Options and SARs
How options and SARs work.
Read moreGive your first hire options at today's price
Share Council generates each option agreement in Dutch or English, and every employee logs in to see what has vested.
Rockfeather grew from ten employees to over 30 with its ownership model on Share Council.
Your option grants still live in a spreadsheet
In a Dutch BV, options can sit on certificates of a STAK, the foundation that holds the shares (options explained).
Today
A spreadsheet only one person understands
- Employees email you to ask what has vested.
- You work out leavers and top-ups by hand.
With Share Council
Every employee logs in to the same plan
- Each employee sees what has vested in their wallet.
- Leavers and top-ups are entries in the same plan.
Share Council sets up your option plan with you
We call these five steps the Grant Path.
Choose the structure
Choose options on STAK certificates or SARs in an expert hour with us and our setup guide. If you need a STAK, the notary founds it when you are ready.
Size the pool
We help you set aside enough options for your team and the hires you plan.
Set the exercise price
We value the company with our partner Equidam, and that valuation, with its date and report, sets today's price.
Create the plan and its documents
We set up the plan with its vesting schedule and cliff. The option agreements are generated in the platform in Dutch or English, and the plan rules are prepared with you.
Grant, sign and run
You pick the employee and the options, and you both sign online. Leavers, top-ups and year-end reports run from the same plan, and our team books exercises.
After a one-year cliff, options vest every month
Tulpwerk is our demo company. The numbers are made up, the screens are real. Milan joined in January 2024 with 3,500 options over four years, 875 vested at his one-year cliff, and by October 2026 his wallet shows 2,406.
Jan 2025: 875 vest at once
Oct 2026: 2,406 vested
3,500 by Jan 2028
- Vested options (3,500 granted)
- One-year cliff: 25% at month 12
- October 2026: 68.75%, 2,406 options
Step 5
Grant the options in one form
Sanne, the founder of Tulpwerk, a furniture maker in Utrecht, granted Milan 3,500 options. They cost him nothing, and he pays the exercise price of 2.50 euros only if he exercises.
Employee
Both sides sign the same agreement online
Share Council generates it in Dutch or English with the vesting terms in, and the signed copy stays with the grant.
Leavers and top-ups
Leavers and second grants stay in the same plan
When Jesse left on 31 August 2024, he kept 2,166 vested options and 1,834 went back to the STAK's pool.
Lotte's top-up of 2,000 options in September 2025 sits in the same plan as her first grant, on its own 24-month schedule.
Accountant
Your accountant sees the plan on any date
Of Tulpwerk's 60,000 options, 39,166 are outstanding and 29,768 have vested. Pick a date and download the plan as it stood then to Excel.
The Share Council platform made ownership part of our culture because it wasn’t just about the money. It was about what it represented: contribution and shared success
The Signed Option Plan
What you getWhy it matters to you
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Options on certificates, or SARs
Vesting with a cliff, hurdle values, top-up grants and stop vesting for leavers.
One planinstead of a spreadsheet
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Option agreements in Dutch and English
Signed copiesstored with each grant
-
A wallet for every employee
Fewer emailsfrom your team
-
Vesting report on any date, in Excel
No rebuildat year end
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2 hours of setup support
Spend them on the structure and the pool size.
A specialiston the choices that are hard to change later
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STAK paperwork prepared up front
You decide when the notary creates the STAK.
One emailwhen you are ready for the notary
Options and SARs need a paid plan. See our pricing page.
Create an accountIf your first grant isn't live within 30 days of your plan start, our team keeps working with you at no charge until it is
Live means the first option agreement is signed in the platform.
- You can look around for free. Options and SARs need a paid plan.
- You can pay monthly.
- We bill extra expert hours only for the time you use.
The longer you wait, the higher the fair entry price climbs, so your earliest people get less of the upside they help build.
What Share Council doesn't do for founders
Share Council is not the right fit if
- You want payrollThe platform doesn't calculate or withhold wage tax.
- You need a qualified e-signatureSigning in the platform is not a qualified electronic signature.
If you are not sure, book an expert hour and ask.
What founders ask before the first grant
Will my employees pay tax on their options too early?
Granting early does not save tax, because the tax falls on the gain at exercise, which is the value at that moment minus what the employee paid. The reason to grant at today's price is fairness to your earliest people. New rules for start-up options are still a bill, so treat this as general information and ask your tax adviser when the options are taxed.
Do I still need a notary?
You need a notary to found the STAK and to move the BV shares into it. After that, the options and the certificates that follow are recorded and signed on Share Council. The option agreements are generated in the platform, and the plan rules are prepared with you.
What happens when someone leaves?
The person keeps what has vested and the rest goes back to the grantor, usually your STAK, or the whole grant goes back if the company is worth less than its hurdle value. Your plan rules decide who is a good or bad leaver, and How does vesting work? has examples.
How do employees exercise their options?
There is no exercise button yet, so you tell us and our team books the exercise. The certificates then appear in the employee's account, and the employee pays outside the platform. What happens when options are vested? explains the basics.
Can you move our existing grants in from the spreadsheet?
Not by upload. Our team enters your existing grants as Complete Platform Setup, a paid service you order from your account.
Set up your option plan on Share Council
Add your company today and choose a paid plan at your first grant.