What do you want your role to be after closing?
A clean exit, consulting role, employment, and rollover investment are different decisions.
“Staying involved” can describe several arrangements with very different economics and obligations.
A short transition period may focus on introductions, knowledge transfer, and handoff. A consulting agreement generally defines limited services and hours. Employment places the seller inside the buyer’s organization with a manager, compensation plan, policies, and termination provisions. A board or advisory role provides narrower influence without daily operating responsibility. Rollover equity makes the seller a continuing investor, whether or not the seller remains an employee. An earnout may add contingent purchase price and create separate performance obligations; if payment depends on continued service, tax and legal advisers should confirm whether any amount may be treated as compensation.
These arrangements can be combined, but they should not be confused. For each role, define duration, expected time, decision authority, compensation, information rights, liability protection, termination consequences, and restrictions on other work. Then ask how one arrangement affects the others. Does termination reduce an earnout? Does leaving employment force a sale of rollover shares? Can the buyer repurchase equity, and at what price?
The right structure depends on the owner’s objectives. One seller may want immediate liquidity and a short handoff. Another may want to lead the next phase with a better-capitalized partner. A third may want investment exposure without an operating role.
Resolve those preferences before selecting a buyer. Post-closing involvement is not a minor term; it is a decision about how you will spend your time, exercise authority, and retain risk after the company changes hands.