CASE STUDY

Scaling Stock Admin: How BPM Revamped Equity at a Growing Global Company 

November 9, 2026

Services: Equity Administration 

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A fast-growing global technology company had built a worldwide workforce supported by equity compensation, but rather than hiring a full-time specialist to handle this program, the company engaged BPM as a third-party partner. What began as a need for hands-on administration has grown into an ongoing relationship that combines day-to-day support with consulting as the company eyes a future IPO or exit.  

Challenge

Companies offer equity to motivate and retain talent, which means the details matter to the people who receive it. Equity administration is the work of managing employee equity awards, including vesting schedules, records, reporting, and the processes that connect them. When records are wrong or awards are handled inconsistently, morale and fairness concerns can follow. US and global tax considerations as well as securities law requirements add further complexity, and missteps can carry penalties for both the company and its employees. The dollar amounts involved can be substantial, particularly for executives and higher earners.  

Despite its size, the company faced a challenge commonly found with much smaller organizations. Equity administration often lands with whoever is available, whether that is finance, legal, or HR, regardless of formal training. The senior equity and rewards leader operated at a strategic level and did not have the bandwidth to manage the day-to-day details.  

A specific structural issue made the work harder. The company’s equity awards use a double-trigger structure, a common practice among privately held companies of all sizes. In this structure, awards vest over time, but employees cannot access them until a liquidity event, such as an acquisition or an initial public offering (IPO).  

The company wanted employees to see their time-based vesting even before the liquidity event had happened. The equity management platform, however, was not capable of reflecting this. This meant the internal team needed to create workarounds., These workarounds created cascading problems with the finance and accounting teams, leading to significant amounts of additional manual work.

Solution  

BPM’s equity administration colleagues, including a Certified Equity Professional (CEP) with eight years of experience working with the company’s platform, began with a fresh look at the company’s processes. The goal was to identify where work could be streamlined or automated and where controls were missing.

BPM also added capacity to their team, taking on tasks that the company’s strategic leader did not have time to manage. The engagement quickly moved beyond routine administration into consulting and custom problem-solving. BPM’s work included:  

• Direct platform work: Handling tasks that previously required submitting requests through the platform provider’s support queue, which helped get solutions in place faster. 
• Custom reporting: Building reports designed to reflect the double-trigger structure which streamlined accounting and finance operations. 
• Automation: Developing automated solutions to improve overall efficiency. 
• Project coordination: Serving as the link between the company’s accounting team and the platform provider’s financial reporting and accounting teams to explore permanent configuration solutions. 

BPM’s familiarity with the company’s platform and existing relationships enabled a bespoke solutions-focused approach that prioritized aligning the platform’s robust capabilities with the company’s specific needs and use cases. Equity administration at BPM also sits within the broader Firm.

The same colleagues who manage the day-to-day work can draw on BPM’s other areas of expertise (including technical accounting, tax, and payroll among others) expertise, even when a client is not engaged with those service lines. That combination brings significant efficiency in getting solutions in place, keeping reporting accurate and records clean as the company scales.  

Outcome  

The engagement is ongoing. Custom reporting and automation are in place to support the company’s accounting colleagues, and work with the platform provider on longer-term configuration solutions continues. The company now has a dedicated source of equity administration support that moves quickly and understands the platform in the context of the company’s unique pain points. 

Looking ahead, the company is likely to add in-house equity staff as it approaches an IPO. BPM can remain a resource in that scenario, covering turnover, open positions, and extended leaves, and continuing to support the in-house colleague afterward on either deeply technical topics or day-to-day needs. 

BPM’s technical accounting and IPO readiness colleagues also conducted a comprehensive reconciliation of the company’s equity records, which spanned well over a decade and included hundreds of thousands of data points. This kind of review provides leadership with greater confidence in the accuracy of the company’s records as it prepares for the next stage of growth. For a multinational business, the ability to bring equity administration, technical accounting, tax, payroll and more together under one Firm helps position the company to scale with fewer handoffs.  

Ready to Strengthen Your Equity Administration?  

Whether your company is managing equity with a small in-house team, relying on colleagues in finance or legal to fill the gap, or preparing for a major milestone such as an IPO, BPM’s equity administration services can help you build a more reliable foundation. Contact BPM to start the conversation.