OptionTrax Widens the Lead in Stock-Based Compensation Reporting for Equity Award Plans

The latest enhancements include full stock-based compensation calculations for Performance Awards with multiple performance metrics and service-based vesting request on a single grant. The financial reporting includes calculations for any performance award payouts, from 0% to over 100%, as well as hedging to smooth company stock-based compensation expense. OptionTrax also simplifies prorated expense calculations when a plan participant is terminated.

Elena Thomas, PMC's COO, said in announcing the advancement, OptionTrax has always stood above the crowd with an unmatched level of flexibility, particularly with regards to equity awards with performance milestone vesting. Unlike other equity compensation platforms, OptionTrax handles multiple performance metrics on a single grant without requiring the company to split the award until multiple pieces. This allows the grant to be administered in the way that reflects the employee grant agreement and communication. It's clear that despite tax code changes, performance awards are here to stay. This enhancement pushes the OptionTrax flexibility even further for those companies that require employment to a certain date in addition to achievement of performance milestones.

The latest OptionTrax release also includes stock-based compensation reporting for non-USD cash-settled equity award plans. The platform distinguishes between, and tracks, both grant-currency values and participant-currency values in order to facilitate equity compensation plans with globally dispersed participants. OptionTrax allows companies to identify whether stock-based compensation is recorded in the plan currency or participant currency and to true-up final award settlement liability accordingly. Per Elena Thomas OptionTrax has long helped clients manage stock-based compensation liability accounting for awards under GAAP and equity accounting for plans under IFRS2. Now we've brought those pieces of functionality together to handle liability accounting for non-USD plans under IFRS2.

Increasingly, our clients across high tech, life sciences and manufacturing are managing a global workforce. The assumption that a global employee base, or a non-US listed stock price, is a characteristic of large multi-national entities is not accurate in today's economy. We're thrilled to continue to expand our support for the diverse array of equity incentive plans that our clients are utilizing in order to attract and incent their talent base.