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If your stock options are spread across one employer that uses Carta, another that uses Pulley, a few dog-eared grant docs you swore you would scan one day, and a spreadsheet that mostly works unless you touch the wrong cell, you’re in the right place.
Startup equity has a way of getting scattered. Your grant details may live in company portals, PDFs, old emails, tax documents, and personal spreadsheets. And even once you gather everything, tracking what you own is only half the problem. You still need to understand what has vested, what could expire, what it may cost to exercise, and how taxes could affect your next decision.
A spreadsheet can be a decent starting point. But if you want one place to track your startup stock options and understand what they could mean for you financially, Secfi’s AI equity assistant Maeve can help you bring your equity details together, model exercise costs and taxes, and compare possible outcomes before you make a decision.
To get a clear picture of your equity, you need to track more than just the number of shares you were promised. Based on our experience, many employees miss critical data points that change the math of their equity compensation.
We believe the minimum information needed for effective tracking includes:
The exact number of options in every grant.
The date the grant was issued to you.
Your strike price (the price you pay to buy the shares).
The specific vesting schedule for every grant.
Whether they are Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) or Non-qualified Stock Options (NSOs).
The information in your platform feeds every decision you may make later. A dashboard that looks organized may still give you a wrong or misleading answer if the underlying assumptions are flawed.
We've learned that approximations can be risky and create unhappy surprises. Accurate planning requires working across several difficult layers at once: your grant details, federal and state tax systems, and the subtleties of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). In our view, a model that approximates any one of these layers can introduce errors that compound through the rest.
| Option | Best for | What it helps with | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
Secfi | Tracking, modelling, and planning equity | Brings equity details into one place, imports Carta data, models exercise costs, estimates taxes, and compares possible exit scenarios | Best suited to employees and executives with startup equity in the U.S. |
Spreadsheets | Basic DIY tracking | Flexible place to list grants, strike prices, vesting schedules, expiration dates, and notes | High risk of human error, requires regular manual updates, usually limited unless you build tax and scenario formulas yourself |
Carta, Pulley, or Shareworks | Viewing official company equity records | Shows grant details, vesting, exercise status, and company-administered equity information | Often tied to one employer or platform, and may not model your full personal tax and liquidity picture |
Empower, Kubera, or Monarch Money | High-level net worth tracking | Helps include startup equity alongside cash, brokerage accounts, real estate, and other assets | Not built for detailed stock option planning, AMT, vesting, or exercise strategy |
For illustrative purposes only
Secfi’s AI equity assistant, Maeve, is designed to help you see your equity journey in one place. It combines a conversational interface with a proprietary tax calculation engine to help you move beyond simple lists.
Centralize your holdings: You can connect your Carta account or upload documents and we'll pull the relevant information automatically to bring documents from multiple employers into a single view.
Run verifiable math: Unlike general AI tools, Maeve uses Secfi's calculation APIs to model exercise costs and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exposure based on your specific tax filing status.
Plan your path: You can compare multiple exercise and sell scenarios to see what your potential take home pay might look like at different exit valuations.
Check your assumptions: Every number Maeve surfaces is cited, so you can see exactly what was calculated and which data points were used to help ensure your plan is grounded in real math.
If you only need a high level view of your grants, a spreadsheet provides total flexibility.
Customization: You can build your own columns for vesting cliffs and expiration dates.
Privacy: Your data stays in a file you control without connecting to third-party services.
Limitations: Spreadsheets are prone to human error. Plus, manual updates are required every time your company has a new 409A valuation or you receive a new grant.
These platforms are the source of truth for your current employer’s equity records.
Official data: You can see your vesting progress and exercise shares directly through the portal your company uses.
Document storage: Your legal grant agreements are usually stored here for easy access.
Limitations: We've found these tools aren't as specialized for personal financial planning. If you have options from companies outside of these platforms, they may not be included. Other income sources and modelling multi-year exercise strategies are also usually not included.
If your goal is to see how your equity fits into your broader net worth, general wealth trackers are a strong option.
Holistic view: You can track your startup shares alongside your bank accounts, real estate, and 401k.
Auto-aggregation: These tools help you see your total asset allocation in one dashboard.
Limitations: Most of these tools lack the specialized calculation engines required for equity. They typically cannot help you calculate the immediate tax impact of an exercise or help model qualifying dispositions.
Tracking is just the first step in managing your stock options. Once you have your data in one place, you may want to explore how to act on it.
Maeve: Use our AI equity assistant to model the difference between exercising today versus at exit across multiple scenarios using your actual grant data.
Non-recourse financing: You may want to exercise your options but lack the liquid cash to cover the strike price and the associated tax bill. Non-recourse financing provides the capital you need without putting your personal assets at risk as collateral. If the company value eventually falls below the amount of the debt, you aren’t responsible for the balance. This lets you own your equity while reducing your personal financial risk.
Secondary markets: You don't always have to wait for an initial public offering (IPO) or a formal acquisition to see a return on your shares. Selling on the secondary market lets you find outside buyers for your private equity before the company goes public. If this is available to you, Secfi's team can help you access a network of buyers and even negotiate on your behalf.
Equity and wealth teams: For those with complex situations, Secfi’s equity strategists can give you further support and insights. And if you want financial planners for your long term goals, our wealth team is available to you.
Read more: When should you hire a financial advisor?
Tracking your equity doesn't have to mean wrestling with broken cells or toggling between four different portals. Whether you are planning for an exit or just trying to avoid a surprise tax bill, having one source of truth for your options can help you feel better about your choices.
The tool shown here uses artificial intelligence and is for illustrative purposes only and not necessarily indicative of future results and there is no guarantee that similar results can be achieved. The information provided by the tool is not professional advice and is not intended by Secfi, Inc., its affiliates, and Secfi representatives, to be deemed as investment, legal, tax or other professional advice or recommendations of any kind, or to form the basis of any decision to do or to refrain from doing anything. Secfi does not review the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to us within the tool.
At minimum, track the number of options in each grant, grant date, strike price, vesting schedule, expiration date, option type, and whether the options have been exercised. These details are the foundation for estimating exercise costs, taxes, and possible future value.
Yes, a spreadsheet can work for basic tracking, especially if you only have one or two grants. However, spreadsheets can become harder to maintain as you add multiple companies, changing 409A valuations, tax estimates, vesting schedules, and potential exit scenarios.
Stock option details are often spread across equity portals, PDFs, emails, tax documents, and personal notes. If different employers use different systems, it can be difficult to see your full equity picture in one place or understand how each grant affects your planning.
Tracking stock options means organizing details like grant size, strike price, vesting, and expiration dates. Planning goes further by estimating exercise costs, tax impact, possible exit outcomes, and how different decisions could affect your finances.
You should update your tracker whenever you receive a new grant, vest more options, exercise shares, leave a company, or learn about a new 409A valuation, tender offer, funding round, IPO, or acquisition. Keeping it current can help you avoid missed deadlines and outdated assumptions.
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