How do I upload an existing 409A valuation to Cake?
Ran your 409A somewhere else, or have older ones from previous years? Add them and Cake treats them the same as a valuation run here.
Upload it
Go to Compliance → 409A
Click Upload 409A Valuation
Enter the details and save
What to enter
Fair market value - the per-share value the report landed on. This is the strike price new option grants are priced at
Date it takes effect - usually the valuation date on the report. Cake uses it to work out which grants and exercises this valuation covers
The report - attaching the PDF is optional, and worth doing. It is your audit record, and it is the document an auditor or an acquirer asks to see
You can also apply the new fair market value to your option pools, so grants created from here price off it.
Add your historical ones too
Worth doing even for valuations that have long expired.
Every past grant needs the fair market value that applied on its grant date, and every ISO exercise needs the one that applied on its exercise date. Load your old reports and those figures fill in on their own.
Form 3921 has a fair market value to report against each ISO exercise
Your Rule 701 position values grants correctly instead of flagging FMV as missing
Your Cap Table history shows what each grant was actually priced at
Switching to Cake mid-cycle
Coming from another platform with a valuation still inside its 12 months? Upload it and keep granting. You do not need a fresh one until the 12 months are up or a material event lands.