Add a New Share Class

Add share classes to structure your company's equity — record type, terms, and rights & preferences in one place so your cap table matches your legal documents.

Before you start

You'll need Admin access to manage share classes. Share classes must be created before you can issue shares in that class.

Go to Cap Table → Share classes
Click Add Share class in the top right corner
Complete the share class details (see below)
Click Add share class to save

Enter the following for all share classes:

Type: Select Common or Preferred — this controls which fields appear below
Share class name: Full name of the class (e.g. “Series A Preferred”, “Common Stock”)
Symbol: Short code, up to 4 characters (e.g. CSA)
Authorized shares: Total shares authorized for this class (US companies only, optional)
Price per share: Price at which shares were issued (optional)
Par / nominal value: The minimum price per share as set in your Articles of Incorporation (optional)
Voting rights: Toggle on if this class carries voting rights
Dividend payouts: Toggle on if this class is entitled to dividends
Conversion ratio: Rate at which this class converts to common — Preferred only (optional)

Rights & preferences (Preferred only)

Selecting Preferred reveals a Rights & Preferences section. These fields let you record the exact terms from your term sheet.

Note: Rights & Preferences fields are informational only — they store and display your terms but are not yet used in waterfall calculations or modelling.

Liquidation preference

Liquidation type: Select Non-participating, Participating, or Capped
Liquidation multiple: The return multiple before other classes participate (e.g. 1x, 2x)
Liquidation seniority: Rank order relative to other preferred classes — must be unique across all preferred share classes (e.g. 1 = highest priority)
Participation cap: Maximum return as a multiple of investment — only shown when type is Capped

Other rights

Pro-rata rights: Toggle on if this class has the right to participate in future rounds
Anti-dilution type: Select None, Broad-based weighted average (BBWA), or Full ratchet

Note: Defaults are pre-set to the most common terms — 1x Non-participating liquidation and BBWA anti-dilution. Most founders can complete Rights & Preferences in under a minute.

What happens next

Your new share class appears in the Share classes overview. You can now select it when issuing shares, converting between share classes, starting a fundraising round, or setting up an option plan.

Fields left blank display as — on the share class card and can be filled in at any time.

Local variations

Australia and United Kingdom

Cake displays the share type as Common — if your company uses Ordinary shares, enter “Ordinary Shares” (or your specific class name) in the Share class name field so it matches your company documents
Cake displays the share type as Preferred — if your company uses Preference shares, name the class accordingly (e.g. “Preference Shares” or “Series A Preference”)
Rights & Preferences fields are available for all Preferred classes — use them if your share terms include a liquidation preference, pro-rata rights, or anti-dilution provisions

Edit or Delete Share Classes — update an existing share class or remove one with no transactions
Share Class Conversion — convert shares from one class to another
Add Shareholders and Issue Shares — issue shares once your share class is set up

Still need help?

Contact our support team via chat or submit a support request and we'll help you out.