Stock Option & Equity Compensation Accounting · $500 USD/month
Equity Grants
Recorded Right,
Every Vesting Date
When you issue stock options or RSUs to your team, those grants create an ongoing accounting obligation that runs for as long as each award is outstanding. Feldspar maintains that record — fair values calculated, vesting tracked, expense recognized on schedule — so the picture is clean when your auditors or investors look at it.
What This Delivers
An Equity Compensation Schedule That's Always Current
ASC 718 requires that stock-based compensation be measured at fair value on the grant date and recognized as expense over the vesting period. In practice, that means maintaining a detailed record for every active grant — option pool, exercise prices, vesting milestones, and the periodic journal entries that flow from them.
The Feldspar equity compensation engagement produces exactly that record, maintained month by month. New grants are added as they're issued. Vesting events are recorded on schedule. The supporting schedules for your financial statement footnotes are ready when your auditor asks for them — not assembled in the weeks before an audit under time pressure.
Fair value calculated at grant
Black-Scholes or other appropriate valuation method applied correctly when each grant is issued.
Vesting schedule tracked per award
Each grant's vesting milestones are logged and the corresponding expense entries run on schedule.
Covers options, RSUs, and ESPPs
Consistent treatment across all equity award types your company uses.
Footnote disclosure schedules produced
Supporting schedules for financial statement footnotes and tax preparation are a standard output, not a special request.
The Situation
Equity Grants Accumulate Quietly — Until an Auditor Looks
It's common for technology companies to issue equity early and often — to founders, early hires, advisors — and manage that informally for a while. A cap table in a spreadsheet, grant agreements in a folder, and a vague understanding that the accounting will be sorted out when it needs to be.
The moment it needs to be is typically a Series A diligence process or a first-time audit. By then the grants have been outstanding for months or years. Reconstructing the fair value at each grant date, applying the right valuation inputs, and producing the expense recognition schedule retroactively is time-consuming — and leaves a gap in the historical record that investors and auditors notice.
The alternative — maintaining the schedule from the point each grant is issued — is the approach Feldspar uses. Not a reconstruction project later, but a running record that stays current. When the audit arrives, the supporting schedules already exist.
The Approach
Equity Accounting as Ongoing Work, Not a Year-End Project
The engagement is structured so that equity accounting happens continuously — each grant entered when issued, each vesting event recorded when it occurs, each period's expense recognized on schedule.
Grant-Date Fair Value
When a new grant is issued, fair value is calculated using the appropriate method — Black-Scholes for most stock options, or the applicable approach for other award types. The inputs used are documented. Nothing is estimated later from memory.
Vesting-Schedule Tracking
Each award is tracked against its own vesting schedule. Cliff dates, monthly tranches, and performance conditions are all reflected. Expense recognition is calculated per award and runs on schedule each period.
Footnote Disclosure Schedules
Supporting schedules required for financial statement footnotes — weighted-average grant-date fair values, valuation assumptions, activity rollforward — are produced as part of ongoing work, ready for your auditor when needed.
Tax Preparation Support
Schedules produced support tax preparation as well — particularly deferred tax asset calculations associated with stock-based compensation. Your tax preparer receives organized data rather than a folder of grant documents to reconstruct from.
Working Together
What the Engagement Looks Like in Practice
The equity compensation engagement fits into your existing financial operations — it doesn't require a separate workflow or significant ongoing time from your team.
Grant Register Setup
We start by building or reviewing the complete grant register — every active award, its terms, grant-date fair value, and vesting schedule. For companies with existing grants, this is the foundation of the engagement.
Monthly Entries
Each month, the periodic stock-based compensation expense is calculated and recorded. Your accounting records reflect the correct expense for the period without your team tracking it separately.
New Grant Processing
When your company issues new awards, you share the grant documentation. We add them to the register, calculate fair values, and incorporate them into the ongoing expense recognition schedule.
Disclosure Package
At year-end, the footnote disclosure schedules are ready. Weighted-average assumptions, activity rollforward, unrecognized compensation balance — assembled from ongoing work, not compiled in a rush before the audit.
Investment
A Monthly Engagement for Ongoing Work
Equity compensation accounting is ongoing by nature — grants accumulate, vesting events occur each month, and the supporting records need to be maintained throughout. The engagement reflects that reality with a monthly structure rather than a one-time project fee.
