New Vesting Strategy Option for Stock Splits

What's new?

Companies now can decide how they want their shares to be reallocated within the vesting schedules when stock splits are performed. Two vesting strategies can be selected now:

Option 1: Reapply templates

When companies choose the reapply templates option, Carta will automatically reapply the template for all securities with template vesting schedules upon performing the split. This means that Carta will re-calculate the vesting schedules attached to securities, considering the new total quantity. This can change how the vesting is distributed among the tranches since it will be an entirely new vesting schedule.

For example, a 10 shares grant that time vests with tranches of 2 and 3 shares will, after a 1:10 split, have tranches of 25 shares each if the company chooses this option.

Option 2: Apply stock split ratio to all tranches 

When companies choose to apply the stock split ratio to all tranches, Carta will multiply the stock split ratio by each tranche. In case the shares remaining in a tranche are fractional, the platform will then round down to the nearest integer. This results in fewer differences in the schedule from the pre-split to the post-split security. If a security is tied to a template vesting schedule, Carta will need to update it to a custom schedule to make this change. Custom vesting schedules cannot be reapplied later, as they are not part of any templates.

If companies choose this option, a 10 shares grant that time vests with tranches of 2 and 3 shares, after a 1:10 split, will have tranches of 20 and 30 shares each if this option is chosen.

Why is this important?

Different companies need their post-split vesting schedules to be represented differently. With this change, Carta becomes more flexible to adjust to different vesting scenarios. Having more vesting accommodation strategies also means less time dedicated to manual adjustments after a stock split is performed.

How can I learn more about this?

You can find a detailed explanation of the new vesting strategies with vesting schedule examples in this support article.

Private Dilution Report in Financial Reporting

What’s new?

Private companies on Carta can now run Dilution reports. The Dilution report will include: 

  • Incremental Shares
  • Weighted Average Shares Outstanding
  • Average Trading Prices

All 3 of these values will help customers calculate Diluted Earnings Per Share for their income statement. 


What’s important or valuable about this change?

Private company Financial Reporting administrators will be able to run a Dilution Report that will provide them with major inputs into the Diluted Earnings Per Share formula. 


In this release, the following will be available:

  • Shares outstanding

    • Simple average
    • Weighted average
  • Trading prices

    • Simple average
    • Weighted average
  • Incremental Shares
  • Supporting tabs to help auditors tie out values


What do I need to do?

Log in to Carta and go to Compliance > Financial Reporting. Run a new report (must be 1 year or less reporting period). In the drop down menu to download other reports, such as SBC Expense and Min Disclosure, there will be an option for Dilution. 


Have questions? Contact 718@carta.com 

Suite of New Equity Reports

What’s new?

Soon, you will be able to access 8 new reporting templates under Capitalization > Reporting, which provide you with access to critical data points about your equity pool, company, securities, and stakeholders. You will be able to see exactly how your key option pool values are derived, view equity awards joined with Grant Reason and Employee ID, and even export a detailed list of stakeholders and their properties.

Why is this important?

We’ve been listening to every piece of feedback from you, and have heard the challenges that you face. The new reports address these challenges, providing visibility into how key pool values are derived, and giving you reporting access to over 60 key fields that were spread across multiple places, and in some cases, previously un-reportable.

Those 8 template reports are:

  • Equity pool transaction ledger: A detailed view of shares available to issue from your equity pool. This new report includes a double-entry activity log for every transaction so you can see, line-by-line, exactly how available shares and other plan values  were derived.
  • Common securities ledger: A ledger of all Common shares in Carta.
  • Equity awards outstanding: A detailed view of all outstanding equity awards across all plans on Carta. 
  • Equity plan granted: A ledger of all securities granted from the equity plan. 
  • Options outstanding: A detailed view of all outstanding options across all plans on Carta. 
  • Securities ledger: A ledger of all securities tracked on Carta. 
  • Share registry:  Used by companies in many countries to create a share/equity register or register of holders.
  • Stakeholder details: Full list of stakeholders and their properties.

What do I need to do?

You should be on the lookout for an email from your CSM letting you know that these reports are now available for you. Once you get that email, you can go to Capitalization > Reporting, and you will see the following view, where the newly added reports will have a ‘New’ bubble next to them:

From there, you just need to export the report as usual!

Where can I learn more?

For more information on exporting reports, visit our support site. We will be adding additional information to the support site as reports are updated and improved.

Improved Employee Matching

What’s new? 

This release improves the workflow for matching employees with stakeholders on Carta. Employees with the same name and email as the stakeholder will automatically match, saving their employee ID and thereby linking the stakeholder with the employee record. The improved workflow guides you through reviewing all other employee matches. 

How does it work? 

