What’s new?

We have updated salary, total cash compensation, and equity benchmarks for all job areas and specializations. 

Benchmark Trends

Since our last quarterly refresh, we’ve seen an increase in the number of companies and employee records in our data set, with the largest influx among higher valuation companies. As a result, some benchmarks saw slightly larger changes compared to previous releases.

In aggregate, salary and total cash compensation benchmarks are flat to slightly higher than our last release. Salaries increased more for higher valuation companies. Similar to previous updates, specialization level data continues to change more than the broader sample, as sample sizes for these roles are smaller than job area level data.

Equity benchmarks are flat in aggregate, showing a slight downward trend from last quarter’s 1% increase. Looking at equity trends by valuation, equity benchmarks are flat overall for most peer groups but have declined by about 3% for companies with valuations greater than $1 billion.

What were the largest areas of movement from these benchmarks?

Salary - Salary benchmarks for most job areas and specializations are within 2% of last quarter’s data. The Administrative job area has increased by 4%, while CEO salary benchmarks have decreased by 4%. 

Equity - Human Resources equity benchmarks have increased 7% overall following a 3% decrease in last quarter’s benchmarks. Three specializations saw the largest decrease in equity benchmarks (5-6%): Web Engineer, AI/ML Engineer, and Account Executive. All other roles saw increases/decreases within 3-4% of last quarter.

How do I update my benchmark version?

You can also preview the new benchmarks on your Scorecard by navigating to the Benchmarks page and clicking on the "Preview benchmarks" bubble in the top left.

Here you will have the opportunity to preview the new plan with the updated benchmarks version and assess their impact on your Scorecard before accepting the new plan.

Questions?

If you have any questions about these new benchmarks, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

What’s new?

Carta Launch companies can now complete their Corporate Transparency Act report directly in Carta.

What is the Corporate Transparency Act?

The Corporate Transparency Act is a new Law that came into effect on 1/1/2024 that requires companies to report their company and ownership information to the Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Many companies registered or doing business in the US are required to comply within 90 days of incorporation and provide continuous updates whenever the company or ownership information changes.

Why is it valuable?

Non compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act has both civil and criminal penalties for companies and their owners. Carta helps simplify the filing process using your data that’s already on Carta.

Who is this product available to?

This is currently only available for companies that are incorporated on or after January 1, 2024 and are using Carta’s free Launch product but it will be made available to all companies in mid 2024.

How does it work?

1. Navigate to the CTA reporting page under the Compliance & Tax tab
2. Review and verify the pre-filled company and ownership information
3. Provide any missing information (e.g owners or company applicants)
4. Submit your Corporate Transparency Act report

Where can I learn more?

Additional information about CTA and how Carta can help you comply can be found here

What’s New?

Carta’s Tender Offer Transaction Model report makes it easy to get ready for a tender offer transaction. By directly integrating with your cap table, this report allows you to model stakeholder and security eligibility ahead of a secondary transaction.

How does it work?

The Tender Offer Transaction Model allows companies to create personalized tender offer scenarios based on:

1. Your cap table data as of a selected vesting date
2. Eligible share class, equity types, and option types
3. Participation caps by stakeholder relationship groups
4. Share or dollar caps by individual stakeholders

The ability to configure these inputs will help answer important size and eligibility considerations as you contemplate and prepare for a transaction.

The report will show you summary statistics of participant counts, maximum share amounts, and maximum dollars by participant group.

Who is this available for?

All Carta Cap Table customers.

How do I access it?

1. Log into Carta
2. Click on Essentials > Run Reports
3. Select Tender Offer Seller Model
4. Select a record date for which all vested totals will be calculated as of
5. Export

You’ll receive a notification once the download is complete, and will receive an Excel spreadsheet with live calculations.

If you’re interested in learning more about liquidity, please reach out to company_coverage@cartacapitalmarkets.com or your account manager.

What’s New?

Option holders can now see the value of their vested, unexercised options using market prices based on our proprietary Reference Price Range. With just a quick look, option holders can also see potential gains from the exercise and sale of options in their portfolio on Carta.

Interested in realizing the gains in exercising and selling your options? Click on the Sell button to start the process of exercising and selling your shares.

What metrics are available and how are they calculated?

Options are displayed alongside any other equity shareholders have in their portfolio for a given company. See our previous release note for the full list of portfolio metrics.

• Mark: A mark is the price used to value a holding. Your holdings are marked to the lower bound of the Reference Price Range, if Carta has calculated one for the company.
• Shares: Number of vested common and preferred shares currently held, as well as vested, unexercised options.
• Basis: Total cost paid divided by the number of shares; for options, the cost to exercise divided by the number of shares.
  Value of shares: Value of shares at the mark. Calculation: Mark * Shares
• Unrealized gains: Unrealized gain (or loss) in value at the mark compared to your purchase price. An unrealized ("paper") gain has not been actualized, but can be by exercising your options and selling the underlying shares for more than the strike price. Calculation: Value of shares - (Basis * Shares)
  Learn more about how options are taxed

How does it work?

