Making equity management easy for company secretaries

Updated 24 May 2024.

The duties of a company secretary are broad. This role is often fulfilled by a founder who wears multiple hats, or in some cases by their accountant. This means that the process of updating your equity, and ensuring that it is filed with Companies House, can be done inconsistently. 

There’s a legal obligation under the Company’s Act to update Companies House with any material changes to your equity.

While this stuff is important, it doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. 

We spend so much time thinking about share schemes more generally, that we often don’t shout enough about how great our platform is for general equity management. So much so, that sometimes even our customers need a nudge to make the most of the platform’s functionality! 

In this article, we’ll explore the ways that Vestd can make it easier for those tasked with carrying out the company secretary duties, and why they should manage their equity through our user-friendly platform. 

What can company secretaries do on Vestd? 

In short, there is actually very little that you can’t do with Vestd as a company secretary when it comes to your equity. 

Whether you are looking to complete a confirmation statement, appoint a new director, change company details, make a PSC notification, issue shares, complete a stock transfer, a subdivision, or cancel shares, it can all be done through Vestd - and the best part? We deal with the Companies House filings for you. 

Here are some of the key benefits of Vestd for a company secretary - both for general equity management and for your company’s share scheme. 

Secretarial tasks you can tick off the list

1. Maintain your cap table and legal share register 

Legally, you need to keep an up-to-date share register of all your shareholders and their shareholdings as things change. Once you are live on the platform this can be done for you automatically, and the platform will remind you and even generate your Confirmation Statement for you to check and send to Companies House with the click of a button. 

2. Store all documents in one place

Organising the forms and other documents for managing your equity can be a real headache. With Vestd you can store and view all information associated with any share movements or authorisations securely, and in a way that is easy to find them. You can also add, detail, and file any documents that are associated with your equity. 

3. Authorise and issue ordinary shares

While we spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of conditional equity, we also recognise that there are many instances where ordinary shares might be the right solution.

Luckily you can authorise and issue these with us, too. It is a legal obligation to tell Companies House about any shares issued within 20 days. The platform does this for you automatically and will create a share certificate should you wish to use it (see No. 5).

4. Add new share classes, or authorise and subdivide existing ones

As your business grows, you will likely need to add extra shares to your cap table. It might be that you need new classes of shares, or that you need to subdivide your existing ones. This can get messy. Luckily our platform keeps it clean. 

5. Generate and sign share certificates

A key step in sharing equity is creating and signing certificates for your newly added shareholders. We enable you to generate and sign share certificates effortlessly, removing the administrative hassle from this task. 

6. Create and execute any board and shareholder resolutions

To issue new shares, you need to obtain written consent from both your shareholders and your directors, to ensure they are happy with any dilution that will occur. Board and shareholder resolutions are created and executed directly on Vestd. 

7. Authorise adoption of new Articles

 When you join Vestd, you can either upload your existing Articles of Association or adopt ours. You can authorise the adoption of new Articles of Association through the app too. 

8. Add and change director details and change the company name

 We understand that things in the world of startups change quickly and that directors come and go. It is important to authorise this properly and then update details of these changes with Companies House.

Change your company name and directors' details with Vestd, and we will make sure all authorisations are carried out and that the relevant documents are then updated on Companies House. 

9. Update People with Significant Control (PSCs) 

Another important detail that must be registered with Companies House is any changes to your PSCs. As with other changes, Vestd’s Companies House integration takes care of this, so as long as you keep details up to date in the app and - you guessed it - we’ll do the rest. 

Streamline share scheme management

1. Authorise and set up share option schemes

It doesn’t matter whether it is an EMI scheme or Unapproved Options, authorising and setting up share option schemes has never been easier than with Vestd. 

2. Use Vestd scheme precedents 

Whether you are digitising your share scheme or setting up a new one, you can either use our precedents or upload those prepared by your lawyer or accountant. 

3. Authorise and set up other schemes

Through Vestd you can create other schemes, such as Growth Share schemes, including putting robust conditions in place. 

4. Maintain a record of valuations 

Whether this is for an EMI scheme (which needs to be agreed with HMRC) or for growth shares or unapproved options, you can keep a record of your valuations in Vestd.

Our valuation specialists can also help you obtain an up-to-date valuation for share scheme purposes.     

5. Execute share scheme agreements with beneficiaries

When the conditions of your share schemes are met, you can handle the process of executing your share scheme agreements through Vestd. You can also defer options and cancel growth shares. 

6. Receive notification reminders 

With most share schemes, there are statutory requirements for you to notify HMRC at different milestones. Our app ensures that you receive reminders of these statutory notifications, meaning that you never miss them.

We also create a CSV with all the relevant information for you to check and easily upload following the instructions we supply.

As you can see, we really do our best to make looking after your equity as simple as possible. Company secretaries can consolidate their tasks in a single, straightforward app, and leave the updating of Companies House to us. 

Our Essentials Plan is the best place to start for company secretaries or the hero in your business who takes care of what we've covered here today.

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