For the reviewed matches, you can now ignore, to be reminded next time, or to choose a different stakeholder. These decisions will be saved and will not need to be rematched when running the employee matching workflow. You can now review all matches and update the decisions later. 

What do I need to do? 

To get started, you will need to connect your external data to Carta either through connecting your HRIS system, uploading a spreadsheet, or pasting the information into Carta directly.


With your external data connected, Carta will attempt to automatically match your employees. From there you review suggested matches, deciding to approve the suggestion, ignore it, remind me later, or manually choosing a different person.


If there are any employees from external data that don’t match at all to Carta stakeholders, you can choose to ignore them or manually choose a person to match.

The workflow is then completed and all matches can be reviewed.

How do I learn more?

For more information on Employee Matching, please read our support article.

Share Class Manager Improvements

What’s new?

The Share Class Manager page will be updated this coming Monday, February 6th to make it easier to navigate, and provide a consistent experience when you are updating AOI terms.

We no longer display a "Link AOI" button at the top of the page. The new flow is designed to be simple and intuitive, with the "Manage Share Class" button giving you access to update existing share classes, add new share classes, and link Articles of Incorporation.

What do I need to do?

Navigate to Capitalization > Manage share classes. Under Manage share classes, there will be three options:

  • Create new share class
  • Edit existing share classes
  • Add historical AOIs

Where can I learn more?

Visit the Share Class Manager support article or contact us via the In-App Help Center.

Private Dilution Report (Beta)

What's new?

Private dilution reports can be run on Carta.

How does it work?

Private company administrators will be able to run a dilution report that will provide them with diluted shares, average trading prices, and supporting tabs to back out the incremental shares tab. 

In this initial release, the following inputs will be available:

  1. Average and weighted average trading prices, including the ability to add Fair Market Values on weekends and holidays
  2. Diluted shares
  3. Supporting tabs to help users recalculate their incremental shares tab

In the future, Carta will also support:

  • Pre stock split values in dilution reports
  • Weighted average shares outstanding (WASO)

What do I need to do to get started?

To participate in the beta and receive early access to this report, please reach out to us at 718@carta.com.

RSU Settlement for Private Companies

What's new?

Carta now helps private company administrators coordinate the settlement of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The end-to-end offering allows an Issuer to:

  • configure and schedule a RSU Settlement;
  • provide RSU holders with an election period to identify how they want to pay the tax withholding obligation associated with the upcoming settlement;
  • collect any cash payments from RSU holders; and
  • automatically update the cap table at settlement.

During the election period, RSU holders are invited to access a workflow to view their vested RSUs along with the tax withholding amounts due at settlement. They have the flexibility to meet their tax obligation by electing to net-settle, pay the full amount in cash, or use a combination of surrendered shares and cash. 

This offering helps facilitate the RSU settlement process from setup to share delivery for private Issuers that award RSUs under their equity compensation plans.

How does it work?

Issuers

Private company administrators can go through a four-step process to configure an upcoming RSU Settlement with Carta Liquidity. Issuers can:

  • set the parameters of the settlement (e.g., FMV, election timing, settlement date); 
  • view and confirm the RSUs that will be included based on the vesting end date (i.e., record date); and 
  • view and confirm tax withholding amounts associated with the settlement. 

Issuers can set rates to use when calculating tax withholdings owed based on each RSU holder’s tax jurisdiction(s). Carta Liquidity’s integration with Carta’s equity management platform and tax engine eliminates the need for the administrator to pull and sort cap table information manually or calculate tax withholdings for each RSU holder. Alternatively, Issuer’s can provide tax withholding amounts calculated by their HRIS provider for use in the settlement.


RSU holders

When the administrators invite RSU holders to submit their elections, RSU holders will be able to view which of their RSUs will be settled and the tax withholding amount due per security. In addition, individuals will identify how they would like to satisfy the tax withholding amount owed through a self-service election workflow. 


The three tax withholding payment options include:  

  • Share withholding (i.e., net settlement) - The entire tax withholding amount is paid by surrendering a portion of shares from the vested RSUs released for settlement. The net amount of shares after withholding will be delivered to a RSU holder at settlement. This is the default option.
  • Cash payment - The entire tax withholding amount is paid by a RSU holder in cash (only USD is accepted). RSU holders are required to fund their brokerage account in order to make this election.
  • Share and cash payment - Each RSU holder identifies the mix of cash and shares that will be used to pay the taxes due at settlement, providing them more flexibility. RSU holders are required to fund their brokerage account in order to make this election.

For any cash elections, RSU holders are instructed to transfer the necessary cash to their Carta Liquidity brokerage account*. RSU holders are able to modify their election until the end of the election period. 

