Capitalization Matters Capitalization Matters Read equity-focused news and comments in Capitalization Matters, written by Two Step Software President and Founder Gary D. Levine, a frequent speaker and contributor to many publications on capitalization matters and corporate governance practices.
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Stock Option Valuation: How Hard Have They Made It?
2008-06-06 00:00:00 In a recent issue of the popular newsletter Softletter, Edward Pratesi, CPA of Brentmore Advisors, LLC, does an outstanding job in the article entitled: ?Valuing Options While Running the Compliance Gauntlet? explaining the complicated interplay between FAS 123R and Sec.... More About: Stock , Hard , Made , Valuation
How is the Future Shaping Up for Your Share Plans?
2008-05-29 00:00:00 How would you like your concerns about the future of stock option plans to be heard by influential leaders in the stock plan market? I'd like to give you that chance. This month I'll be participating in an important event... More About: Future , The Future , Plans , Share
Options Backdating ? One Year Later
2008-05-29 00:00:00 One year ago today, the Wall Street Journal published its second article on stock options backdating entitled: Options Study Becomes Required Reading which discussed a research paper by University of Iowa Professor Eric Lie entitled "On the Timing of CEO... More About: Year
FAS 123R Webinar for Non-Public Companies Attended by Hundreds
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Based on the turn out at Two Step Software?s recent webinar entitled ?Straight-Talk on FAS 123R Compliance: Five Things Your Auditors Will Want to Know,? it is clear that CFOs are still struggling to understand how the new requirements apply... More About: Companies , Public , Webinar
A Short History of FAS 123R: 35 Years in the Making
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Earlier this week, a reporter for the Securities Industry News asked me to explain FAS 123R in a nutshell, as background for an article she was writing on the connection between stock option backdating and FAS 123R. She suggested that... More About: History , Years , Short
The Essence of the FAS 123R Accounting Change: Goodbye to Intrinsic Value
2008-05-29 00:00:00 It?s been three long years since March 31, 2004 when ?FASB released its proposal to require firms to recognize the fair value of employee stock options ? eliminating the alternative of recognizing the intrinsic value and merely disclosing the fair... More About: Change , Accounting , Goodbye
When It Comes to Fraud Prevention, Can You Afford to Procrastinate?
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Ever since the collapse of Enron and the 2002 implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley, auditors and investors are looking at companies' corporate compliance practices with a fine tooth comb. This has only been heightened by stock option backdating scandals and executive compensation... More About: Fraud , Fraud Prevention , Prevention
Will the Real Grant Date Please Step Forward: SEC Option Granting Guidance
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Earlier this week, I attended an excellent seminar put on by the Boston law firm Foley Hoag LLC on current option backdating issues. Although current SEC investigations into backdating are focused on publicly-held companies and option grants primarily prior to... More About: Real , Step , Grant , Forward , Step Forward
A Changing of the Guard: Will Michael Oxley Learn to Use Corporate Focus?
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Although we don?t know yet where Paul Sarbanes will end up after leaving the Senate, on Friday, the Wall Street Journal announced that former Congressman Michael Oxley, co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, would be joining the Ohio based law firm... More About: Corporate , Changing , Focus , Learn
Printed Stock Certificates: An Inconvenient Truth
2008-05-29 00:00:00 The Problem: Whether you?ve seen the Academy award-winning film by Al Gore or not, whether you believe in global warning or still doubt the facts, or whether you voted for Bush or Gore in 2000, there?s no question that printing... More About: Truth , Stock , An Inconvenient Truth , Certificates
10 Warning Signs It May Be Time to Give Up Spreadsheets
2008-05-29 00:00:00 At Two Step Software, we sometimes feel like the Good Samaritans hot line when a CFO, Controller, or stock plan administrator tells us confidentially that they think they may have a ?spreadsheet problem.? They don?t know who to turn to.... More About: Time , Signs , Warning Signs , Warning , Give
Will Someone Tell Me My Expected Volatility Under FAS 123R?
2008-05-29 00:00:00 Sometimes a good metaphor can be taken too literally. When we started saying that our stock plan administration system Equity Focus handled FAS 123R valuation and amortization in ?one click,? we received a flurry of excited emails. CFOs from venture-backed...
Higher Productivity is Back on the Front Burner at
2008-05-02 00:00:00 As if a ?recession? on the horizon were not enough, law firms are getting squeezed from both sides with the fall out in the real estate and private equity markets. As a result, the Wall Street Journal reported this week... More About: Productivity , Back , Burner , Front , Higher
Proven Strategies for Improving Your Legal Compliance Scorecard?
