Fundraising Operations
Equity Offers: Build a Clear Approval and Handoff Workflow
Map the handoffs between a proposed equity offer, authorized terms, candidate communication and the final record.
What you will learn
- Distinguish a proposal from an authorized decision and executed award.
- Assign task ownership without assuming a job title creates authority.
- Define the evidence needed at each offer handoff.
An equity offer needs a workflow that keeps proposal, authorization, communication and final records separate. A clean handoff says who is doing the work, who can make the relevant decision and what evidence allows the next step to begin.
Authority comes from the company’s actual arrangements
A recruiting lead may own communication without having authority to approve equity terms. A finance reviewer may check quantities without making the grant decision. Use the company’s current governing documents, delegations and professional guidance to identify the authorized decision maker; do not infer authority from a senior title.
A historical filed Sumo Logic plan illustrates the separate roles of plan administration, award agreements and instrument-specific terms. Its exact delegation rules are not a template for another company.
Build the responsibility map
RACI means responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. In this original proposed workflow, “accountable” means one internal owner for completing a task. It does not confer legal authority or imply that one person alone can approve every award.
Proposed equity-offer handoff map
| Task | Responsible / accountable owner | Consulted or informed | Gate evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare proposal | Hiring manager / compensation lead | Finance, recruiter | Complete request with source references |
| Check terms and quantities | Equity administrator / compensation lead | Finance and relevant adviser | Documented questions and reconciled inputs |
| Obtain required authorization | Designated process owner / authorized decision owner | Required decision makers | Actual approval record, not a draft |
| Communicate approved terms | Recruiter / hiring lead | Administrator; candidate informed | Approved communication scope |
| Complete award documentation | Administrator / authorized process owner | Recipient and relevant adviser | Required executed records |
| Reconcile and hand off | Administrator / record owner | Finance; recipient informed | Source-backed final entry and accessible packet |
Replace the sample roles with real owners. If the company requires several decisions, show each gate rather than hiding them inside one “approved” cell.
Use status words that cannot quietly change meaning
- Proposed: a quantity or schedule is being considered.
- Checked: inputs have been reviewed, but this is not authorization.
- Authorized: the required decision is evidenced for a defined scope.
- Communicated: the recipient has been told the approved message.
- Documented: required records are complete and linked.
- Reconciled: the administrative entry matches the authoritative records.
Rule 701 concerns a registration exemption; it does not make an internal status label an approval. A workflow helps people follow the process, not bypass it.
Resolve a blocked handoff visibly
Fictional case: a hiring manager proposes 2,000 options. The recruiter drafts an offer before the required decision has been recorded. The workflow should return the proposal to the authorization gate, not relabel the recruiter’s draft as an approved grant.
Record the blocker, owner and exact missing evidence. The recruiter can tell the candidate what is confirmed and what remains subject to the required process. Do not erase the earlier draft or leave it accessible as if it were current.
Exercise: find the missing gate
Finance confirms a proposed count matches the request. The candidate has accepted the employment offer. No required equity authorization record is attached. Is the administrative team ready to record a finalized award?
Answer: Not on this evidence. Input checking and employment acceptance answer different questions from equity authorization. Route the missing decision to its actual owner and preserve the distinction in the status map.
Keep the workflow separate from the request itself
The cap-table checklist helps distinguish promises and completed records. This workflow instead owns the sequence of cross-functional handoffs.
Use Finta Documents to organize the approved process, source packet and open questions. Finta is not being presented as the authority that approves, issues or administers an equity grant.
General education with fictional examples, not individualized legal, tax, valuation or investment advice. Have the appropriate professional review decisions affecting actual awards or transactions.