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Migrate from a Spreadsheet to Cake

If you've been managing your cap table in Excel or Google Sheets, Cake's bulk upload tools can import your data directly. Most spreadsheet-managed cap tables can be migrated in under two hours.

Before you start

Have your cap table data organised. You'll need at minimum:

  • A list of shareholders with their contact details and email addresses

  • Share counts and share class for each shareholder

  • Any option grants, SAFEs, or other instruments you want to bring across

Step 1: Set up your share classes in Cake first

Before importing shareholders and shares, create the share classes your company uses:

  1. Go to Cap Table → Share classes.

  2. Click Add share class and add each class (e.g. Ordinary, Series A Preferred, Common).

See Add a New Share Type for step-by-step instructions. Share class names in your import must exactly match what you've created here.

Step 2: Download Cake's import templates

  1. Go to Cap Table in the main menu.

  2. Click Add, then Upload from spreadsheet.

  3. Download the template for each data type you're importing.

Cake provides one template with multiple sheets to cover stakeholder contact details, shares, SAFEs, options, and other instruments.

Step 3: Map your spreadsheet into Cake's format

Open Cake's template alongside your existing spreadsheet. Transfer data column by column, matching your values to Cake's field names.

  • Shareholder name → Name must match across stakeholder contact details & shares to ensure they link upon uploading

  • Email → Required if you want to invite stakeholders to My Cake – no one will be notified automatically upon uploading

Step 4: Import your data

Use Cake's bulk upload tools in this order, stakeholder contact details first, then shares, then instruments on top:

  • Stakeholder contact details + shares: See Bulk Upload Your Cap Table and Stakeholder Details

  • SAFEs and convertible notes: See Bulk Upload SAFEs, Convertibles & Custom Notes

  • Option grants: See Bulk Upload Stock Option Grants

Step 5: Verify your cap table

Once uploaded, review your cap table:

  • All shareholders appear with correct share counts

  • Share classes match your original spreadsheet

  • Fully diluted ownership percentages look right

If anything looks off, you can edit individual records in the Transactions log or delete and re-upload a corrected file.

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