Stock plan services for your business (+Checklist)

There are many advantages to outsourcing your equity compensation plan. A professional provider of stock plan services will know the ins and outs of the whole process (from implementation and administration to compliance, reporting and employee engagement) and be able to assist you at every stage on your journey.

Selecting a firm that is knowledgeable, experienced, and really understands exactly what your business needs are is crucial. That’s why we’ve put together a comprehensive checklist to help you find the right stock plan provider (PDF | Excel) whether you’re looking to switch providers or are just starting out.

To help you get a handle on the stock plan services listed on the checklist and their importance, read on to learn more about these common features offered as part of stock plan services.

☑ Reporting suite
☑ Integration with systems you already use
☑ Capability to support global expansion
☑ Participant portal
☑ Trading solution
☑ Employee communications package

☑ Reporting Suite

A reporting suite is a built-in library where you can easily access a wide range of ready-to-export standard reports.

There’s an extensive financial reporting demand associated with stock plan administration such as Fair Value, Earnings Per Share, Treatment of Forfeitures and Disclosures to name a few. If your stock plan software has a built-in reporting suite, you can typically get a real-time report with just a few clicks or schedule these to be automatically generated.

In addition to financial reporting, you might need business intelligence (BI) insights to show you say future vesting transactions, participant overview, participant payroll and tax etc. Check with your stock plan service provider to see if they offer BI reporting.

☑ Integration with systems you already use

This feature allows you to blend stock plan data with the systems like HR and payroll software you’re already using. You can enjoy the benefits of merging data and workflows between technologies with near-real-time delivery.

Ask your stock plan provider to see if they have developed any pre-built app integrations or if their own APIs are capable of integrating with any system or application you require. 

☑ Capability to support global expansion

If you consider expanding your business globally, it’s common to bring your global workforce together by extending equity compensation offerings to them.

Doing that in-house can be daunting especially if you don’t have local teams to assist you. Some companies on the market have expertise in dealing with global stock plans including local culture and regional regulations with regards stock plans to ensure you stay compliant.

☑ Participant Portal

A participant portal is an online self-service platform to engage your employees and provide them with 24/7 access to their equity awards.

Each employee will be given a link to the portal with login credentials. They can log into their account anytime, anywhere and see exactly what stock they have and how much it’s worth. This will not be possible with other manual equity plan solutions but only with dedicated software.

☑ Trading solution

This stock plan service gives your employees full control and being able to easily and quickly transact whenever they want to.

It’s worth asking if your provider offers your share plan participants brokerage services to provide them with this added advantage of seamless and direct access to the financial markets.

☑ Employee communications package

An effective employee communication program – a combination of eBooks, email marketing, videos etc – can help educate the audience on what equity compensation is and its values and benefits.

If your employees don’t understand the value of their equity, it’s more likely they won’t appreciate it. This will only leave them feeling uninspired, disengaged from their equity rewards and less likely to take any actions you expected. Making sure to well-equip them means they can make informed decisions about their equity and their financial future.

Creating such a comms pack from scratch, however, can be time-consuming. Consider leveraging a stock plan vendor that understands exactly what employees need and has experience managing employee communications to engage and boost participation. This could save you a great deal of time and effort.

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As an industry-leading provider of equity management, J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions is uniquely positioned to provide personalized support to help companies of all sizes around the world achieve success. Regardless of the industry you’re in or the company stage you’re at, we’re happy to discuss your needs for stock plan services.