什么是期权激励

by Katie Siegel

凯蒂·西格尔(Katie Siegel)

理解激励股票期权的快速指南 (A quick guide to understanding incentive stock options)

This article is a non-official resource on evaluating startup stock packages. Keep in mind that I am not a CPA or a lawyer, so this information has been cobbled together from my own memory, experiences as a software engineer, and cache of internet articles.

本文是评估初创公司股票包装的非官方资源。 请记住，我不是注册会计师或律师，因此，这些信息是从我自己的记忆，软件工程师的经验以及互联网文章的缓存中整理而成的。

There are three main types of stock options:

股票期权主要有三种：

• ISOs, or incentive stock options,ISO或激励性股票期权，
• NSOs, or non-qualified stock options,NSO或不合格的股票期权，
• and RSUs, or restricted stock units.和RSU或受限制的库存单位。

ISOs tend to be awarded by smaller startups, and companies transition into awarding RSUs as they grow in size and valuation. Typically, stock packages transition from ISOs to RSUs when a company raises Series D funding or exceeds a ~$1B valuation, and ISOs become too expensive for employees to purchase. This blog post only deals with ISOs.

ISO往往是由较小的初创公司授予的，随着公司规模和估值的增长，它们会逐渐过渡为授予RSU的公司。 通常，当公司筹集D系列资金或超过〜$ 10B的估值时，库存包从ISO转换为RSU，并且ISO变得对于员工而言太昂贵了。 该博客文章仅涉及ISO。

Stock options allow you to purchase shares in a company. You can purchase shares at the strike price, which is a price decided by a third party accounting firm, approved by the board, and assigned to you after you join the company. There is also a fair market value (FMV) associated with each share — this a value higher than your strike price that was decided the last time the company was externally valued (e.g. a funding round, though some companies will also regularly update their FMV even if they aren’t actively fundraising).

股票期权可以让您购买公司的股票。 您可以按照行使价购买股票， 行使价是由第三方会计师事务所决定，董事会批准并在加入公司后分配给您的价格。 每股还有一个公平的市场价值(FMV)，该价格高于您上次对该公司进行外部估值时确定的行使价(例如，一轮融资，尽管有些公司甚至会定期更新其FMV， (如果他们没有积极筹款)。

最初要问的问题 (Initial questions to ask)

To value your stock options, you should ask the following questions:

要评估股票期权，您应该问以下问题：

“What is my strike price per share?”

“我的每股行使价是多少？”

If you are evaluating a stock package before joining a company, keep in mind that your strike price is decided after you join, so it may be higher than the current strike price per share. Your strike price could change if the company raises another round of funding or gets a 409a valuation before you join.

如果您在加入公司之前正在评估一揽子股票，请记住，您的行使价是在加入后决定的，因此该价格可能会高于当前的每股行使价。 如果公司在您加入之前又进行了一轮融资或获得409a的估值，您的行使价可能会发生变化。

“What is the total number of shares for the company?”

“公司的股份总数是多少？”

This number helps you understand the percentage of the company you will own — your shares divided by the total number of shares.

此数字可帮助您了解将拥有的公司百分比-股份除以股份总数。

“Does the company offer early exercise?”

“公司提供早期锻炼吗？”

This means that you can purchase your options before you vest them (but also before you know if your company will be successful). Most startups offer early exercise. Early exercising your options helps you avoid alternative minimum tax (covered below), and helps you avoid short term federal capital gains tax.

这意味着您可以在授予期权之前(也可以在知道公司是否成功之前)购买期权。 大多数创业公司提供早期锻炼。 尽早行使选择权可帮助您避免其他最低税项(如下所述)，并有助于避免短期联邦资本利得税。

“Does the company offer 83(b) election?”

“公司是否提供83(b)选举？”

If you can early exercise, the answer to this question is yes. An 83(b) election is a way to inform the company and the IRS that you’ve exercised your options. You must submit an 83(b) to reap the tax benefits of early exercise.

如果可以早操，这个问题的答案是肯定的。 83(b)选举是一种通知公司和IRS您已行使选择权的方法。 您必须提交83(b)以获得早期锻炼的税收优惠。

“How long after leaving the company do I have to exercise my shares?”

