Add Shareholders and Issue Shares
Add shareholders to your cap table and issue shares in a few steps. Use this when recording a new share issuance, a founding grant, or adding a shareholder who doesn't have a Cake invite yet.
Before you start
You'll need Admin access to manage the cap table.
The share class must exist before you can issue shares in it. See Add a New Share Class if the class isn't set up yet.
Add a shareholder and issue shares
Go to Cap Table from the left navigation bar.
Select the Shareholders tab.
Click Add in the top left and select Shareholder from the dropdown.
Choose an existing contact from the dropdown, or click New shareholder to create one.
If adding a new shareholder, choose the shareholder type and enter their details:
Individual: single person or trustee of a trust
Joint: two people sharing ownership
Corporate: a company or entity
Complete the transaction details:
Share type: The class of shares being issued
Issue date: When the shares are being issued
Number of shares: Total shares for this allotment
Investment amount or Price per share: Enter one, Cake calculates the other automatically
Amount unpaid (optional): Any amount still unpaid at the time of issue
Optional, apply vesting to shares:
Tick Apply vesting to shares to add a vesting schedule. Configure:
Cliff vesting: e.g., 25% vests after 12 months
Periodic vesting: e.g., remaining 75% vests quarterly over 3 years
Milestone-based vesting: tied to specific performance targets
Optional, attach supporting documentation to the transaction.
Click Issue shares to save the transaction.
What happens next
The shareholder appears on your cap table immediately. Their holding is visible under the Shareholders tab, and the transaction is recorded in Cap Table → Transaction logs. You can issue a share certificate from the Shareholders tab once the transaction is saved.
When vesting is applied to the issued shares, Cake automatically sends notifications to stakeholders when they hit vesting milestones. You can manage these notifications when adding the share issuance, or on the shareholder profile after issuing the shares.
Local variations
Australia
Bare trust arrangements: see Create and Manage Bare Trusts for issuing shares into a trust structure.