To PTO or not to PTO in the summertime?
With an ever-expanding list of responsibilities, finance leaders might be having a harder time answering that seemingly simple question this year.
In a recent LinkedIn poll conducted July 11-18, CFO.com found widely diverging thoughts on the matter from 106 respondents. Just about a quarter said they had no vacation planned, while another quarter said they’d still check in daily throughout the season. Still, the greatest share of respondents said they planned to fully disconnect.
With all that in mind, we recently posed this question to a sampling of finance chiefs to get a better understanding of how they’re approaching time off this year: What is your PTO plan this summer?
Anthony Escamilla, CFO, Protos Security
- Physical security provider
- Revenue: $750 million
“For me, the answer is no vacation planned. My wife and I had originally planned to spend two weeks in Europe with friends this summer. Before we booked the trip, though, I looked at the PTO schedule for the leaders on my team. Several had already planned well-deserved vacations, and I realized that my being away at the same time would leave the organization thinner than I was comfortable with.
So, we decided to postpone our trip. I'd rather give my team the opportunity to fully disconnect and recharge than have them worry about whether leadership coverage is in place. There will always be another opportunity to visit Europe (at least that’s how I explained it to my wife).
That doesn't mean I won't take a day here and there to compete in a couple of golf tournaments, but those aren’t true vacations.
As CFOs, we often talk about taking care of our people. Sometimes that means making the decision to stay so others can step away. Strong teams are built not only by encouraging people to use their PTO, but by creating the conditions that allow them to do so without feeling guilty or indispensable.”
Gary Vecchiarelli, President and CFO, CleanSpark
- Bitcoin mining/energy company
- Revenue: $766.3 million (FY 2025)
“As much as my wife and kids would like me to fully disconnect, it's really hard to do that. I take the responsibility seriously, so it's important for me to at least touch base and check in. I made sure I took more time during the summer than I do throughout the rest of the year because the kids were off from school, but I also wanted my team to know they could still reach me if they absolutely needed me.
I'm fortunate to have built a team, systems and processes that empower people to make decisions without me. Ideally, they only reach out if something truly requires my attention. Even if my phone isn't ringing, I'll still check in just to make sure everything is moving forward. That's just who I am. Even when I'm away from the business, I'm thinking about the business. It's in my DNA, and I genuinely enjoy what I do, so it's hard to fully disconnect.”
Gee Mehta, CFO, Intellivo
- Subrogation firm
- Revenue: 154% growth from 2021-2024
“I'm taking a vacation, but I tend to check email in the morning and again at night, with a light check-in or two with our CEO. That's partly how I operate and partly a reflection of working at a fast-growing company. That said, I trust my team to keep things moving while I'm out and I'm grateful to work with colleagues who both support and respect time away from the office. The goal is to stay lightly connected without being a bottleneck so the team has room to lead.”
Alex Bradley, CFO, G2
- Online marketplace and peer-to-peer review platform for B2B software
- Valuation: $1.1 billion (2021)
"Unlike any summer previously, largely because of the AI tools that exist today, this gave me the greatest opportunity to disconnect that I've had in years.
We use Slack, we're a Google shop and I've built my own AI agents that give me beginning-of-day and end-of-day summaries. I could tell those agents what I wanted to monitor while I was gone, and they kept me updated without anyone on my team having to spend time bringing me back up to speed. When I returned, there wasn't a mountain of email or a long briefing. I already knew what had happened. If something was important enough, I could pick up the phone and call someone. If it wasn't, I stayed focused on my family. It was probably one of the best vacations I've had because I never felt like I had to open my laptop every morning."
Jon Ver Steeg, Fractional CFO, self-employed
"I just got back from a golf trip to Michigan. We were playing 36 holes a day with 24 people, and there was really no way to squeeze work into that. Even doing this interview with CFO.com, you tried to schedule this conversation a different time, and I had to say I had a preplanned trip.
One of the reasons I became a fractional CFO is because I wanted greater life emphasis than work emphasis. I'm financially okay. I still like getting a paycheck because life is expensive, but I also want to do the things I love and have earned over a long career. When grandchildren come along, they'll be just as important. Life is short. I love the people I work with, but I also want time for the people and activities that bring me joy. In return, I'll bring that energy and enthusiasm back to my clients. I'll be good counsel. They can trust me with the no-look pass, and in exchange I'm going to take the time to enjoy the things I love."
