, normalized EBITDA, reliable forecasts, and a financial team/operations that run without you.

Without one? You risk getting to the negotiation table with data you “think” is right, but can’t defend. And buyers will always test your confidence in your numbers.

CFO Role:

  • Redesign the chart of accounts for valuation transparency
  • Identify what drives profitability and what drags it down
  • Build a 3-year forecast and stress-test it under different buyer scenarios
  • Create dashboards and KPIs that speak investor language
  • Ensure you have clean books and the right team managing the numbers
  • Reduce risk of error and fraud in your financial operations

12–18 Months Out: Fine-Tuning the Score

Objective: Translate performance into valuation.

This is where a fractional CFO becomes your deal strategist—aligning operational performance with financial storytelling.

CFO Role:

  • Conduct a “pre-due diligence” review to spot red flags before a buyer does
  • Clean up working capital and reconcile all intercompany transactions
  • Optimize cash flow and margin presentation
  • Prepare management reports that tell the story of sustainable growth

At this point, you want your CFO to think like a buyer. If they wouldn’t invest in your business as-is, neither will anyone else.

3–6 Months Out: Orchestrating the Deal

Objective: Manage due diligence like a pro.

Due diligence is not just paperwork—it’s proof. Every assumption, every forecast, every “trust me” claim gets tested.

CFO Role:

  • Prepare and organize the financial data room
  • Respond to buyer requests and financial Q&A
  • Liaise between your CPA, attorney, and wealth advisor to model deal structures
  • Validate working capital adjustments and purchase price allocations

This is the stage where having a fractional CFO isn’t optional, it’s essential.

Without one, you’ll be buried under requests, scrambling to explain every number instead of negotiating from strength.

Closing & Transition: The Final Bow

Objective: Ensure the deal terms hold up post-sale.

Buyers often hold back 10–20% of purchase price for escrow or earnouts. A CFO ensures you actually get that money.

CFO Role:

  • Track and reconcile post-close adjustments
  • Manage transition financials for your successor or acquirer
  • Advise you on how to reinvest, retire, or relaunch

The show doesn’t end at signing. A clean exit is a financial encore, and that’s what we choreograph at FinCore.

The Tough Love Truth

If you don’t have a CFO well before you sell, you’re not preparing. You’re hoping.

Hope doesn’t increase valuation. Clean numbers, strategic positioning, and financial leadership do.

Your Next Move

Whether you’re thinking about selling in 6 months or 6 years, the best time to start preparing is now.

FinCore’s fractional CFO team helps business owners like you:

  • Build financial systems that make buyers confident
  • Uncover valuation drivers that increase sale price
  • Reduce stress and maximize your personal take-home

Your exit deserves more than a handshake. It deserves choreography.

Schedule a 30-Minute Exit Readiness Strategy Call

Let’s review where you are, identify value leaks, and map your next move toward a sale-ready business.

[Book Your Complimentary Strategy Call →]

Tricia M. Taitt

Author of Dancing with Numbers

Tricia Taitt is the CEO and Chief Financial Choreographer of FinCore. She holds an M.B.A from The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, and a BS in Economics with a Finance concentration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For over 20 years, she’s been a finance professional. Half of the time was spent working on Wall Street while the other half was spent in the trenches side by side with small business owners. As a result of working with FinCore, clients have been able to take control of their numbers and feel more confident in their ability to make decisions, while increasing profits by 10% and building a cash stash to invest in growth. Follow Tricia on LinkedIn and Instagram.