---
title: "Configure future grant modeling"
description: "Configure future grant modeling"
canonical_url: "https://support.pave.com/articles/configure-future-grant-modeling-dLvFdPlOs0"
md_url: "https://support.pave.com/articles/configure-future-grant-modeling-dLvFdPlOs0.md"
---
# Configure future grant modeling

## Why show future equity grants

Employees want to understand their total compensation trajectory, not just their current snapshot. Future grant modeling builds trust and improves retention by showing employees what equity compensation they can expect over time.

Benefits of transparency:

* **Retention** - Employees see the value of staying through future vesting cycles

* **Trust** - Proactive communication prevents surprises and demonstrates organizational transparency

* **Planning** - Employees can make informed financial and career decisions

* **Competitive positioning** - Showcase your equity compensation philosophy alongside market data

This feature projects equity awards employees will receive based on your organization's compensation practices. You configure calculation methods, vesting schedules, and eligibility criteria. Pave generates personalized compensation timelines showing each employee their projected grants alongside existing equity.

For an overview of how future modeling works across Total Rewards, see [Future modeling overview](future-modeling-overview.md).

## What you can configure

Each future grant configuration captures one equity compensation practice:

**What employees receive**

* Equity type (options, RSUs, RSAs, PSUs, common stock)

* Calculation method for grant values

**When they receive it**

* Award cadence (how often grants occur)

* Minimum tenure before grants start

* Vesting schedule (duration, cadence, cliff length)

**Who receives grants**

* Everyone, or filtered by level, location, or individual

Pave combines your configuration with employee data (salary, start date, level, location, existing equity) to calculate personalized future grant amounts and display them on each employee's compensation timeline.

## Before you configure

You need:

* Admin access to Settings (see [Permissions documentation](../permissions.md) for details on required permissions)

* A clear understanding of your organization's equity compensation practices

* Information about your equity grant timing (new hire, refresher, or anniversary-based)

* Knowledge of how you determine grant values (percentage of salary, percentage of new hire grant, or custom refresh targets)

## Create a future grant configuration

1. Go to Settings > Communicate > Future modeling
2. Select Create equity
3. Configure the equity settings

### Basic configuration

\[Screenshot: Future grant modeling form - basic settings section]

**Settings name**: A descriptive name visible only to admins. Use something that identifies the configuration purpose, like "IC Annual Refresher" or "Senior Level New Hire Grants."

**Equity type**: The type of equity award. Options:

* Options - Stock options

* Common stock - Direct stock grants

* RSU - Restricted stock units

* RSA - Restricted stock awards

* PSU - Performance stock units

For guidance on configuring equity types in your company settings, see [Configure equity settings](configure-equity-settings.md).

**Minimum tenure**: How long an employee must be at the company before receiving this type of grant.

Why this matters: Tenure requirements align equity compensation with retention goals. New hire grants happen immediately to attract talent, while refresher grants require time invested to reward retention.

Common configurations:

* New hire grants: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days

* First refresher: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days

* Subsequent refreshers: Varies by policy (often 2+ years)

**Award cadence**: How frequently this grant repeats.

Why this matters: Cadence determines how often employees receive new equity awards. More frequent grants can improve retention by creating regular vesting overlap, while less frequent grants simplify administration.

Common configurations:

* Annual refresher grants: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days (most common)

* Bi-annual grants: 0 years, 6 months, 0 days (aggressive retention)

* One-time grants: 10 years, 0 months, 0 days (set longer than modeling timeframe)

* New hire grants: 10 years, 0 months, 0 days (not repeating)

**Show future grants after**: Controls when pending grants appear in Total Rewards.

Why this matters: Prevents showing grants that are already reflected in cap table imports, avoiding duplicate displays and employee confusion. Also useful for staged rollout of future modeling.

Options:

* **Today** - Show all future grants immediately

* **Custom** - Select a specific cutoff date

How it works: Pave compares each grant's vesting start date to your cutoff date. Only grants with vesting start dates on or after the cutoff appear to employees.

