USA · ASC 718
Stock-based compensation, expensed defensibly
ASC 718 requires the grant-date fair value of every equity award to be measured and expensed over its vesting period. The platform prices each option and RSU grant-by-grant — from the same engine that produces your 409A — and generates an audit-ready stock-compensation report.
Grant-level Black-ScholesShares the 409A common fair valueOne of four standards we cover
What ASC 718 requires
Grant-date fair value, recognised over vesting
Under US GAAP, ASC 718 (Compensation — Stock Compensation) requires a company to measure the fair value of equity awards on the grant date and recognise that amount as compensation expense over the requisite service period. Because the measure depends on the fair value of common stock, ASC 718 sits on the same analytical foundation as a 409A — which is why the platform produces both from one concluded value, with grant-level detail an auditor can trace.
How it works
From common fair value to compensation expense
Four steps, each persisted and auditable — sharing the cap-table engine and the analytical core with every other standard the platform covers.
Conclude common fair value
The full engine — multiple methods, hybrid weighting, OPM/CVM/CSE allocation, and DLOM — produces the per-share fair value of common stock at the grant date.
Price each award
Stock options are valued grant-by-grant with Black-Scholes (expected term, volatility, risk-free rate, dividend yield); RSUs are valued at the concluded common fair value.
Compute compensation cost
Grant-date fair value × quantity, recognised over the requisite service (vesting) period — with grant-level vesting schedules tracked in the cap-table engine.
Generate the ASC 718 report
A dedicated report template and methodology-audit document — grant-level detail, assumptions, and per-award fair value, ready for the auditor.
What's tracked
Every assumption, structured and isolated
Stock-comp engagements run in their own reporting-type context, with grant-level inputs stored as data rather than spreadsheet cells.
Grant-level tracking
Option plans carry pool-level authorization plus grant-level strike, vesting commencement, vested/unvested splits, and expiration — RSUs carry their own vesting schedules.
Black-Scholes assumptions
Expected term, equity volatility (analyst-supplied or Capital IQ peer-derived), a term-matched risk-free rate, and dividend yield — each persisted as structured data.
Reporting-type isolation
The ASC 718 context is isolated per user and per tenant, so stock-comp engagements never collide with 409A or ASC 820 work in the same workspace.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ASC 718 valuation?
ASC 718 governs the accounting for stock-based compensation under US GAAP. It requires companies to measure the grant-date fair value of equity awards — stock options, RSUs, and similar instruments — and recognise that cost as an expense over the requisite service (vesting) period. The valuation produces the grant-date fair value of each award.
How is ASC 718 different from a 409A valuation?
A 409A valuation establishes the fair market value of common stock to set a defensible option strike price for tax purposes (IRC §409A). ASC 718 uses a grant-date fair value of the award itself to measure the compensation expense for financial reporting. They share the same underlying common-stock fair value, but serve different purposes — 409A is tax, ASC 718 is GAAP accounting — so the platform produces both from one engine.
How are stock options valued under ASC 718?
Employee stock options are valued with the Black-Scholes option-pricing model at the grant date, using the expected term, equity volatility (analyst-supplied or derived from a Capital IQ peer set), a term-matched risk-free rate, and dividend yield. The platform stores every assumption and computes the per-award fair value grant by grant.
Does the platform handle RSUs as well as options?
Yes. RSUs are tracked at the grant level with their own vesting schedules and valued at the concluded common-stock fair value. Options are valued via Black-Scholes. Both flow into the compensation-cost calculation recognised over the vesting period.
Price your stock-comp on the platform
Book a walkthrough to see grant-level ASC 718 fair value run end to end — from the concluded common value to the signed report.