A pre investment cap table is a standard stockbrokers tool. Before any deals are closed, a business will list all of its stakeholders and the securities they own in a cap table template. Typically this includes the founders who got common stock, as well as the various investors who invested in the business at one time or another. The pre investment cap table allows a business to calculate the value of all of its current and long term assets, and then compare it to its competitors and potential future deals. It can also show the performance of the business, especially its financials. It can also show the risk involved in making specific types of investments and the anticipated returns on them.

Every business should have a cap table, as well as an explanation of why and how they use it. Often, this is part of the limited liability form that must be filed with the SEC. But even if it is not filed with the SEC, a business can still use a pre-investment cap table. In this case, a business uses shares of stock as collateral for a loan, which then requires it to purchase from time to time a certain number of shares of stock options.

startups use cap tables as part of their investment arsenal. Some do so out of convenience, using their existing book value, or what is known as intrinsic value. Others do so because they have capital that they would like to raise, but for which they have no plans to issue additional capital. Still others use cap tables because they want to keep control over their finances. Whatever the reason may be, cap tables can make investing in businesses much easier for all of their shareholders.

Any given company could have a single cap table template, which could be used for all of their shareholders or only a select group of them. Their level of risk would depend on their overall equity. If the company's equity is low, the company would likely face a lower level of risk; conversely, if the equity is high, then the company would face a higher level of risk. A typical piece of software that would produce one such template - an eqvista - would look something like this:

Here, all shareholders are shown as a visual image. They are also given a name, which can be typed into Google Docs, and a price per share amount. The excel file that comes with the html table would then go on to generate the actual numbers, making it very easy for any investor to replicate the process on his or her own. Another advantage is that there is typically a button on the webpage that allows new shareholders to either add themselves to the list, or cross reference an existing shareholders list with the new one.

Of course, investors aren't the only ones that should take advantage of this kind of software. Companies who deal with large amounts of money would also benefit from using a cap table template. If they knew ahead of time how much money each share of stock was worth, then they could easily determine how much they owed other companies in order to get the most out of their investment. startups would help them reduce their risk, which would help them make better investments and make money on their portfolios overall.

In addition to reducing risk for these kinds of companies, the value of stocks can be determined online very easily. Investors don't have to do much more than just plugging in numbers into one place and watching the results come in. This is one place where an investor would usually have to pay for the results, though, so this would help to keep the cost down for anyone who wants to try it. It also would help to streamline the process because it would eliminate some of the legwork involved with looking up data yourself. For instance, if there were a lot of different numbers to look up, then a quarterly or monthly report might be necessary to create a more manageable file for investors to look over.

The whole point of this template is to allow investors to do their research online without having to deal with Excel spreadsheets. They don't have to worry about formulas or complicated computer code. Instead, startups can just plug in numbers and let the software figure things out for them. This may seem like a small thing, but it can make a huge difference in how well an investor makes a decision. Sometimes it can even be a life saver, especially if someone invests in risky but profitable stock options.