Put simply, equity management is everything you do to record, report and update company ownership within your business. It’s a mix of activities rather than a single process, which can make it overwhelming to manage offline. As your company grows, so does the overall effort needed to manage equity well.
It’s tempting to track down a law or accountancy firm who’ll agree to take care of everything on your company’s behalf, but as all good advisors will tell you, their specialism only extends so far. You’ll still need to reconcile the work of lawyers, accountants and other advisors to make sense of your equity.
Capdesk is the final piece of the puzzle. The platform doesn’t replace your advisors completely, nor should it. Instead, we digitise and streamline as much of your equity management as possible, so your advisors can stop doing admin and focus on strategic, high-value tasks instead.
Here’s a rundown of all the ways Capdesk enhances your advisors’ work.
1. Cap table
Your cap table might start simple but it won’t stay that way. Periodically, you’ll need to consult an advisor to ensure your cap table corresponds with all your filings to the relevant administrative body (HMRC and Companies House in the UK). A legal expert can also advise whether the cap table correctly represents company ownership and contains a detailed breakdown of splits, transfers, option grants and more.
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How Capdesk fits in At its core, Capdesk is cap table software. Use the platform to generate a digital cap table based on your company records, and rest assured that all future changes will be tracked and easily accessible for filings, board communications and shareholder updates. |
2. Share plan
EMI, CSOP, VSOP, BSPCE – which employee share option plan is right for you? When the time comes, consult a legal expert specialised in share plans for advice on the various schemes available in your jurisdiction and which ones are best for your business. They’ll go on to design and set up the scheme and ensure it meets regulatory needs.
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How Capdesk fits in Once the legal documents have been drafted, it’s simple to migrate them onto Capdesk. Use Capdesk to manage your share scheme remotely, from issuing shares to having documents signed and witnessed. Capdesk also generates share-based payments reports using parameters set by your ESOP advisor.. |
Set up a conversation to learn how Capdesk can help support your advisors
3. EIS status
In the UK, companies can attract investors looking for tax relief by taking part in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme for smaller companies). A specialised advisor will support you through the multi-stage EIS application process to ensure HMRC approves your application.
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How Capdesk fits in You can generate and sign SEIS and EIS certificates on the platform, and tag any investments as SEIS/EIS for record-keeping, cap table or transaction purposes.. |
4. Secondary transactions
Secondaries allow your business to swap out angels for institutional investors and provide liquidity to employee shareholders, but doing it manually is painfully complicated. You can run a secondary on Capdesk but you should seek advice from a corporate lawyer when drafting legally binding documents to support the sale.
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How Capdesk fits in Once the sale has been arranged, Capdesk facilitates all funds, KYC, ownership, signing and stamp duty to ensure an efficient and smooth transaction. Capdesk is also partnered with Seedrs and Crowdcube for secondary auctions. |
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You can even bring your advisors along to discuss how Capdesk will complement their work and make life easier for everyone! |
