By the end of step 3: Your cap table will be successfully imported into Ledgy. By the end of step 5: You will be ready to invite your stakeholders. Yay! |
The 5 steps to set up success π
Time needed to set up your account will vary according to the number of stakeholders and complexity of your cap table.
Rather watch a video? Then hit "Play":
Step 1 - Add your stakeholders π«
Ledgy considers a stakeholder every person with a stake in the company, or anyone with whom you would like to share documents, KPIs, or reports through Ledgy. The most common stakeholders are: investors, employees, and founders, but can also be people with whom you would like to share information such as lawyers or advisors. |
There are two main ways of adding your stakeholders:
Using the Add Stakeholder button
It is the simplest way if you have less than 10 stakeholders. See just how easy it is!Using Ledgy's Excel templates
It is the most efficient way if you have more than 10 stakeholders. There are two separate Excel templates that you can fill out:
one for natural person (i.e. for stakeholders who are individuals)
one for legal entity (i.e. for stakeholders such as a company, possibly with different beneficiaries)
βΉοΈ To complete this step, all you have to do is download the Excel templates that you need, fill them out and upload them into Ledgy, as the video below shows.
Ledgy's recommendations for a smarter onboarding
|
β οΈ Your stakeholders will not be notified if you add their details to Ledgy, such as name and email address. In order for your stakeholders to get invited, you would have to click on the Invite Stakeholders button or intentionally select the stakeholder and invite them individually.
Step 2 - Add your share classes π
Share classes specify the rights of different shareholders. Usually, there is a new share class for investors at each financing round, with founders and employees receiving βCommonβ stock. Rights such as liquidation preferences will affect exit modelling. |
Adding share classes is as easy as pie! All you have to do is go to Ownership > Share Classes and click the button Add share class, as the video below shows.
You can also set the nominal value per share, which is usually a low number set at incorporation that remains the same across all share classes.
βΉοΈ You will always be able to edit your share classes at a later stage or add them as needed.
Step 3 - Add your transactions ποΈ
Now the fun begins! This is the section where you might spend the longest, but it is also one of the most rewarding ones. because once you're done adding your transactions, you will see a beautiful cap table. So keep your eyes on the finish line! π Transactions are any historical events that have affected the fully diluted share capital of your company. |
Here are some of the most common transactions which you can add on Ledgy:
Incorporation
You will need to insert a date, event name, share class (create a new one by typing or choose one already created), share price, followed by the investment amounts and number of shares per stakeholder.
Financing round
Same requirements as the Incorporation.
Share issuance
Issuing shares on Ledgy is very easy. Just click on the Add transaction button, select Other transactions and click Issue shares. You will need to insert a stakeholder name, date, number of shares, and share class.
Do you have to quickly import several share issuance transactions?
We got you! Just click on the Import button, select the Excel template entitled Share issuance, download it and fill it out with the necessary information. Once the Excel template is filled out, go back to Import, select the template Share issuance again, and upload (or drag and drop) your file, as the video below shows. |
Share transfer
When you want to transfer shares from one stakeholder to another. The required information you need to add to this transaction is: stakeholders involved in the share transfer, date, share class and number of shares.
Stock split
When you have had a stock split. You will need a date and the split factor. This is reversible, you can still edit or remove this stock split transaction later on.
Convertible loan
When convertible loans have been issued. These can later be converted to shares or paid out. The required information to complete this transaction is stakeholder, issue date, and investment amount. You can also add further details such as maturity, discount, interest, and even a document.
Do you need to convert a convertible loan? Simply look for the convertible loan and click on Convert shares. To complete the transaction you will need to add further details, namely number of shares and share class. |
Step 4 - Add your equity plans
It's quickly becoming the norm for startups to give away equity to their employees, and we support that! π
If you have employee equity plans or are looking to create one, you're in the right place. Otherwise, you can skip this step.
Pools allow you to allocate a certain number of shares in order to issue grants to stakeholders, such as employees (via an Employee Stock Option Pool).
Don't worry, everything is explained below in detail! |
Add/Increase pool
The first step is adding a pool. To add a pool, go to Equity Plans > Pools & Plans > Add Pool.
You will need to choose a name for the pool, insert the amount allocated for grants, date of creation, share class and select Authorized Capital or Reserved Shares.