“离开公司后我必须行使我的股份多长时间？”

This is the time window after which you lose the ability to purchase your stock options after leaving the company. For pre-series D startups, this window is typically 90 days. Many later-stage startups offer a 7 year exercise window, because it usually costs tens of thousands to fully exercise your options, and employees might not be able to afford the sum of money.

这是时间窗口，在该时间窗口之后，您离开公司后将失去购买股票期权的能力。 对于D系列之前的初创公司，此窗口通常为90天。 许多后期阶段的初创公司提供7年的执行期，因为通常要花费数万美元才能完全行使您的选择权，而且员工可能无法负担这笔钱。

你还需要知道什么 (What else you need to know)

The company must be able to answer the above five questions, or it is a huge red flag. This holds for any company, no matter how small.

该公司必须能够回答上述五个问题，否则这是一个巨大的危险信号。 这对任何公司都适用，无论规模如何。

Once you have the answer to the questions above, you can calculate the value of your options package and answer the following questions:

回答完上述问题后，就可以计算选项包的价值并回答以下问题：

“How much do I have to pay to exercise my options?”

“行使期权需要支付多少费用？”

Multiply the number of shares by the current strike price per share. This is a good estimate of the amount you’ll have to pay, but the real amount will probably be slightly higher. If the company raises money between the time you sign your offer and the time you join, the amount might be much higher.

股份数量乘以当前每股行使价。 这是您需要支付的金额的不错估计，但实际金额可能会稍高。 如果公司在您签署要约的时间到加入时间之间筹集资金，则金额可能会更高。

Keep in mind that you are spending liquid money to purchase illiquid stock, and that companies often provide a deadline of 90 days after termination of employment to buy stock options. So, if the amount you have to spend to purchase your stock is overwhelming, you may be unable to afford purchasing your options until your company has a liquidity event. This is the “golden handcuffs” problem — a financial weight tying you to working at the company for longer than you might otherwise want.

请记住，您正在花费流动资金来购买流动性不佳的股票，而且公司通常会提供终止雇佣合同后90天的期限来购买股票期权。 因此，如果您购买股票所花费的资金太多，那么在公司发生流动性事件之前，您可能无法负担购买期权的费用。 这就是“手铐”的问题-财务上的负担使您在公司工作的时间超出了您原本想要的时间。

“How much is my equity package worth?”

“我的股票一揽子计划值多少钱？”

Multiply the number of shares by the current fair market value per share. In general, this is the amount your options are “worth,” but there are a few factors that might push that number higher. If the startup raised money a while ago, has grown in headcount, and/or has increased revenue, the startup’s options are worth more than just after the most recent raise.

股份数量乘以当前每股公平市场价值。 通常，这是您的选项“值得”的金额，但是有一些因素可能会使该数字更高。 如果这家初创公司不久前筹集了资金，员工人数增加和/或收入增加了，那么该初创公司的期权的价值不仅仅在于最近一次的筹资之后。

However, keep in mind that you have to pay a certain amount of money to get your options, so subtract this purchasing cost in your calculations. Also, keep in mind that all startups bear some amount of risk; your stock options could end up being worthless if the startup folds or has an underwhelming exit.

但是，请记住，您必须支付一定的费用才能获得选择权，因此请在计算中减去此购买成本。 另外，请记住，所有初创公司都要承担一定的风险； 如果创业公司倒闭或退出势不可挡，您的股票期权最终可能一文不值。

处理税收 (Dealing with taxes)

“How much will I have to pay in taxes when I exercise my options?”

“行使期权时，我需要缴纳多少税？”

For ISOs, the two main taxes you should consider are capital gains and AMT.

对于ISO，您应该考虑的两个主要税种是资本收益和AMT。

资产增值税 (Capital gains tax)

If you hold your stock for at least a year after exercising, you will pay long term capital gains on the amount your stock appreciated from the purchase price, when you sell that stock. For engineers, this long term capital gains rate will be 15–20%, compared to the much higher short term capital gains rate, which is equal to your income tax rate. You only have to pay short term capital gains tax on your stock options if you hold them for less than a year or if you were awarded NSOs.