Example: Cutoff set to January 15, 2025

* Employee hired December 1, 2024 → Anniversary-based grant has vesting start of December 1, 2024 → Hidden (before cutoff, likely in cap table already)

* Same employee's first refresher → Vesting start of December 1, 2025 → Shown (after cutoff, true future grant)

### Vesting schedule

**Why vesting schedules matter**: Vesting terms directly impact employee retention and financial planning. Showing accurate vesting timelines helps employees understand when equity becomes theirs, how cliff periods work, and what they stand to gain by staying through specific milestones.

**Outcome**: Employees can plan around vesting events and understand the retention incentive built into their compensation.

\[Screenshot: Vesting schedule configuration section]

Configure how grants vest after they're awarded.

**Vesting duration**: Total time until the grant is fully vested. Enter years, months, and days.

Examples:

* 4-year vesting: 4 years, 0 months, 0 days

* 3.5-year vesting: 3 years, 6 months, 0 days

**Vesting cadence**: How frequently equity becomes available. This affects cash flow planning for employees.

Options:

* Monthly - Shares vest every month (smoother liquidity)

* Quarterly - Shares vest every three months (common for RSUs)

* Yearly - Shares vest once per year (common for options)

**Cliff length**: The initial waiting period before any equity vests. Cliffs protect the company's investment in new hires while creating clear retention milestones.

Enter years, months, and days. Examples:

* 1-year cliff: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days (standard for new hire grants)

* No cliff: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days (common for refresher grants)

After the cliff period, equity vests according to your cadence. For example, with a 1-year cliff and monthly vesting on a 4-year grant:

* Year 1: Nothing vests (cliff period)

* Year 1 anniversary: 25% vests immediately (12 months of accumulated vesting)

* Years 2–4: 1/48th vests each month

The cliff length must be less than or equal to the vesting duration.

**Vesting starts on**: When the vesting clock begins. This affects whether employees have synchronized vesting dates or individualized schedules.

Options:

* **Employee anniversary** - Vesting starts on the employee's hire date (individualized, simpler administration)

* **Custom** - Vesting starts on standardized calendar dates you define (synchronized across cohorts, useful for batch equity administration)

### Custom vesting calendar

**Why custom calendars exist**: Some organizations batch equity administration to standardized dates (quarterly board meetings, fiscal periods, annual grant cycles). Custom calendars let you align vesting start dates with your equity administration calendar instead of individual hire dates.

**Outcome**: Simplified equity administration and synchronized vesting across employee cohorts, reducing ongoing operational complexity.

\[Screenshot: Custom vesting calendar configuration]

When you select Custom for vesting start dates, you define calendar periods that control when vesting begins. Grants awarded during a period all start vesting on the same standardized date.

For each calendar period, configure:

* **From**: Start of the grant period (month and day)

* **To**: End of the grant period (month and day)

* **Will vest on**: The date grants issued during this period will start vesting (month and day)

Example configuration for quarterly vesting alignment:

| From      | To           | Will vest on |
| --------- | ------------ | ------------ |
| January 1 | March 31     | April 1      |
| April 1   | June 30      | July 1       |
| July 1    | September 30 | October 1    |
| October 1 | December 31  | January 1    |

How this works:

* Employee receives a grant on February 15 → Falls in January 1 - March 31 period → Vesting starts April 1

* Employee receives a grant on May 20 → Falls in April 1 - June 30 period → Vesting starts July 1

This ensures all Q1 grants vest together, all Q2 grants vest together, etc., simplifying cap table management.

To add a calendar period, select Add row. To remove a period, select the delete icon next to that row.

## How grant values are calculated

### Why calculation methods matter

Different equity compensation philosophies require different calculation approaches. You might tie refresher grants to market-competitive new hire targets, scale them with salary progression, or customize them for individual retention. The calculation method you choose communicates fairness and aligns employee expectations with your compensation strategy.

