The 7 Essential Cap Table Columns
These are non-negotiable. Miss any of them and your cap table cannot be used for due diligence, board reporting, or investor communication without significant rework.
| Column | What It Tracks | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Shareholder Name | Legal name of each equity holder | Matches against legal register; Companies House requires exact match |
| Share Class | Ordinary, Preferred A, Preferred B, Options, Warrants, SAFE | Different classes have different liquidation preferences and voting rights — missing this makes your table meaningless for waterfall analysis |
| Number of Shares | Issued shares held by this shareholder in this class | The base figure for all ownership percentage calculations |
| Issue Price | Price paid per share at issuance | Needed to calculate total investment amount and verify valuations; anti-dilution clauses reference this |
| Issue Date | Date shares were allotted or options granted | Establishes round chronology; critical for tax treatment (EMI options, SEIS/EIS eligibility) |
| Conversion Ratio | For preferred shares and convertibles: how many ordinary shares each converts into | The most commonly missing column; without it, your fully diluted calculation is wrong |
| Fully Diluted % | Ownership percentage assuming all options, warrants, and convertibles have converted | What investors actually care about — this is the number that appears in term sheets |
Types of Cap Table Templates
The right template depends on where you are in your company's life. A founding-stage template will not survive contact with a seed investor. Here is what each stage actually needs.
Founding Stage
Two or three founders, ordinary shares only, no options.
What to include
Shareholder name, ordinary shares, issue price, percentage. That is genuinely all you need.
Limitation
Falls apart the moment you add an option pool or a first investor.
Post-Seed
Founders plus 2–5 angels or a seed fund, SAFE notes possibly outstanding.
What to include
Adds preferred class columns, SAFE note entries with valuation caps, basic fully diluted calculation.
Limitation
Convertible maths is easy to get wrong — verify every formula.
Post-Series A
Multiple investor classes, anti-dilution provisions, active ESOP.
What to include
Separate sheets per round, liquidation preference stack, pro-rata rights tracking, vesting schedule summary.
Limitation
At this point you almost certainly need dedicated software, not a template.
ESOP Included
Option pool with individual grants, cliff and vesting schedules.
What to include
Grant date, strike price, cliff date, vesting period, number of options, current vested/unvested split.
Limitation
Vesting maths across many employees is error-prone in spreadsheets — any calculation error flows into your fully diluted total.
Common Cap Table Template Mistakes
Missing conversion ratios for preferred shares
Your fully diluted percentage calculation will be wrong. Investors will spot this immediately.
Wrong share class for early investors
Angels on SAFEs are often entered as ordinary shareholders before conversion, which overstates dilution incorrectly.
Option pool not included in fully diluted calculation
The ESOP pool exists as dilution whether or not options have been granted. It must appear in fully diluted.
Calculating dilution on issued shares, not post-money shares
Classic error. New investor percentage should be calculated on the total post-money share count, not the pre-money count.
CapBrief
No Template Required
CapBrief reads your messy CSV — whatever columns you have, whatever the formatting — and produces a clean, verified cap table report. It finds missing data, flags errors, and calculates fully diluted ownership correctly. Skip the template entirely.
Upload Your Cap Table Free →When a Template Is Not Enough
Spreadsheet templates work fine for simple structures. They break down when:
Investor due diligence: a VC doing serious DD will want a verified, auditable equity register — not an Excel file they cannot trust
Board reporting: board packs require structured waterfall charts and round summaries, not raw spreadsheet data
Waterfall analysis: calculating liquidation preferences across multiple preferred share classes with anti-dilution provisions requires either dedicated software or a forensic accountant
Secondary transactions: any sale of existing shares requires accurate fully diluted calculations that have been independently verified
Build Your Own Cap Table: What to Include
If you are building your cap table from scratch, here is the complete structure to follow:
# Cap Table Structure — Required Fields
Sheet 1: Issued Shares
- Shareholder Name (legal)
- Share Class (Ordinary / Preferred A / Preferred B / etc.)
- Number of Shares
- Issue Price Per Share
- Issue Date
- Total Investment (Shares × Issue Price)
- % of Issued Share Capital
- % Fully Diluted (including options + convertibles)
Sheet 2: Option Pool
- Grantee Name
- Options Granted
- Grant Date
- Strike Price
- Cliff (months)
- Vesting Period (months)
- Currently Vested / Unvested
Sheet 3: Convertibles (SAFEs / Notes)
- Investor Name
- Principal Amount
- Valuation Cap
- Discount Rate
- Estimated Converted Shares (at cap)
Sheet 4: Summary
- Total Issued Shares
- Total Option Pool (granted + ungranted)
- Total Convertible Shares (estimated)
- Fully Diluted Total
Frequently Asked
Can I use Google Sheets instead of Excel for my cap table?
Yes — Google Sheets works fine for simple cap tables and has the advantage of easy sharing and real-time collaboration. The main risk is formula errors that are harder to audit than in dedicated software. If you share a Google Sheet with an investor, make sure it is view-only and has no broken formula references.
Does my cap table need to match Companies House exactly?
Yes — shareholder names and share counts must match your filed confirmation statement and SH01 forms exactly. Discrepancies cause problems in due diligence and can delay closings. If there is a mismatch, Companies House is the legal record — your cap table must be corrected to match it.
How do I handle SAFE notes in my cap table template?
List SAFEs as a separate section with the investor name, principal amount, valuation cap, and discount rate. Calculate the converted share count at each cap and show the conversion as a separate line in your fully diluted table. Until they convert, they appear in fully diluted but not in issued shares.
What is the option pool shuffle and why does it matter?
When investors require you to create or expand an option pool pre-investment, that pool dilutes founders — not the new investors. This is called the option pool shuffle. Many templates miss this because the pool appears to be created as part of the round, when in fact it was created before the round closes and dilutes the pre-money cap table.
Skip the Template
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