But first, what does this all mean?
Exercise means the process of converting a vested option into an ordinary share. An option can be exercised when the option has vested, and the Exercise Price is paid.
Exercise Price means the amount to be paid by the employee to Exercise the option.
Exercise Period means the period in which an employee can exercise the options. Often, an employee won’t exercise options straight after vesting, and will wait to exercise them later on.
N.B. Options can only be exercised in Cake by a user with Edit or Admin access to the company account on Cake. The employee cannot process the exercise event from their end.
Method 1:
Click Cap table from the main menu and then Option holders.
Click More in the top right hand corner, and then Exercise Options from the drop down menu of this page
Search for the relevant Option holder
Select the relevant pool and offer
Enter the Exercise Date and the Number of options the employee will exercise.
If applicable, you can Exercise into Bare trust if the shares will be held via an employee bare trust upon exercising. After ticking the box to exercise into bare trust, choose the holding company from the dropdown.
Click Exercise.
Method 2:
Click Incentive plans from the main menu and then Options / Stock options.
Click View pool.
Find the option holder from the Offer List whose options you would like to exercise. Click on the piggybank icon on the right hand side of their name.
Enter the Exercise Date and the Number of options the employee will exercise.
If applicable, you can Exercise into Bare trust if the shares will be held via an employee bare trust upon exercising. After ticking the box to exercise into bare trust, choose the holding company from the dropdown.
Click Exercise.
Regardless of which method you choose, once you have exercised the options, they will automatically be issued with the respective number of shares on the cap table. Head to Equity --> Cap table, or Equity --> Shareholders to check it out!
Next step: Issue a Share Certificate 😊