To set-up and manage a company ESOP in Orchestra you need to be an Administrator for the company.
Setting up an ESOP in Orchestra:
In the Orchestra menu, select the 'ESOP & Options' tab and select the 'Create pool' button.
Creating Pools: these are based on the amount of equity allocated by your company for the ESOP. You can name the ESOP pool, confirm the type (options, phantom or loan to purchase shares) and enter the maximum number of options in the pool. For a step by step overview, have a look at our video on setting up an ESOP pool in Orchestra.
Once your ESOP pool is created, you can see an overview of the details on your ESOP dashboard including the number of options at each stage (granted, vested, exercised):
Creating Grants:
You can create grants for each ESOP participant including the number of options, exercise price, start date and expiry date, and upload supporting documents (such as the Grant Offer letter when this is completed):
Creating Vesting Schedules:
For each grant, you create vesting schedules including regular or one-off automatic schedules or manual / performance-based schedules:
Once your ESOP participant has signed their Grant Offer letter, if they are new to Orchestra, you can invite them to access their ESOP details using the blue "Invite" button on their grant screen:
You can also add a custom message to the invitation:
Alternatively, if they have an exisiting Orchestra log-in you can email them through the Communications tool (How do I send shareholder communications to my shareholders?) so that they can view their new ESOP details in Orchestra.
Exercising Options:
When grant holders have vested options, these can be exercised and converted into shares:
This can be done within the ESOP screen to create a share transaction so that the company share register is updated and correct. The share details need to be entered and supporting documents (such as the Option Exercise Notice from the employee) can be uploaded.
If there will be regular exercising of options, then you can set up a named funding round (e.g., "ESOP Exercise") to use as a reference on the share register transaction list.
You can also add a personalised message in the share transaction notification, so if this is the first time an employee is becoming a shareholder in your company, you can include a welcome message to them!
Selling Shares:
Subject to your company’s requirements for the selling and purchasing of shares, share transactions can be managed through the share transfer process in Orchestra:
