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Employee equity means the economic participation of employees in the company's success – either through real equity (e.g. shares or GmbH interests) or through virtual models such as ESOP, VSOP or phantom stocks.

It is used above all by startups and scale-ups to attract, retain and motivate talent – without additionally straining the available salary budget.

Finshare currently supports holdings via common shares, preferred shares, GmbH interests (with and without voting rights), KG & GbR interests, option models (ESOP/VSOP) and phantom shares.

We are continuously working on new forms such as convertible loans, profit-participation rights, restricted stock units (RSU) or Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). If your form isn't there yet, just reach out – we'll surely find a solution together.

An ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) grants employees the right to acquire real equity at a later date at a pre-agreed price. A VSOP (Virtual Stock Option Plan) is purely virtual – in an exit or liquidity event, employees are treated as if they held real equity, without actually becoming shareholders.

VSOPs are especially popular in Germany because they are simpler to implement: no notary costs, no commercial-register entry, no voting rights. Finshare supports both models.

Phantom stocks are purely virtual holdings that behave like real equity in value terms but trigger no corporate-law consequences. Employees participate in the value development without becoming shareholders.

Typical payout triggers are an exit, IPO or a defined reference date. Finshare manages phantom stocks with the same logic as ESOP/VSOP, including vesting, cliff and leaver rules.

We are currently working on implementing liquidation preferences and negative liquidation preferences such as hurdle or growth shares.

Vesting describes the period over which employees actually "earn" their promised shares or options. A common setup is 4 years with monthly allocation.

The cliff is an initial waiting period (typically 12 months) during which nothing is vested yet. If the employee leaves within the cliff, all shares are forfeited. In Finshare, vesting & cliff run automatically – without manual Excel calculations.

A leaver event describes an employee leaving the company. A common distinction is between good leaver (e.g. termination by the employer without fault) and bad leaver (e.g. summary dismissal, breach of contract).

The leaver rule determines what happens to already-vested and not-yet-vested shares. Finshare reflects the rules from your equity agreement and calculates the remaining entitlements automatically.

Finshare is optimised for the specifics of option models such as ESOP and VSOP. We map the complexity of these contracts in simple steps and support common conditions. Allocation along the conditions then happens automatically.

Cliffs, vesting, leaver cases and much more are clearly represented. When documents are stored in the process, they are automatically made available to the beneficiaries.

The models differ considerably for tax purposes: with real equity there is the so-called "dry income" problem – tax is due on allocation without any cash inflow. Section 19a of the German Income Tax Act (§19a EStG), significantly expanded since 2024, defers taxation for startups until the actual exit under certain conditions.

VSOPs and phantom stocks, by contrast, are only taxed on payout – as employment income subject to wage tax. Finshare documents all allocation and value-development data in an audit-proof way for your tax advisor. The software does not replace tax advice.

Finshare supports all common legal forms – GmbH, UG (limited liability), KG and AG. For GmbHs and UGs, VSOPs and phantom stocks are particularly attractive, since real equity triggers notary costs and commercial-register entries.

For AGs, employee shares (common or preferred) can be combined directly with the digital share register.

Finshare does not provide legal advice. The platform does, however, ensure that your contracts and documents are stored centrally and are easily accessible.

We work closely with our partner, DAWICON GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, who are happy to support with the legal structuring.

Every employee gets their own access to the employee portal. There they can view their holdings, their value development, vesting and all documents at any time – simple, intuitive and transparent.

Yes. Finshare was developed specifically for startups and smaller companies that already use modern employee-equity models or would like to. Finshare grows with your company and is flexibly adaptable to your needs.

As soon as you grant equity to more than a handful of employees, Excel quickly becomes confusing and error-prone. A dedicated cap-table tool ensures transparency, consistent calculations and clean documentation for investors and due-diligence reviews.

Finshare is built exactly for this – including an employee portal so that the participants themselves can view the status at any time.

Finshare offers the START-UP and SCALE-UP plans as well as an individual CORPORATE option. The right choice depends on company size and the number of employees. Contact us for individual requirements.

Finshare can be tested free of charge for 30 days. Register directly for the START-UP or SCALE-UP plan, or request a demo.

Setup is straightforward and can be completed in a few hours. Our team guides you step by step so you can use Finshare quickly and effectively.

Finshare currently does not support external interfaces. We are, however, happy to connect them according to individual needs.