At settlement, Carta Liquidity’s integration with Carta’s equity management platform automatically updates an Issuer’s cap table to reflect the shares of stock delivered to RSU holders, and any cash payments received to cover applicable tax obligations will be transferred automatically to the Issuer’s brokerage account. RSU holders will then receive their resulting equity from the Issuer in their Carta accounts. In addition, Carta Liquidity will provide a record of the RSU settlement to both the Issuer and RSU holders. 

Run regular RSU settlement processes with automatic cap table updates and tax withholding calculations, saving your team time and resources 

The RSU Settlement offering will:

  • Reduce the manual administrative work required to set up a regular cadence of RSU settlement through equity management and tax engine integrations
  • Provide RSU holders flexibility to choose how they would like to meet their tax withholding obligations through a self-service election workflow
  • Provide optionality to RSU holders to pay out of pocket for the amount they feel comfortable paying.

Start managing RSU Settlements on Carta!

Reach out to company_coverage@cartacapitalmarkets.com to speak with your relationship manager to turn on this feature. 

*Note: Brokerage accounts and other brokerage services are offered through Carta Capital Markets, LLC (Member: FINRA/SIPC)


Limited Partner Mobile Experience

What's new?

LPs can now manage their investments, all from their mobile device.

What’s important or valuable about this change?

Access your investments, now on the go.

LPs can manage their fund investments and personal investments from anywhere, at any time.

What do I need to do?

Download the Carta mobile application, suited for iOS and Android devices, from your app store. Then login using the same information used to login to your LP Portal on the web application. Once on the home screen, select the fund investment or personal investment you’d like to view: 

If a fund investment is selected, you’ll be able to view key investment details like called capital and net asset value. Plus, you can view, download, and send all fund investment documents like partner capital account statements (PCAPs) and  K-1s. 

If a personal investment is selected, you’ll be able to view key ownership information like share amount and issue date. 

For fund investments, once on Investment Details, scroll to access your fund documents. Select View all  to view, search, and filter all fund documents. Use the search bar at the top to search by document name. Or select Filter to filter by document type like PCAPs, capital calls, or tax. 

Once your document is selected, select the export button to markup, send, or download.


How do I learn more or get help?

Have additional questions about Carta’s LP mobile experience? Reach out to your account manager or request a demo today. 


Dilution Report (Public Markets)

What’s new? 

Public company administrators can now run a Dilution Report to help them calculate their company’s diluted earnings per share (EPS). The Dilution Report will contain the simple and weighted average of common stock outstanding (WASO), the number of incremental shares, the average trading price for common shares, and supporting information for all calculations. This feature will simplify diluted EPS calculations and help public companies meet their diluted EPS reporting requirement for their quarterly income statements.  

How does it work?

To calculate diluted EPS, an Issuer will need the WASO and shares outstanding (new common shares issued at conversion - repurchased shares) for the reporting period in question. The Issuer will calculate its own net income, preferred dividends, and after-tax cost of interest. 

Note: * denotes fields not provided by Carta

After logging into their Carta accounts, public company administrators can navigate to the Financial Reporting section of their profile to generate a new Dilution Report for a desired reporting period. Dilution reports are only available for periods that begin on or after an Issuer’s IPO date.


After the report is generated, the administrator can download an Excel file which includes calculated values for simple and weighted average of common shares outstanding, the number of incremental shares, the average trading price for common shares, and supporting information. The file also includes an “Errors” tab to flag any data issues that should be resolved to produce an accurate report.

Simplify diluted earnings per share calculations to meet quarterly reporting requirements for public companies

With the Dilution Report, public company administrators can:

  • Save time and reduce the work required to calculate WASO and shares outstanding to meet public company reporting requirements;
  • Customize the diluted EPS reporting period as needed;
  • Use Carta’s calculations to verify their own calculations as a sanity check; and
  • Understand if there are any data discrepancies that need to be addressed. 


Start using the Dilution Report now!

Do you need additional help in using the Dilution Report? Refer to this support article for more information. For further assistance, reach out to Carta’s Financial Reporting team at 718@carta.com

Wire Instructions Update

What’s New

We have made UI improvements to our Wire Instructions for online wire exercises. The new UI better highlights the amount, timeline, and considerations for completing the transfer. The updates include:

  • User and exercise specific details such as grant, company, option holder, date, and amount.
  • Clearer instructions for the bank on how to handle intermediary fees with specific SWIFT payment instructions. 
  • Approval and reminder emails now show the last day for Carta to receive funds, so the exercise can be complete.

Who this affects

All international users who are exercising options via online wire. 

How it works

The updated Wire Instructions will be available in the same places as before (Tasks view, PDF, Exercise Progress view). You can see the new templates here:

Tasks view


PDF

Exercise Progress view

Email communication

Both Approval and Reminder emails show the date for Carta to receive funds.

Timing

  • Available on all online wire exercises starting 11/30/2022

Additional Resources

Support Article: Exercising Via Online Wire

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