The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 9 letter word WIN-WIN SITUATION
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
W
I
N
-
W
I
N
S
I
T
U
A
T
I
O
N
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "finishing up in it either way" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case finishing up in it either way = win-win situation.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.