2008-04-18 00:00:00 At a recent Two Step webinar, Craig Newfield, Vice President and General Counsel of Gomez, Inc., and Mark Martines, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Jenzabar, Inc., presented an excellent framework for improving and assessing legal compliance at venture-backed,... More About: Strategies , Legal , Compliance , Proven
CFOs Can Be Cool Again: Quickbooks is on Your iPhone
2008-04-04 00:00:00 When I got a pop-up message from Intuit the other day that they have jumped on the bandwagon and released a read-only version of Quickbooks Online for the iPhone, it got me thinking about cell phones and my new iPhone.... More About: Iphone , Cool
The Trickle Down Effect of Sarbanes on Internal Controls at Venture-Backed
2008-03-19 00:00:00 At a recent Two Step Software webinar entitled ?Lessons Learned in 2007: A Recap of Stock Option Reporting Updates,? more than half the audience of financial executives responded that they had not taken any steps to prepare for the new... More About: Venture , Internal , Effect
From Fraud to Greed to Oops: Inadvertent Stock Opt
2008-03-19 00:00:00 One of our speakers at a recent webinar on Compliance, Craig Newfield, General Counsel at Gomez, Inc., aptly used the phrase ?from fraud to greed? to explain the transition from the Enron period scandals that brought us the Sarbanes-Oxley Act... More About: Fraud , Stock , Greed
Timing of Expense Allocation Under FAS 123(R)
2008-03-12 00:00:00 I met Terry Adamson of Radford Surveys + Consulting, a part of Aon Consulting, at the October 2007 NASPP meeting in San Francisco. He is one of the nation?s leading stock option and FAS 123R valuation experts and I wanted... More About: Timing
Your SaaS Provider?s Infrastructure: Should be like Your Own Systems ? On S
2008-03-12 00:00:00 Talking with hundreds of companies over the past year about our stock plan and corporate governance applications, we?ve seen the ?tectonic shift? that some analysts have referred to with regard to the acceptance of SaaS applications in the business application... More About: Infrastructure , Systems , Provider , SAAS
Year End Reprieve: SEC Extends Safe Harbor for Estimating Expected Term
2008-01-18 00:00:00 Are you concerned about estimating your stock option expense because you are a company that has little or no historical exercise data and you thought you?d be losing the simplified method under SAB 107? If so, you?ve been granted a... More About: Harbor , Safe , Year , Term
IRS Waives New Filing Requirement for 2007 as January 31st Deadline Approac
2008-01-18 00:00:00 If your company offers incentive stock options and/or an employee stock purchase plan, you need to file the annual information statement for each employee who exercised an incentive stock option in 2007 or transferred stock acquired under an ESPP by... More About: January , Deadline
A Blog for CEOs at Venture Funded Start-ups
2007-12-20 00:00:00 I recently came across a great blog for start-ups and venture capital companies, called Altgate. It?s written by Furqan Nazeeri, who is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Softbank Capital of Newton, MA. He talks about ?Start ups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between.?... More About: Blog
NCEO Discounts on Books and Membership
2007-12-14 00:00:00 In connection with the Two Step webinar: FAS 123R Best Practices for Rock-Solid Year End Reporting ? How to prepare for your upcoming equity compensation audit before it?s too late, Two Step has partnered with the National Center for Employee... More About: Books , Discounts , Membership , Members
FAS 123R Best Practices Webinar: Non-Public Companies Now Fall Under the Ne
2007-12-14 00:00:00 Last month, more than 300 CFOs, controllers and other accounting professionals registered for our third in a series of webinars that Two Step Software presented this year on FAS 123R best practices. This one was called ?FAS 123R Best Practices... More About: Companies , Public , Webinar , Fall
Tis the Season: IRS Extends Transition Relief for Def
2007-11-30 00:00:00 Last month, I brought to your attention an alert issued from Cooley Godward Kronish LLP regarding IRS Notice 2007-78 (Sept. 10, 2007) which gave taxpayers until Dec. 31, 2007 to bring nonqualified deferred compensation plans into documentary compliance with Section... More About: Season , Relief , Transition , Tran , Transit
SEC Requests More Analysis and Better Presentation of Disclosures
2007-11-30 00:00:00 As the 2008 proxy statement season approaches, John W. White, Director, Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange, looked back and commented on executive compensation disclosures in the 2007 proxy season at last month?s Annual Proxy Disclosure... More About: Analysis , Presentation , Requests , Anal , Resent
Is Your Equity Compensation Getting Fully Valued?
2007-10-24 00:00:00 Recent research conducted by faculty at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University finds that, on average, executives value their stock option holdings at 40% of the opportunity cost to the company. More important, however, is their finding that... More About: Compensation , Equity
COSO Releases Discussion Document with Guidance on Monitoring Internal Cont
2007-10-24 00:00:00 The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) recently announced the release of its discussion document: Guid ance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems. The guidance which is extensive and goes into great depth applies to the internal control objectives... More About: Document , Discussion
IRS Issues Additional (But Limited) Transition Relief Under 409A
2007-10-24 00:00:00 On September 10, 2007, the IRS issued Notice 2007-78, which permits taxpayers to bring nonqualified deferred compensation plans into documentary compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and the final regulations issued thereunder. Since the penalties for failing... More About: Issues , Relief , Limited , Transition , Tran
Option Plan Documents Still Control: Read the Cliff Notes at Your Peril
More articles from this author:2007-10-01 00:00:00 I recently came across an article by John L. Utz of Utz, Miller & Kuhn, LLC that does a great job of reinforcing the importance of reading an employee?s stock option agreement or the plan documents. Although the article itself... More About: Notes , Read , Control , Cliff , Plan 1, 2 |
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