The monthly fee covers the standard scope: maintaining the grant register, processing new awards, recording the periodic expense, and producing supporting schedules. If your equity plan is unusually complex — a large number of grants, performance conditions requiring judgment, or a cap table restructuring — that would be discussed before the engagement begins.
What's Included
- Full grant register maintenance
- Grant-date fair value calculations (Black-Scholes and other methods)
- Vesting-schedule tracking per award
- Periodic expense recognition entries (monthly)
- Covers stock options, RSUs, and ESPPs
- Footnote disclosure schedules for financial statements
- Supporting schedules for tax preparation
Who This Is For
Technology companies that have issued or plan to issue equity compensation — stock options, RSUs, or employee stock purchase plans — and need those grants accounted for correctly under ASC 718.
Particularly useful for companies approaching a first audit, preparing for a Series A or B, or that have accumulated grants over time and want the historical record in order before a diligence process begins.
Standalone or Combined
This service can be engaged on its own if your company already has general accounting handled elsewhere and specifically needs the equity compensation piece addressed. It can also be combined with the Technology Startup Accounting engagement if you'd prefer a single provider handling both.
The Framework
Why Getting This Right Matters
ASC 718 Requirements
Under ASC 718, stock-based compensation must be measured at fair value on the grant date. That fair value is then recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period, with the supporting calculation documented and retained. Getting this wrong — or not doing it at all — creates a misstatement in your financial statements that needs to be corrected before any audited financials are issued.
The Footnote Disclosure Challenge
Financial statement footnotes for stock-based compensation require specific disclosures — the assumptions used in fair value calculations, activity in the option pool during the year, weighted-average remaining contractual term, and total unrecognized compensation cost. These can only be produced from a maintained record. They can't be approximated after the fact without leaving gaps auditors will flag.
Diligence Readiness
When a potential investor or acquirer requests financial data during diligence, equity compensation records are among the first things examined. A well-maintained grant register with supporting calculations signals that financial reporting has been handled carefully throughout the company's history — which matters when decisions are being made about valuation and deal structure.
Timeline Expectations
For companies starting with no existing grants, setup is typically a week or two. For companies with existing grants that haven't been fully accounted for, the setup period involves reconstruction work to bring the historical record current. The timeline depends on how many grants are outstanding and how complete the existing documentation is.
Our Commitment
We Want the Engagement to Work Well for You
Before an engagement begins, we discuss your situation openly — existing grants, current documentation, what you need the records to support. If the scope we agree on turns out to be different from what's actually involved, that's a conversation we'd rather have early. Monthly arrangements work because both parties find them worthwhile.
Clear Documentation
Every calculation is documented. The inputs used for fair value, the vesting schedule applied, the entries recorded — all of it is traceable.
Coordinated with Your Auditor
The schedules we produce are designed to answer the questions auditors ask. If your auditor has specific format preferences, we can accommodate them.
No Obligation to Start
An initial conversation to review your situation costs nothing. We'll tell you honestly if there's a better fit elsewhere — or if the engagement makes sense to proceed with.
Next Steps
Getting Started Is Straightforward
The path from inquiry to running engagement involves a few clear steps.
Reach Out
Use the contact form on the main page or write directly to [email protected]. Tell us about your equity plan — what types of awards you've issued, roughly how many grants are outstanding, and whether you have existing documentation.
Review Call
We follow up within one business day. On the call, we review your current grant documentation, discuss what the records need to support, and confirm whether the scope of the standard engagement fits your situation.
Grant Register Setup
Once we agree to move forward, we build or reconstruct the grant register, calculate any outstanding fair values, and establish vesting-schedule tracking for each active award. Setup time depends on the existing state of your documentation.
Ongoing Monthly Work
After setup, the engagement runs monthly — expense recognition entries recorded, new grants added as they're issued, footnote disclosure schedules kept current. Your equity accounting stays up to date without your team managing it directly.
Get Started
Your Equity Grants Deserve a Proper Record
Whether you're looking ahead to an audit, a fundraise, or simply want the equity accounting handled correctly from this point forward — a conversation is where it begins. Tell us what you're working with.
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