Which ISO exercises appear on your Form 3921
Cake reports every Incentive Stock Option exercise that settled during the calendar year you select. One form per exercise, not one per person.
What is included
ISO exercises with an exercise date inside the tax year
Multiple exercises by the same person, each as its own form
Exercises by people who have since left. Every exercise is reported, whether or not the person still works there
What is not included
Non-Qualified Stock Option exercises. NSOs are not reported on Form 3921
Grants that vested but were never exercised. The trigger is the exercise, not the vest
Exercises dated in a different tax year
Where each figure comes from
Cake reads your Cap Table, so the report is only as current as the data in it.
| Box | Source in Cake |
|---|---|
| Grant date | The option grant |
| Exercise date | The exercise record |
| Exercise price | The strike price on the grant |
| Fair market value | Usually your 409A valuation covering the exercise date |
| Shares transferred | The exercise record |
If nothing in Cake covers an exercise date, the fair market value comes through blank on the report and you fill it in yourself. You can add a valuation under Compliance → 409A to cover future exercises.