What's the difference between Authorized Capital and Reserved Shares?
Authorized Capital means that you have created new shares to allocate to the pool, and thus your company's share capital will increase.
Reserved Shares mean that one or more of your stakeholders is transferring shares to the pool, therefore, your share capital will not increase.
Helpful tipsIf you have more than one stakeholder transferring shares to the pool, then we recommend creating the pool by selecting Reserved shares, inserting the name of one of the stakeholders, and then completing a pool increase by selecting Reserved shares again and inserting the name of the other stakeholder. You can do as many increases as needed.
β οΈ It's important to note that you can only have one type of share class per pool. As such, multiple increases are only possible if the share class is the same. |
Create a plan
Once the pool is created, you will need to create a plan. To create a plan, go to Equity Plans > Pools & Plans > Add plan. You will need to create a name for the plan, select which pool it is associated with, add the date of creation (same date as the creation of the pool) and grant type.
There are several other optional fields that you can fill out in order to customise this plan if you'd like.
What is a plan?
A plan is a subcategory of an equity pool that was designed to allow the customization of grants if needed. For example, you can have one single pool that feeds into two separate plans - one plan may have a performance-based vesting schedule, whereas the second plan may have a time-based vesting schedule (other customizations are possible too). If you'd like to know more about it, please read Equity Plans: Pools vs Plans.
Issuing grants
The last step of creating an equity plan is adding the grants. There are two main ways of issuing grants:
1. Select the Single grant transaction from the Add transaction menu
This method is ideal if you need to upload less than 10 grants.
To add a single grant, go to Add transaction, select Other transactions and then click on Single grant. You will have to insert details regarding that grant, including what plan it comes from (you can create it on the spot), number of grants, stakeholder to whom that grant is being issued, and the grant issuance date.
2. Issuing multiple grants using Ledgy's Excel template
If you'd like to issue multiple grants at once, you can use another of Ledgy's Excel templates entitled Option, phantom, or warrant.
Step 5 - Invite your stakeholders
You did it! π This is it - the last stretch! It's time to share the power of Ledgy with your stakeholders and get them excited! And we made it pretty easy for you to do that. First, let's review what you've done so far:
βοΈ You added all your stakeholders to Ledgy (including email addresses) |
Here is all that is left to do:
Review and finalize the invitation email
Publish all transactions
Invite stakeholders
Review your invitation email π¨
Before inviting stakeholders to Ledgy, we recommend you review your invitation email.
To do that, go to Company Settings > General and click on the Review button on the top right corner of the page.
You will see the following window:
Here you can edit the Subject and Message to your preference and even send a test to yourself. Once you are happy with it, you can click Save.
βΉοΈ This invitation email will be sent out to all stakeholders who are invited to the platform, in order for them to create a Ledgy account. |
Publish your transactions π
The last action before actually inviting your stakeholders to Ledgy is to hit Publish. Publishing all transactions updates the dashboard of stakeholders you have invited or will invite. Stakeholders wonβt see their stake until you publish, so make sure you publish before inviting. |
Hitting the Publish button will not publish all your transactions immediately. You will first have a chance to review whether or not you are ready and invite your stakeholders (but you do not have to).
If you do want to invite stakeholders at this stage, you will be able to select stakeholders individually or by Group, as the video below shows.
Invite your stakeholders
Now, all that there's left to do is onboard all stakeholders into Ledgy! You can do that by going to Stakeholders, clicking Invite Stakeholders, and selecting the stakeholders that you want to invite. |
Should you wish to give Full cap table access to any stakeholder, you must invite them individually by going to the stakeholder, clicking on the three-dot menu, and clicking Change access level.
And that's that! You have completed your onboarding - congratulations! π
What if you have published a transaction and noticed that it was incorrect? π€ No problem - just delete it or edit it and publish it again!
What if you invited a stakeholder whom you did not wish to? Just go to Stakeholders, find the stakeholder and click on the three-dot menu and select Revoke Access. You can always invite the stakeholder again at a later stage if you wish.
What kind of access will my stakeholders have? If you invite them at the same time as you publish, Ledgy will give all stakeholders the same basic access level, which is Personal stake. Personal stake gives the stakeholder visibility on:
More on the different access levels here. |
Do you still have questions?
Reach out to [email protected], and our Customer Experience team will get back to you.