You can bulk upload equity awards using an excel spreadsheet templated.
There are a few required steps that have to be observed prior to issuing equity awards:
- Enabling the specific award add-on - The link to that specific award type (e.g. Options, Warrants, Restricted Stock Units, etc) will appear under the Equity Awards dropdown.
- Creating an incentive pool / adding an authorisation.
- Adding an equity plan the awards will be issued from.
Equity Awards can be issued in two ways:
- Online equity awards issuance - an online issuance can be used when the entire signing process will be done through Carta (i.e. the agreements will be uploaded on the account and the signatures will be completed via Carta).
- Offline equity awards issuance - an offline issuance can be used when the signing process will take place outside Carta (i.e. the agreements have already been signed).
- Troubleshooting.
For the purpose of this article, we will use the the bulk issuance of warrants as an example. Please, bear in mind that the same process is valid for the other types of awards (options, warrants, RSUs, phantom shares and share grants).
Online equity awards issuance
There are a few required steps that have to be observed prior to issuing warrants online:
1. Go to Equity Awards > Warrants > Grants.
2. Click on Issue Grants > Import online grants.
3. Expanding the Download import file template dropdown will reveal two different downloadable templates:
a. Simple granting: Recommended for warrants with a time-based or immediate vesting schedule;
b. Advanced granting: Recommended for warrants with a custom or performance-based vesting schedule or to import exercises or cancellations;
4. Add the appropriate information to the downloaded spreadsheet. There will be required columns (darker blue) and an explanation for how each field should be filled out.
5. Return to the Import data page and click Upload.
6. The uploaded file can be edited or removed, otherwise, click Import data.
7. The platform will process the data in the file. Click Publish to publish the issuances.
Offline equity awards issuance
The process to issue warrants offline is similar to the online issuance process - what differentiates them are the columns in the import file. While the spreadsheet generated for online issuances require the inclusion of a Document template set, the spreadsheet generated for offline issuances does not.
1. Go to Equity Awards > Warrants > Grants.
2. Click on Issue Grants > Import online grants.
3. Expanding the Download import file template dropdown will reveal two different downloadable templates:
a. Simple granting: Recommended for warrants with a time-based or immediate vesting schedule;
b. Advanced granting: Recommended for warrants with a custom or performance-based vesting schedule or to import exercises or cancellations;
4. Add the appropriate information to the downloaded spreadsheet. There will be required columns (darker blue) and an explanation for how each field should be filled out.
5. Return to the Import data page and click Upload.
6. The uploaded file can be edited or removed, otherwise, click Import data.
7. The platform will process the data in the file. Click on Publish to publish the issuances.
Troubleshooting
Over-issuance
If there are not enough shares authorized in the Incentive pool, the following message will be displayed:
Amend the pool size to remove the error.
File errors
If there are any errors in the spreadsheet and the platform is unable to upload the information, the following error message will be displayed:
In order to correct it, follow the steps below:
1. Download the processed file.
2. Look for the cells highlighted in red.
3. Hoover your cursor over the highlighted cell and the it will contain comments that will help correct the error.