‍MAJOR upgrade to the exercise workflow

MAJOR upgrade to the exercise workflow

We might have outdone ourselves with this one … 👀

The entire exercise workflow has gone through a major upgrade to provide a consistent and complete experience for both admins and grant holders.

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Employee side:

1. Enhanced tax calculation and total payable breakdown: With a fresh coat of paint, we do a better job of clearly breaking down the total payable amount by the grant holder for an exercise transaction. Admins can also directly mention the specific tax bracket relevant for stakeholders to directly calculate the tax liability on exercise transactions.
   
2. Confirmation of bank account and transaction details: Employees can now select primary bank account related to exercise transactions along with other details such as demat information (for Indian companies) and ‘lock-in’ their exercise request to finalize on the exercise quantity and payable amount.
   
3. Add-multiple payment tranches for cheque and wire transfers: Ability to add multiple payment details and proof support in case of an offline transaction via cheque or direct wire transfer to the company’s bank account.
   
4. Standardized exercise letters: The process uses EquityList’s standard exercise letter templates, ensuring consistency across users.
   
   [Note: Custom exercise letters are available to customers on our ‘Scale’ pricing plan.]

Admin side:

1. Editable exercise requests: (Equity Awards > ESOP Exercises) Admins can edit exercise requests to update details before locking them for approval. These requests then move to a ‘Pending Approval' state, offering an extra layer of review.
   
2. Added ‘View Beneficiary Bank Details’: For admins, beneficiary bank details are now visible during the approval process.
   
3. Admin-initiated requests: Admins can create draft exercise requests on behalf of employees, which employees can later review, consent to, and complete. This streamlines workflows for cases where employees need additional support.
   
4. Reconcile offline transactions: Finance admins get a lot more flexibility in reconciling offline transactions on the platform with the ability to flag transactions as well in case of incorrect or partial transfers.

We've also embedded a payment gateway in the flow:

1. Pay via UPI, Net Banking or debit card: We have now integrated with Cashfree’s payment gateway solution to open up various forms of payment module for exercise transactions.
   
2. Setup a ‘Virtual Bank Account’ (VBA) for on-platform transactions: EquityList will work with company admins to setup a VBA, with the payment gateway providers, within 48 hours to ensure that the fund flows directly into the company’s bank accounts.
   
3. Automated reconciliation: Reconciliation of payments done via the payment gateway will automatically get reconciled - saving your finance team time and effort in going through bank statements!
   
   (Note: We currently provide payment gateway solutions for companies with Indian operations only. If you're an EquityList customer who'd like to opt-in to the payment gateway solution and have us setup your VBA, then please reach out to us at help@equitylist.co.)

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