如果您在行使后至少持有一年的股票，则当您出售该股票时，您将从购买价格中获得的股票收益中支付长期资本收益。 对于工程师而言，此长期资本收益率将为15-20％，而短期资本收益率要高得多，后者等于您的所得税率。 如果您持有股票期权的时间不超过一年或获得NSO资格，则只需对股票期权支付短期资本利得税。

AMT (AMT)

You will be assigned a strike price when joining the company. Let’s call this “strike price A”. Throughout the company’s lifetime, the strike price will gradually rise. At some point, you will decide to exercise some options; let’s call the strike price at this point “strike price B.” From these two numbers, we can calculate the net value you’re gaining by exercising:

加入公司后，您将获得执行价格。 我们称其为“行使价A”。 在公司的整个生命周期中，执行价格将逐渐上涨。 在某个时候，您将决定行使一些选择权。 让我们将执行价格称为“执行价格B”。 从这两个数字，我们可以通过执行以下操作来计算您获得的净值：

net stock increase =

净库存增加=

(strike price B — strike price A) * # of shares

(行使价B －行使价A)*股数

From that amount, you can calculate your AMT (alternative minimum tax), which is 26–28% of that net value amount. However, some income is exempt from AMT, which for a single person, is typically $70.3k for taxpayers filing individually or $109.4k for taxpayers filing jointly. (If you make over $500k per year, some exemptions may not apply). So, the real AMT formula is:

根据该金额，您可以计算您的AMT(替代性最低税)，即净值金额的26–28％。 但是，AMT免征一些收入，对于单身人士来说，个人申报通常为70,300美元，对于联合申报的纳税人通常为10,940万美元。 (如果您每年的收入超过50万美元，则某些豁免可能不适用)。 因此，真正的AMT公式是：

AMT =

AMT =

(net stock increase+other income — exemption)*AMT rate

(净库存增加+其他收入-豁免)* AMT率

If your calculated AMT is less than your federal income tax, you do not pay any AMT. If it is larger than your federal income tax, you pay the amount that it exceeds your federal income tax, on top of paying your federal income tax. So, if your calculated AMT is $50k and you paid $35k in federal income tax, you owe the government $15k for the difference between the two amounts.

如果您计算出的AMT低于联邦所得税， 则无需支付任何AMT。 如果它大于您的联邦所得税，则除支付联邦所得税外，还应支付超出联邦所得税的金额。 因此，如果您计算出的AMT为5万美元，并且您支付了3.5万美元的联邦所得税，则您欠政府的两笔差额为1.5万美元。

All in all, unless you buy options netting you a profit exceeding $200k in a given year, you’re unlikely to run into AMT.

总而言之，除非您购买期权在给定的一年内获得超过20万美元的利润，否则您不太可能会遇到AMT。

“Should I early exercise my options?”

“我应该尽早行使选择权吗？”

The answer to this question depends on your own personal finances. Only early exercise with a sum of money that you are prepared to lose entirely. If you can tolerate a loss of a few tens of thousands of dollars, there are several tax benefits, including not having to worry about AMT.

这个问题的答案取决于您自己的个人财务状况。 只有早日动用一笔金钱，您才准备完全丧失。 如果您可以忍受数万美元的损失，则可以享受多种税收优惠，包括不必担心AMT。

If you’re concerned about the financial risk of early exercising, you can choose to purchase a subset of your shares. An accountant can help you determine a way to exercise shares over time, while staying well below the threshold that would trigger AMT.

如果您担心提前行使的财务风险，则可以选择购买一部分股票。 会计师可以帮助您确定一种随时间推移行使股票份额的方法，同时又要远远低于触发AMT的阈值。

结语 (Wrapping up)

All in all, if you are confused about your equity packages, talk to a CPA! Spending a few hundred dollars to avoid an unnecessary tax bill totaling tens of thousands may be worthwhile. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some additional resources:

总而言之，如果您对股权激励计划感到困惑，请咨询CPA！ 花几百美元来避免不必要的总数达数万的税单可能是值得的。 同时，我将为您提供一些其他资源：

• Calculating AMT in 2018 (and how it is different from 2017)

  计算2018年的AMT(以及与2017年的区别)

• Long term vs. short term capital gains tax

  长期与短期资本利得税

• Stock options and AMT

  股票期权和AMT

• Wealthfront blog post

  Wealthfront博客文章

• Front’s compensation and equity calculator

  前线的薪酬和权益计算器

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/understanding-incentive-stock-options-ec4c0dc1498f/

什么是期权激励