Equity management explained for founders

Author: The Carta Team
Read time: 8 minutes
Published date: 26 June 2026

As your company grows, equity management can get complex. This comprehensive guide explains the basics of equity management and why it is essential for startup success.

Contents

• What is equity management?
• Equity management responsibilities
• Cap table management
• 409A valuations
• Maintaining compliance
• Whose equity do you need to manage?
• Investor stakeholders
• Employee stakeholders
• Board members
• Liquidity events and equity management
• What is equity administration?
• How to get started with equity management
• Using equity management software
• Frequently asked questions about equity management

What is equity management?

Equity management is the process of creating, structuring, and managing ownership in a company between all its stakeholders, including founders, employees, investors, and advisors. Equity management includes a wide range of activities, including tracking and reporting changes in ownership, maintaining the company's cap table, designing vesting schedules, and managing equity incentive plans.

Streamlined equity ownership management also plays a key role in recruiting top talent, securing funding from new investors, and incentivizing high performers. Without accurate equity management, your company could face risks like unclear ownership, stakeholder disputes, regulatory penalties, confusion from investors, and discontent from employees.

By understanding and prioritizing equity management from the beginning, you can build the foundation for a high-functioning organization where every stakeholder understands their role in the company’s growth.

Equity management responsibilities

Some of the key functions of effective equity management include cap table management, 409A valuations, and compliance.

Cap table management

A capitalization table is a record of all your company’s securities—including stock options, convertible notes, warrants, and other types of equity—as well as who owns them. The more securities your company issues, the more complex your cap table tends to be.

An equity administrator is responsible for recording board-approved equity issuances to stakeholders and updating your cap table after a round of financing, a liquidity event, or other material event.

409A valuations

If you want to offer equity in your company to service providers, you may need to get an appraisal called a 409A valuation. The purpose of a 409A valuation is to determine the fair market value (FMV) of your common stock. The valuation then helps the board set the price of a single share.

You generally need a new appraisal every 12 months or whenever a material event occurs, if sooner.

Maintaining compliance

To meet accounting standards, most companies abide by the prevailing accounting principles relevant to their jurisdiction (that is, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles [GAAP] in the U.S. and Canada, or International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS] in Europe, Australia, and many countries in Asia and Africa) for recording employee equity issuances.

Accounting

ASC 718 is a set of accounting standards that outline the steps your company must follow when reporting employee U.S. stock-based compensation or other equity interests on an income statement.

Additional compliance checks

Any time your company issues new equity, you should review securities laws and regulations to ensure compliance.

Whose equity do you need to manage?

Equity management software allows you to track the distribution of stock to everyone, including co-founders, early investors, advisors, and employees.

Investor stakeholders

Part of equity management involves updating your investors and employee stakeholders on your company’s growth and finances.

Employee stakeholders

Your employees are owners too. Equity management means creating an employee equity pool, issuing options or other equity awards to employees from that pool, and creating agreements between the company and each equity recipient detailing the terms of the issuance.

Board members

Another key component of equity management: board management. Most companies require board approval to issue equity, increase employee equity pools, accept new rounds of funding, and hire executives.

Liquidity events and equity management

Historically, it’s been difficult for employees to sell their private shares.

What is equity administration?

Equity administrators are the people responsible for maintaining compliance and overseeing your equity management system and processes.

How to get started with equity management

1. Incorporate your company and authorize shares. Work with a lawyer to file your certificate of incorporation and authorize an initial block of shares—commonly 10 million.
2. Set up a cap table. Record all issued securities in a single, accurate system.
3. Draft a founders' agreement. Document each founder's equity stake, vesting schedule, role, and IP assignment.
4. Establish an employee option pool. Reserve 10–20% of shares for future hires.
5. Get a 409A valuation. Complete your first 409A before granting any stock options.
6. Choose an equity management platform. Select a platform that handles cap table management, 409A valuations, equity grants, and compliance reporting in one place.
7. Review after every material event. Update your cap table and revisit your equity plan after raising capital, new hires, departures, and conversions.

Using equity management software

Equity management isn’t as simple as updating your cap table. Managing equity involves several different types of stakeholders, including employees, investors, and board members.

Frequently asked questions about equity management

What does an equity manager do at a startup?

An equity manager is responsible for maintaining the cap table, processing equity grants, coordinating 409A valuations, and staying compliant with regulations.

When should a startup start managing equity?

Equity management begins at incorporation, when founders allocate their initial shares.

What is the difference between equity management and cap table management?

Cap table management is one component of equity management. Equity management encompasses the cap table plus 409A valuations, employee equity administration, compliance, and shareholder management.

How does equity dilution affect founders?

Dilution is the reduction in a founder's ownership percentage that occurs when the company issues new shares.

Do I need equity management software?

Software becomes valuable once your company has more than a handful of shareholders, multiple share classes, or an active option pool.