Introduction
For smaller companies, our onboarding workflow provides a self-guided process for entering your company's information and documents. This includes information on your employees, equity, fundraising, etc.
Watch this 6-minute video to get an overview of this process.
Before you get started, we recommend you review this article as well as Onboarding 101, which explain the process as well as list the documents you'll need to have on-hand to set up your account.
The first step in creating an account is filling out basic questions about your company's profile. The two big questions involve what funding you have received, and whether your company is a Delaware C Corporation. We'll use this information to determine your pricing tier (explained in detail on our pricing page).
Click on the links below for each step of the onboarding process to see the required documents and other information you will need to provide.
- Company Charter
- Board & Corporate Officers
- Employees
- Stock Incentive Plan (SIP)
- Equity
- Fundraising
- Legal Counsel
- Board & Stockholder Approvals
- Frequently Asked Questions
Company Charter
- Company Charter
- Company Bylaws
- EIN documentation
- If your company has received funding, you will be asked to provide details about the type of stock that you have issued.
- Your company's address.
Board & Corporate Officers
- Designate your President and Secretary.
- Add Board Members and specify the number of board seats.
Employees
You will be asked to provide a list of current employees and upload the documents below for each:
NOTE: This section is for employees only. Consultants, contractors, and advisors can be added after the onboarding process is complete.
Stock Incentive Plan (SIP)
If you already have a SIP, you will be asked to upload it. In addition to your Stock Incentive Plan document, related documents will also be uploaded, such as the Board Approval for the SIP, Stockholder Approval for the SIP, and the Form Of documents:
- Form of Incentive Stock Option
- Form of Early Exercise Incentive Stock Option**
- Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option
- Form of Early Exercise Non-Qualified Stock Option**
- Form of Restricted Stock Agreement
- Form of Exercise Notice
- Form of Early Exercise Notice**
- Form of Early Exercise Restricted Stock Agreement**
**Denotes documents that will be asked for in onboarding only if your plan allows for early exercise.
Equity
The documents you should have for this category include:
- Any grant documents (ISO, NQO, RSA, founder's shares, etc.) your company has (and the vesting terms for each).
- Board approval (this can also be deferred) for each grant.
NOTE: Before beginning this step, you must specify whether or not your company has undergone a stock split. Additional split documentation will be required if this is the case.
Fundraising
Upload any fundraising paperwork you may have here. This includes convertible debt/bridge notes, equity financings, SAFEs (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), or KISSes (Keep It Simple Security) documents:
SAFEs/KISSes
- SAFE or KISS Agreement
- Board Approval
- Stockholder Approval (if applicable)
Convertible Notes/Bridge Notes
- Note Purchase Agreement
- Individual note agreements
- Board Approval
- Stockholder Approval (if applicable)
Please see this Blog post for more information about bridge note documents.
Equity Financings
- Stock Purchase Agreement
- Board Approval
- Stockholder Approval (if applicable)
- Investor Rights Agreement (if applicable)
- Voting Agreement (if applicable)
- Right of First Refusal/Co-sale Agreement (if applicable)
For more details on differentiating between these types of fundraising, please see our in-depth article on How to Upload your Fundraising Documents.
Legal Counsel
Register your legal counsel and upload your Counsel Engagement Letter. You can skip registering your counsel during onboarding and your Customer Success Manager will guide you through this process during the Post Incorporation process.
Board & Stockholder Approvals
Provide any additional Board Consents or Meeting Minutes that were not already requested in the other sections, should you wish to do so.
FAQs
How do I include consultants and/or advisors in my list of employees? Once you have an account set up, you will be able to incorporate consultants and advisors into your list of employees by starting another workflow: add advisor workflow, add consultant or contractor workflow.
Where can I upload stock certificates? After your onboarding process is complete, you will have the option of uploading your stock certificates or generating electronic certificates.
How long does onboarding take? The onboarding process is dependent on the amount of data a company has; thus, the larger the company, generally the more time is needed to gather the necessary documents and create the company's cap table. Most companies complete onboarding within 30 days.
What if I don't have/can't find a particular document? Your attorney should be able to provide copies of documents they have prepared on your behalf.
We raised money, but I'm not sure which vehicle we used - help? You can read about different financing types and the documents associated with them here.
How can I determine the grant type? Your grants may fall into one of these categories: Restricted Stock Awards, Incentive Stock Options, Non-Qualified Options, and Restricted Stock Units. The heading of each grant should indicate what kind of grant it is.
What are the differences between stock classes? (Common/Preferred/shadow classes) Your company charter will list all classes of stock your company has authorized. You can read more about Common and Preferred stock classes here.
I had a stock split in the past, do you need to know about that? Yes, you can indicate that your company has done a stock split in the equity step of our onboarding workflow.
We used to be an LLC or incorporated in another state, how does that work? Many clients initially incorporate in a different state or form an LLC and convert to a Delaware C-corp later on. You can upload the conversion documents directly to your data room.
We did some crowdfunding, how do we record this? Crowdfunding can be captured on a cap table via one line item or many. To better understand how your raise was structured, we recommend contacting the platform you used, or your attorney.
Do I need to include terminated employees? If you granted shares or options to an employee who has left the company, but they still retain those shares (or exercised their options), then yes, these grants need to be included.
I don't want to email all my investors/employees/stockholders just yet, can I hold off until later Onboarding only captures your data and documents, and no emails will go out at this point. The system collects your security holders' email addresses to create a profile for them in the system.
Third parties mentioned and Fidelity Private Shares LLC are not affiliated.
Screenshots are for illustrative purposes only.
Fidelity Private Shares LLC provides cap table management and other administrative services to private companies and their equity compensation plans.
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