You can view and identify to a Carta representative how many shares underlying your options you’d like to sell on Carta:

1. Log into Carta’s Secondary Marketplace.
2. View your holdings on the “My holdings” tab.
3. Click on the “Sell” button to submit your indication of interest to sell your holdings.
4. Identify the number of options you’d like to exercise and then to sell on the modal.

Who is this available to?

This is only available to Carta Liquidity customers. At this time, only Accredited Investors who qualify as Institutional Accounts can purchase securities and only Accredited Investors can sell securities via Carta Liquidity. 

If you’re interested in learning more about Carta Liquidity and get access to the platform, please reach out to investor_coverage@cartacapitalmarkets.com or your account manager.

Disclaimer: Carta, through its wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary, Carta Capital Markets, LLC, offers a streamlined experience for executing pre-negotiated stock transfers, tender offers, and other secondary liquidity transactions. Carta Capital Markets, LLC is a member of FINRA/SIPC.

The mark displayed by Carta does not represent an executable price or bid/ask spread and does not reflect any market premium/discounts. The fair market value or executable price, if any, for any security may be higher or lower than the provided price. Many unregistered equity securities are subject to transfer restrictions that may limit transfers at any price.

The mark, Reference Price, and Reference Price Range are not investment advice or a recommendation to transact at any price and should not be your primary basis for determining the value of any security.

What’s New

Companies that subscribe to the QSBS service will see a new QSBS Tax Break page in their Carta account. The page shows your company's current QSBS status and attestation letter. You can also book time with a Carta QSBS expert on the page directly, and view historical QSBS letters.

What do I need to do?

This page is available to users with Full Access or Company Edit access. Users can navigate to the page for their Company by scrolling to the bottom of the menu and selecting `QSBS Tax Break`.

If you have any questions reach out to your assigned Carta account team or tax@carta.com to learn more!

What’s new?

Eligible early stage companies will now automatically receive a new draft 409A report the day after their previous one expires.

What’s important about this change?

By automatically sending you a draft of your 409A, we’re removing the need for customers to manually request a new 409A. You will have the opportunity to review and request changes before the new valuation takes effect.

How does it work? 

Carta will draft your report using your Carta cap table information and broader market data of similar companies within the same industry, stage, and size. This allows us to provide an accurate and defensible fair market value (FMV) for use when issuing or exercising options. 

On the day following expiration and if you have not already submitted a request for an updated valuation, Carta will prepare a valuation and send you a notification once the 409A draft is ready for review. You will also see a new task appear in your company dashboard. 

What do I need to do?

All you need to do is review and accept the new FMV. The new FMV will be applied to your account after acceptance.

It is important to note that we assume the following when performing our analysis:

• Your Carta cap table is up-to-date
• No acquisition letter of intent has been signed
• Your company maintains a cash runway of one to two years
• There have been no significant business changes since your previous 409A

If any of these assumptions are incorrect, or if you have questions about your report, contact the Carta Valuation team at 409a@carta.com before accepting your new 409A so we can make adjustments to your concluded FMV.

Who is it available for?

Corporations that have 409A in their subscription and meet the following requirements:

• Series B stage or earlier
• Post-money valuation of less than $100M
• Revenue of less than $20M
• No common stock sales within the last 6 months

In addition, our valuation analysts will conduct individual reviews before sending a draft. 

How do I learn more or get help?

Contact the Carta Valuation Team at 409a@carta.com, or from the 409A ledger in your Carta account. 

Customers can learn more about Flash 409A here.

What’s New?

Shareholders can now see the value of their holdings using marks based on our proprietary Reference Price Range. With just a quick look, shareholders can view their unrealized gains, multiple of invested capital, and the rate of return of their portfolio holdings on Carta.

Interested in locking in unrealized gains or closing out a position shown in the red? Click on the Sell button to start the process of selling your shares.

What metrics are available and how are they calculated?

• Mark: A mark is the price used to value a holding. Your holdings are marked to the lower bound of the Reference Price Range, if Carta has calculated one for the company.
• Shares: Number of vested common and preferred shares currently held.
• Basis: Total cost paid divided by the number of shares.
• Value of shares: Value of shares at the mark. Calculation: Mark * Shares
• Unrealized gains: Unrealized gain (or loss) in value at the mark compared to your purchase price. An unrealized ("paper") gain has not been actualized, but can be by selling an existing holding for more than what was paid for it. Calculation: Value of shares - (Basis * Shares)
  Learn more about the taxes associated with stock sales
• Multiple: Multiple of invested capital (MOIC), meaning how many times greater is the current value of a holding compared to what was paid for it. Calculation: Value of shares / (Basis * Shares)
  Learn more about MOIC
• IRR: Gross unrealized internal rate of return, which is the annualized percent return a holding has earned. IRR is calculated using acquisition dates in alignment with the XIRR function in Excel or Google Sheets. 
  Learn more about IRR

How does it work?

