Cap table spreadsheets are extremely useful for a number of reasons. They can be used to track funding rounds, cap table fees, cap value, cap table breakeven and many other financial statistics. This is usually reflected in a separate tab to the overall spreadsheet which displays the investor’s debt amount by investor and some sort of implied interest rate calculation. Needless to say most investors naturally focus only on the top tab of their cap table spreadsheet which displays ownership by owner, founder, etc. This means that unless the investor is particularly comfortable with the financial models used there is very little scope for detailed customization.

However it should not be the focus of your business model to solely depend on such technicalities as usage of cap tables. You need to think about your overall business objectives and how they will affect your cap tables as well. You also need to track all the different investors who have invested in your company so that you can understand their motivations better. It is not enough just to have one cap table spreadsheet; multiple cap tables spreadsheets should be maintained for every stage of your business. Cap table spreadsheet can be used for initial public offering, private placement, delayed capital gains tax credit, etc. The important thing is that you must be comfortable with using the spreadsheet for these purpose.

There are two main scenarios to consider when using a cap table spreadsheet for stock incentive plans, as part of your incentive program or separately as part of your accounting system. In the former situation you will want to track the cost per barrel of oil and other commodity prices along with the impact of dilution on oil prices. Post-money cap table spreadsheet can be used to calculate the effect of post-money dilution on gross cash flows and net cash balance. In both situations you will need to use the same cap table spreadsheet for oil prices, commodity prices and dividends.

One of the key areas that you have to track is your ownership structure. For example you have a sophisticated institutional investor that you regularly give a call option to. This option is normally exercisable at a specific price. But suppose that the option price moves suddenly down to zero. Would you be able to sell your shares of common stock under the call option? Your answer might be no if your institutional investors are holding on to their shares of common stock forever.

One of the most common cap table scenarios is a venture that is being funded. When a venture is initiated it is normally called a startup. The venture may be an innovative idea that has the potential to be successful but is backed by only a few people or it could be a small group of individuals that have some entrepreneurial skills but no financial backing. Either way, most startups fail because there is no financial support from angel investors or venture capitalists. Even if the founders can raise the capital with a private funding source, they need to convince a third party to invest in their business before they can start selling their products. This is where a cap table spreadsheet comes in handy.

One thing you always need to keep in mind as you are evaluating different funding sources for your startups is dilution. Dilation refers to how diluted the ownership of a company is. A high dilution means that 80% of all shares of a company’s stock has been issued and therefore that there are more shares of a company than there is equity capital invested. If there are only a small number of initial investors and they are buying up large portions of the company’s shares, then dilution will make the initial investment smaller. In this scenario, if the startup wants to raise more money, it will have to increase the total number of shares issued.

There are many different cap tables available. A cap table is one spreadsheet that contains cap table spreadsheet software that can be used by startups as they are seeking capital. Cap tables can also be included with other types of corporate governance software. This allows investors to easily compare the different financing options available for their particular company. You may want to use the same spreadsheet for both the startups and the private equity firms. The only difference is that the startups would not have access to the corporate governance software that the private equity firms have.

Before an investor goes to a venture capital or angel investor funding source, he or she must be able to present a robust business plan. Otherwise, investors may be turned off because they cannot understand the numbers in the business plan. If you can include cap tables along with the business plan, then it will help potential investors understand the numbers and the financial projections better. In addition, it allows the investors to compare the numbers to their own investment in the company. In effect, it helps the startups to win over the sceptics and raise the capital that they need to continue their operations.