Cliff Vesting Schedule

Calculate whole vested shares at selected months for linear monthly vesting with a cliff.

Description

A cliff delays vesting until a stated month while a linear schedule tracks elapsed service.

A cliff delays vesting until a stated month while a linear schedule tracks elapsed service. At the cliff, accrued proportional vesting becomes available.

Calculate whole vested shares at selected months for linear monthly vesting with a cliff.

When to use Cliff Vesting Schedule

Use this for the following task: Calculate whole vested shares at selected months for linear monthly vesting with a cliff.

Prepare the scenario values in one currency and consistent time periods. Use fractions for fraction fields and percentage points for percent fields.

How to use Cliff Vesting Schedule and understand its results

Prepare the scenario values in one currency and consistent time periods. Use fractions for fraction fields and percentage points for percent fields.
Enter totalShares, vestingMonths, cliffMonths, elapsedMonths using the field table, then run the tool.
Read vestedShares, unvestedShares. Interpret flags, units, ordering and placeholder values using the rules below.
Review any reported issue or failed check, correct the supplied values when appropriate, and verify the result in its intended context.

Input field	Meaning	Value type and bounds	Requirement
totalShares	Total shares	integer	Required
vestingMonths	Vesting months	integer	Required
cliffMonths	Cliff months	integer	Required
elapsedMonths	Elapsed months	list of number; each entry: number	Required

Use nonnegative integer shares/months, positive vesting duration and a cliff no longer than that duration. Return vested and unvested whole shares for each elapsed month.^[1]

vested=0 before cliff; otherwise floor(totalShares×min(elapsed,vestingMonths)/vestingMonths)

This summarizes the declared operation. Units, indexing, inclusivity and exceptional cases are explained in the surrounding text.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
vestedShares	Vested shares	list of number
unvestedShares	Unvested shares	list of number

json

{
  "input": {
    "totalShares": 4800,
    "vestingMonths": 48,
    "cliffMonths": 12,
    "elapsedMonths": [
      0,
      11,
      12,
      24,
      48
    ]
  },
  "output": {
    "vestedShares": [
      0,
      0,
      1200,
      2400,
      4800
    ],
    "unvestedShares": [
      4800,
      4800,
      3600,
      2400,
      0
    ]
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Rounding is downward per reported point. Acceleration, departures, repurchase and contract-specific schedules are excluded.

These outputs describe the supplied scenario; accounting definitions, capitalization terms and time periods must match the intended use. Malformed requests produce input errors. A successfully evaluated request can still contain false flags, empty result lists or a result outside the supplied threshold; those outcomes have the meanings stated above.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Choose Contribution Equity Split for this operation: Allocate equity by explicitly weighted cash and valued labor contributions. For a complementary task, use Round Dilution Tracker for this operation: Track multiplicative ownership dilution across financing rounds.

The implementation reference documents the exact calculation, supported input shapes and returned fields.

References

Cliff Vesting Schedule — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Contribution Equity Split
Allocate equity by explicitly weighted cash and valued labor contributions.
Round Dilution Tracker
Track multiplicative ownership dilution across financing rounds.