### Variants: Different calculations for different groups

Each future grant configuration includes one or more variants. A variant pairs a calculation method with employee filters. This lets you:

* Apply different grant formulas to different career levels (IC vs senior leadership)

* Account for geographic equity compensation differences

* Override calculations for specific retention cases

Most organizations start with one variant applying to everyone, then add variants for specific groups as their equity program matures.

### Available calculation methods

\[Screenshot: Equity value configuration in variant]

Pave supports three calculation methods. Select the method that matches your equity compensation philosophy:

#### Percentage of base salary

**Why this exists**: Scales equity with compensation level. Common for organizations where higher-paid employees receive proportionally larger refresher grants, maintaining consistency between cash and equity compensation ratios.

**Outcome**: Employees see equity grants that grow with their salary progression.

**How it works**: The grant value equals a percentage of the employee's annual base salary.

Configuration:

* Enter the percentage (for example, 50 for 50% of base salary)

* Select "Base Salary" from the dropdown

Example: An employee with a $120,000 base salary and a 50% configuration receives a $60,000 grant value.

#### Percentage of new hire grant

**Why this exists**: Maintains parity between new hire offers and internal equity. Common when you want existing employees to receive refresher grants proportional to what a new hire at their level would receive, preventing compensation drift between tenured and new employees.

**Outcome**: Employees see that their refresher grants reflect current market-competitive new hire packages, building trust in compensation fairness.

**How it works**: Pave looks up the employee's Market Pricing band, finds the new hire equity target, and multiplies by your configured percentage.

Configuration:

* Enter the percentage (for example, 25 for 25% of their band's new hire grant target)

* Select "New Hire Grant" from the dropdown

Example: An employee is in a band with a new hire equity target of $200,000. With a 25% configuration, they receive a $50,000 grant value.

Requirements:

* You must have Market Pricing configured (see [Market Pricing configuration](../market-pricing/configure-bands.md))

* The employee must match to a Market Pricing band

* The band must have a new hire equity target for your company currency

If requirements aren't met, Pave skips the grant for that employee.

#### Percentage of refresh target

**Why this exists**: Supports custom equity compensation strategies. Use when you've determined individual refresh targets through performance evaluations, retention analysis, or unique circumstances that don't follow standard formulas.

**Outcome**: Maximum flexibility for individual grant amounts while maintaining automated calculation.

**How it works**: Pave retrieves the `refreshTarget` value from the employee's profile metadata and multiplies by your configured percentage.

Configuration:

* Enter the percentage (for example, 100 for 100% of their refresh target)

* Select "Refresh Target" from the dropdown

Example: An employee has a refresh target of $75,000 stored in their profile. With a 100% configuration, they receive a $75,000 grant value.

Requirements:

* The employee must have a `refreshTarget` value in their profile metadata

* The value must be a positive number

If the refresh target is not set or is zero, Pave skips the grant for that employee.

### Filtering: which employees receive grants

**Why filtering matters**: Equity compensation rarely follows a one-size-fits-all model. Filtering ensures that projected grants reflect your actual equity philosophy - different treatment for different career levels, geographic compliance requirements, or individual retention scenarios.

**Outcome**: Employees see accurate projections that reflect their specific circumstances, maintaining trust and preventing confusion.

\[Screenshot: Applies to section of variant configuration]

For each variant, specify whether it applies to everyone or only select employees.

**Everyone**: The variant applies to all employees who meet the minimum tenure requirement.

**Select employees**: The variant applies only to employees matching your filter criteria. Available filters:

* **Level** - Job level from your HRIS (exact match)

* **Location** - Country code from your HRIS (exact match)

* **Email** - Individual employee email address (exact match)

Add multiple filters to narrow the employee group. All filters must match (AND logic, not OR).