You can view and identify to a Carta representative which holdings you’d like to sell on Carta:

1. Log into Carta’s Secondary Marketplace.
2. View your holdings on the “My holdings” tab.
3. Click on the “Sell” button to submit your indication of interest to sell any of your holdings.

Who is this available to?

This is only available to Carta Liquidity customers. At this time, only Accredited Investors who qualify as Institutional Accounts can purchase securities and only Accredited Investors can sell securities via Carta Liquidity. 

If you’re interested in learning more about Carta Liquidity and get access to the platform, please reach out to investor_coverage@cartacapitalmarkets.com or your account manager.

Disclaimer: Carta, through its wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary, Carta Capital Markets, LLC, offers a streamlined experience for executing pre-negotiated stock transfers, tender offers, and other secondary liquidity transactions. Carta Capital Markets, LLC is a member of FINRA/SIPC.

The mark displayed by Carta does not represent an executable price or bid/ask spread and does not reflect any market premium/discounts. The fair market value or executable price, if any, for any security may be higher or lower than the provided price. Many unregistered equity securities are subject to transfer restrictions that may limit transfers at any price.

The mark, Reference Price, and Reference Price Range are not investment advice or a recommendation to transact at any price and should not be your primary basis for determining the value of any security.

What’s New?

Carta Liquidity now highlights recently updated key information to help investors stay informed about market changes.

In Carta’s Secondary Marketplace, you can now view and sort by recently updated bids, asks, our proprietary Reference Price Range, and funding rounds.

How does it work?

You can view the latest updates to the marketplace:

1. Log into Carta’s Secondary Marketplace.
2. Click the “Browse” tab to browse the latest updates to the marketplace . 
3. Sort by the most recently updated orders or Reference Price Ranges, as well as latest funding rounds using the sort options on the top right of the screen.

Who is this available to?

This is only available to Carta Liquidity customers. At this time, only Accredited Investors who qualify as Institutional Accounts can purchase securities and only Accredited Investors can sell securities via Carta Liquidity. 

If you’re interested in learning more about Carta Liquidity and get access to the platform, please reach out to investor_coverage@cartacapitalmarkets.com or your account manager.

Disclaimer: Carta, through its wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary, Carta Capital Markets, LLC, offers a streamlined experience for executing pre-negotiated stock transfers, tender offers, and other secondary liquidity transactions. Carta Capital Markets, LLC is a member of FINRA/SIPC.

What’s new?

This new release gives investors the choice to fund SAFEs online via ACH. By choosing this option investors can quickly fund SAFEs in one-click. 

Why is it valuable?

Direct online funding is the preferred choice for most investors due to improved security, reduced manual entry errors, and hassle-free transfers. But prior to this release, the choice of the method of funding was exclusively made by the company. 

How does it work?

After signing the SAFE, an investor will be provided with two choices:

1. They can add their bank account securely via Plaid or manually to Carta. This is a one-time setup.
2. They can choose to fund via wire, and they will be shown the wire details provided by the company.
   
   

3. Once the funds are received, the SAFE is issued. 

   1. If funding is via ACH, Carta automatically issues the SAFE as soon as the funds are received. 
   2. If funding is via wire transfer, the company needs to indicate when funds have been received in Carta, and the SAFE will be issued. 

What’s new?

Carta has revamped the Exercised and Settled report. The report, used to reconcile exercises, settlements and sales recorded in Carta, now runs from our new reporting engine and comes with improvements and new fields:

• All equity plans in a single report: the updated version includes all of your equity plans within a single report, allowing for easier transactional reconciliation.
• Dedicated Options and RSUs tabs: the improved version provides separate tabs for option exercises and RSU settlements, condensing and simplifying the tabs to show the fields you care about.
• Early exercise: the new report displays which exercises occurred as early exercises, before the underlying shares had vested.
• Payroll ID: all transactions now have their associated stakeholder payroll ID included to improve payroll reconciliation, assuming the ID was input in the platform.
• RSU withhold-to-cover: the report now accounts for the settlements run using Carta's bulk RSU settlement tool, providing information on quantity withheld and quantity released.
• Two FMV fields: to allow for easier reconciliation of FMV at exercise, the Exercised and Settled report now displays two FMV fields -- the FMV as shown to the stakeholder at the time they requested the exercise, and the FMV from the 409A page covering that exercise period.
• Country and state: improve internal controls, tax reporting, and review in case of holders from several different countries/states.

Who is this available for, and how do I access it?

This is available for company admins with Full Access, Company Editor and View-Only permissions, and can be accessed by going to your company account, navigating to Cap Table > Run reports, and selecting the Exercised and Settled report.