CompensationBase

Glossary

How reported executive compensation works, in the language of SEC filings and of this catalog. Each term is an explainer: what it is, why companies use it, the tradeoffs, and examples. Amounts on CompensationBase are grant-date fair value as reported, not take-home pay.

50 terms. For source documents and parsing rules, see methodology and sources.

How pay is measured

What the headline number is, and what it is not.

Executive compensation executive pay: The pay package a public company reports for its named executive officers, usually salary, bonus, equity awards, cash incentives, and other amounts from the Summary Compensation Table.
Total compensation total comp: The headline pay figure CompensationBase ranks and displays: the Summary Compensation Table Total column as filed, not a recomputed sum of the component bars.
Grant-date fair value grant date fair value: The accounting value of equity awards on the day they are granted, which is what the Summary Compensation Table reports for stock and option awards—not the value later realized when shares vest or are sold.
Reported pay vs realized pay realized compensation: Reported pay is the SCT grant-date total for a fiscal year. Realized pay is cash received plus equity that actually vested or was exercised that year, which can be much higher or lower than the reported figure.
Summary Compensation Table SCT: The Item 402 table in a proxy statement that lists each named executive officer’s pay components and total for up to three fiscal years. CompensationBase extracts figures from this table.
SCT Total as filed total as filed: CompensationBase’s headline number: the Total column from the Summary Compensation Table, including amounts (such as change in pension value) that may not appear in the component bars.
Compensation mix pay mix: The split of reported pay among salary, equity (stock and option awards), cash incentives, and other compensation, calculated from SCT amounts.
Multi-year equity award front-loaded grant: A stock or option grant whose accounting value is reported entirely in the grant year even though it is meant to cover several future years. CompensationBase does not annualize these grants.
Unusual grant year grant-year spike: A CompensationBase flag when equity is at least 80% of reported total and at least three times the prior year’s total (with a $1M prior-year floor). It marks a likely multi-year or one-time grant, not an annual run-rate.
Fiscal year FY: The company reporting year attached to each SCT row. Prior-year figures on CompensationBase come from the three-year table in the latest filing, not from older proxies.

Summary Compensation Table columns

The SCT columns CompensationBase displays, plus amounts that can sit only in the total.

Salary base salary: The cash base pay reported in the SCT Salary column. For some alternative-asset managers this amount is modest and similar across named executives, with most value in other compensation or equity.
Bonus discretionary bonus: Cash paid outside a pre-set incentive plan. On CompensationBase, Bonus is grouped with non-equity incentives as “Incentives” in the mix bar, but it is a distinct SCT column.
Stock awards stock award: The grant-date fair value of stock-based awards (typically RSUs, restricted stock, and PSUs) reported in the SCT Stock Awards column.
Option awards option award: The grant-date fair value of stock options and stock appreciation rights reported in the SCT Option Awards column.
Non-equity incentive plan compensation NEI: Cash paid under a pre-established bonus or incentive plan, reported in the SCT Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation column. Distinct from a discretionary Bonus.
All other compensation other compensation: The SCT catch-all column for perquisites, certain pension amounts, and items not put in salary, bonus, or equity. Alternative-asset managers often report carried interest and partnership distributions here.
Perquisites perks: Personal benefits reported as part of All Other Compensation, such as aircraft use, security, or housing, when they meet Item 402 disclosure thresholds.
Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings pension column: An SCT column CompensationBase does not parse as its own bar. The amount can still sit inside SCT Total as filed, so component bars may not add to the headline total.
Nonqualified deferred compensation NQDC: Pay an executive elects or is required to receive in a later year, outside a qualified plan. Above-market earnings can appear in the SCT pension/deferred column and therefore in Total as filed.
Carried interest carry: A share of investment-fund profits often reported by alternative-asset managers in All Other Compensation, which can make “other” dominate the SCT total even when salary looks modest.

Equity awards

The awards behind stock and option columns, and why grant-date value is not cash.