#### Filter by level

**Why**: Different career levels often receive different equity compensation. Senior employees might receive larger grants to reflect market expectations and retention priorities.

**How**: Enter the job level from your HRIS (for example, "IC4" for Individual Contributor level 4).

Example use case: Create tiered refresher grants:

* IC1-IC3: 25% of salary

* IC4-IC5: 35% of salary

* IC6+: 50% of salary

#### Filter by location

**Why**: Legal requirements, local market practices, or tax considerations often require different equity types or amounts by geography.

**How**: Enter the country code from your HRIS (for example, "US" for United States).

Example use case: Grant stock options in the US but RSUs internationally to align with local tax treatment and market expectations.

#### Filter by email

**Why**: Individual circumstances sometimes require custom equity treatment - retention grants, promotion equity adjustments, or unique compensation agreements.

**How**: Enter the employee's exact email address.

Example use case: Override the standard calculation for a specific retention case while maintaining automated calculation for everyone else.

### Multiple variants and specificity

**Why this matters**: You need both general policies and specific overrides. Specificity rules ensure the right calculation applies to each employee without requiring separate configurations for every edge case.

**Outcome**: Employees always see the most accurate projection for their situation.

When an employee matches multiple variants, Pave selects the most specific match using these rules:

1. **Email filters always win** - A variant with an email filter takes precedence over all others
2. **More filters \= higher priority** - A variant with 2 filters (level + location) beats a variant with 1 filter
3. **Email automatically counts as highest specificity** - If no email variant matches, the system counts job-level and country filters only

Note: If two variants have identical specificity (same number of non-email filters), Pave picks one but order is not guaranteed. Design variants with clear hierarchy to avoid ambiguity.

Example configuration with three variants:

| Variant | Filters                                                   | Specificity                       | Value              |
| ------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| 1       | None (everyone)                                           | 0 filters                         | 25% of base salary |
| 2       | Level: IC5                                                | 1 filter                          | 35% of base salary |
| 3       | Level: IC5, Location: US, Email: <jane.smith@example.com> | Email filter (wins automatically) | 50% of base salary |

Results:

* Jane Smith (IC5, US) matches all three but receives variant 3 (email filter wins)

* Another IC5 employee in the US receives variant 2 (1 filter beats 0)

* An IC4 employee receives variant 1 (no other match)

To add a variant, select Add variant. To remove a variant, select Delete at the bottom of the variant configuration.

### Guaranteed grants

**Why this distinction matters**: The difference between a projection and a commitment is critical for employee trust. Marking grants as guaranteed signals to employees which equity awards are contractual versus typical/expected.

**Outcome**: Employees understand which grants they can rely on for financial planning versus which are projections based on company patterns.

\[Screenshot: Is this grant guaranteed checkbox]

Check "Is this grant guaranteed" when the grant represents a contractual commitment rather than a projection.

Guaranteed grants display differently in Total Rewards to communicate certainty. Use this for:

* New hire equity grants in signed offer letters

* Documented refresher grants in compensation letters

* Retention grants with written terms

Do not check this for:

* Typical annual refresher grants that follow company patterns but aren't individually committed

* Projected grants based on historical equity practices

* Discretionary awards subject to performance or board approval

This setting is only available for Total Rewards (not Compensation Simulator configurations).

## What happens after you save

Pave applies your configuration to calculate future grants for matching employees when:

* Employees view their Total Rewards page

* Admins view an employee's compensation timeline

* The Compensation Simulator projects future compensation

The calculation runs at view time based on the employee's current data (salary, level, location, start date). If employee data changes, future grant projections update automatically on the next page load.

