Share Certificate Types - Holdings vs Transactional

Cake offers two certificate types to meet different business needs: Holdings certificates and Transactional certificates. Choose the approach that best fits your requirements.

Holdings Certificates (Default)

Holdings certificates combine all shareholdings for each stakeholder into one document, regardless of when shares were acquired.

When to use: Most companies prefer holdings certificates as they provide a clean, consolidated view of total ownership.

To issue holdings certificates:

1. Ensure Company → Settings is set to "Holdings share certificate by class"

2. Navigate to Ownership → Cap Table → Shareholders

3. Click the Issue share certificate icon next to the relevant shareholder

Transactional Certificates

Transactional certificates create separate documents for each individual transaction or share issuance.

When to use: When you need detailed transaction-level documentation or have specific legal requirements.

To issue transactional certificates:

1. Set Company → Settings to "Transactional share certificate"

2. Navigate to Ownership → Transactions log

3. Click the Issue share certificate icon next to the specific transaction

Updating Certificates

When issuing new shares to existing holders (Holdings certificates):

1. Delete the existing certificate from Documents → All documents → Share Certificates

2. Issue a new certificate reflecting updated holdings

3. Notify the shareholder of the updated certificate