Restricted stock unit RSU: A promise to deliver shares (or cash equivalent) after vesting. RSU grant-date value is reported in SCT Stock Awards, not when the shares later vest.
Performance share unit PSU: An equity award that vests based on performance goals such as relative TSR or EPS. The SCT reports grant-date fair value, which can differ from shares that later actually vest.
Restricted stock restricted stock award: Shares granted now but subject to forfeiture until they vest. Unlike RSUs, restricted stock is typically outstanding stock from the grant date, still reported in SCT Stock Awards at grant-date fair value.
Stock option executive stock options: The right to buy company stock at a set strike price. The SCT reports the option’s grant-date fair value; realized gain depends on later exercise and the stock price.
Stock appreciation right SAR: A cash- or stock-settled award equal to the increase in share price over a base price. Filings often group SARs with option awards, and CompensationBase maps those headers to Option Awards.
Equity compensation equity awards: Pay delivered as stock, options, or similar awards. On CompensationBase, equity is stock awards plus option awards, and it drives the mix bar’s Stock segment and unusual-grant-year flag.
Vesting vesting schedule: The schedule on which an executive earns the right to keep equity. SCT totals use grant-date value, so a large reported year does not mean the shares have vested.
ASC 718 FAS 123R: The U.S. accounting standard for share-based payment. SCT stock and option columns use ASC 718 grant-date fair value, which is why CompensationBase labels amounts as grant-date fair value as reported.
Short-term incentive STI: A one-year cash incentive plan. Payouts usually appear in Bonus or Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation, not in equity columns.
Long-term incentive LTI: Multi-year awards, usually PSUs, RSUs, or options, meant to align executives with longer-term results. The full grant-date value still lands in a single SCT year.

People and governance

Who appears in the catalog, and who sets the pay the filings report.

Named executive officer NEO: The executives Item 402 requires in the SCT, typically the CEO, CFO, and the next three highest-paid executive officers. CompensationBase’s catalog is S&P 500 named executive officers.
Chief Executive Officer CEO: The principal executive officer. CompensationBase maps proxy titles to a CEO role group for company pages and the highest-paid CEOs ranking, and omits a current CEO when the latest filing lists none.
Chief Financial Officer CFO: The principal financial officer, a required named executive officer. CompensationBase has a dedicated highest-paid CFOs ranking using the same SCT Total as CEOs.
Compensation committee comp committee: The board committee that sets NEO pay, selects peer groups, and writes much of the CD&A. CompensationBase reports the resulting SCT figures; it does not score those decisions.

Filings and sources

Where each figure comes from, and which SEC forms are not mixed in.

DEF 14A definitive proxy statement: The definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC before a shareholder meeting. It is CompensationBase’s primary source for the Summary Compensation Table.
DEF 14C definitive information statement: A definitive information statement used when a company is not soliciting proxies. CompensationBase uses its SCT when a DEF 14A is missing.
Proxy statement annual proxy: The shareholder document that contains the CD&A, SCT, and say-on-pay proposals. CompensationBase reads the latest definitive proxy (or information statement), not a live feed of every amendment.
Item 402 Regulation S-K Item 402: The SEC disclosure item that requires the Summary Compensation Table and related executive pay tables. CompensationBase is an Item 402 SCT reader, not a Form 4 or 8-K pay feed.
Compensation Discussion and Analysis CD&A: The narrative in the proxy that explains why the compensation committee paid what it paid. CompensationBase does not parse CD&A text; the SEC filing remains the source for footnotes and narrative.
Form 10-K 10-K: The annual report. CompensationBase may use a 10-K SCT when the proxy is missing or unparsable, and it takes company revenue and assets from 10-K Company Facts.
Accession number SEC accession number: The SEC’s unique ID for a filing. CompensationBase shows it on company and executive source panels so each table can be traced to a document.
CIK Central Index Key: The SEC Central Index Key that identifies a filer in EDGAR. CompensationBase stores CIK on company records to attach the correct proxy and Company Facts.
Form 4 insider Form 4: An insider transaction report filed after an executive buys, sells, or has equity vest or be granted. CompensationBase does not mix Form 4 amounts into SCT Total.
Form 8-K Item 5.02 8-K compensation: A current report item that can disclose new hire grants, severance, or role changes. CompensationBase does not add Item 5.02 amounts into the headline SCT total.
SEC Company Facts company facts: Structured 10-K financials CompensationBase uses for revenue and assets. These figures are for company scale, not a pay-for-performance ratio.

Related disclosures

Related proxy items CompensationBase does not ingest, defined so they are not confused with SCT Total.

Compensation actually paid CAP: A Pay Versus Performance figure that adjusts SCT amounts for equity fair-value changes and pension. It is not the SCT Total CompensationBase ranks.
Pay versus performance PvP: The Item 402(v) proxy disclosure that compares compensation actually paid with company performance measures such as TSR. CompensationBase does not ingest this table.
Say on pay say-on-pay vote: The shareholder advisory vote on NEO compensation required under Dodd-Frank. CompensationBase reports the pay table that vote is about; it does not track vote results.
Golden parachute change-in-control payment: Termination or change-in-control payments. They may appear in All Other Compensation or in a separate merger proxy table; a single-year SCT spike is not always a parachute.
Clawback clawback policy: A policy or rule that lets a company recover incentive pay after a restatement or misconduct. Clawbacks change later realized or recovered amounts; they do not rewrite the original SCT Total as filed.