Cap table management
A practical cap table maintenance checklist
Keep a cap table accurate with a repeatable process for source documents, equity transactions, ownership reconciliation, exports, and backups.
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Establish a traceable starting record
A useful cap table maintenance process lets another reader connect each holding to its source and reproduce the totals. Begin with a company record, a clear reporting date, and a list of the documents used to build the table.
- Reconcile share classes and authorizations with the governing records.
- Match holder names to the people or entities in the agreements.
- Match certificates, grants, and convertible instruments to their quantities, dates, and terms.
- Identify plan reserves and the awards assigned to each plan.
- List unresolved differences instead of filling gaps with guessed values.
When moving from a spreadsheet, keep the original file and review the import preview. A successful import means records were accepted; reconciliation establishes whether they were the right records.
Use a consistent sequence for each event
- Identify the approved transaction and its effective date.
- Check the affected holder, instrument, share class, and plan.
- Record the event through the appropriate workflow.
- Compare the before-and-after quantities and percentages.
- Retain the supporting documents and review the saved history.
For example, a partial share transfer should explain the original certificate, the receiving holder’s certificate, and the seller’s remainder. Replacing the holder’s name on the original record would not explain that chain. Similar distinctions apply to grants and their later exercise certificates.
Review before sharing a cap table
Check the company, reporting date, ownership basis, and treatment of the unallocated reserve. Then reconcile shares by holder and class. Review options and RSUs separately from issued shares, and check whether convertible instruments are still open or have converted.
Investigate unexpected changes in percentages. They can come from an issuance, a pool change, or a different denominator, even when a holder’s own quantity is unchanged. Conversely, a stock split can change quantities without changing proportional ownership.
Keep the exported report alongside a note describing what it represents. A stakeholder statement and a full company cap table have different scopes; choose the report the recipient needs.
Use software to support the review
Whether you use a spreadsheet or cap table software, calculations depend on complete inputs. Cap Table provides CSV imports, ownership views, equity-plan tracking, financing models, and history. Those tools help organize and review records; they do not supply missing agreements or approve an issuance.
A practical way to evaluate a workflow is to use the sample company, record a representative event, inspect the resulting report, and export a backup. Check that you can explain the result and retrieve the underlying data.
Save a fresh company backup before a major import or restructuring and retain document attachments separately. Use Exports, backups, and history to distinguish a readable report, a restorable company file, and the transaction trail.