### When grants won't appear

Future grants will not appear for an employee if:

* The employee hasn't met the minimum tenure requirement

* The calculation method returns no value (for example, band lookup fails or refresh target is not set)

* The employee doesn't match any variant filters

* The employee's start date is after the "Show future grants after" date you configured

### Currency handling

Grant values calculate based on the calculation method you select, and Pave handles currency conversion automatically:

* **Base salary method**: Calculates in the employee's salary currency

* **New hire grant method**: Uses the Market Pricing band currency, then converts to the company currency if needed

* **Refresh target method**: Uses the company currency

All grant values display to employees in their local currency in Total Rewards, regardless of the calculation currency. Pave converts values using exchange rates from your company settings when the employee's currency differs from the calculation currency.

## Edit or delete a configuration

To edit an existing configuration:

1. Go to Settings > Communicate > Future modeling
2. Select the configuration name from the list
3. Make your changes
4. Select Save

Changes apply immediately. Employees will see updated projections on their next Total Rewards page load.

To delete a configuration:

1. Go to Settings > Communicate > Future modeling
2. Select the configuration name from the list
3. Select Delete
4. Confirm the deletion

Deleting a configuration removes all future grant projections associated with it. This does not affect actual equity grants employees have already received.

For configuring future grants in the Compensation Simulator (rather than Total Rewards), see [Configure compensation simulator](configure-compensation-simulator.md).

## Common configurations

### New hire grants based on Market Pricing bands

Use this to show new hires their expected first grant:

* Equity type: Options (or your new hire equity type)

* Minimum tenure: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days

* Award cadence: 10 years, 0 months, 0 days (or any period longer than you plan to model)

* Vesting duration: 4 years, 0 months, 0 days

* Vesting cadence: Monthly

* Cliff length: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days

* Vesting starts on: Employee anniversary

* Variant: 100% of New Hire Grant, applies to everyone

### Annual refresher grants as a percentage of salary

Use this for recurring equity compensation:

* Equity type: RSU (or your standard refresher type)

* Minimum tenure: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days

* Award cadence: 1 year, 0 months, 0 days

* Vesting duration: 4 years, 0 months, 0 days

* Vesting cadence: Quarterly

* Cliff length: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days

* Vesting starts on: Employee anniversary

* Variant: 50% of Base Salary, applies to everyone (or multiple variants for different levels)

### Tiered refresher grants by level

Use this when senior employees receive larger grants:

* Configure the same basic settings as annual refresher grants above

* Create multiple variants:

  * Variant 1: 25% of Base Salary, filters on Level: IC1

  * Variant 2: 35% of Base Salary, filters on Level: IC2

  * Variant 3: 50% of Base Salary, filters on Level: IC3

  * Continue for each level

### Custom grants for specific employees

Use this for one-off equity awards:

* Configure the basic settings for when and how the grant vests

* Create a variant:

  * 100% of Refresh Target

  * Filters on Email: <employee@example.com>

* Set the employee's refresh target value in their profile metadata

## Edge cases and limitations

**Vesting calendar edge cases**: If a grant date falls outside all defined calendar periods, vesting starts on the employee's anniversary instead. Always define calendar periods that cover the full year.

**Band lookup failures**: When using New Hire Grant calculation, if an employee doesn't match to a Market Pricing band or the band has no equity target, that employee will not see future grants. Check Market Pricing band assignments and equity targets if grants are missing.

**Overlapping variants**: When multiple variants could match an employee and they have the same specificity level (for example, two variants that both filter on level only), the system picks one but the selection is not guaranteed to be consistent. Design variants with clear hierarchy using email and multi-field filters.

**Tenure calculation**: Minimum tenure calculates from the employee's start date in your HRIS. If the start date is missing or incorrect, tenure-based grants may not appear when expected.

**Decimal precision**: Percentages accept up to two decimal places (for example, 33.33%). Grant values round to whole currency units when displayed.

**Zero or negative values**: The system ignores calculated grant values that are zero or negative. Ensure your percentages and base values produce positive grant amounts.

**Future date limits**: Total Rewards displays grants up to the timeframe configured in your general future modeling settings (typically 5 years). Grants beyond this timeframe will not appear even if the configuration would generate them.