Summary Compensation Table
Also called SCT, compensation table.
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.
What it is
The Summary Compensation Table is the standardized Item 402 table in a proxy statement (or, less often, an information statement or 10-K) that lists each named executive officer’s compensation for up to three fiscal years. Columns typically include salary, bonus, stock awards, option awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings, all other compensation, and total.
Footnotes explain perquisites, grant assumptions, and one-time items. The table is the backbone of CompensationBase: rankings, profiles, and mix bars start here, not from press releases or Form 4s.
Why companies use it
The SEC requires it so shareholders can see NEO pay in a comparable grid before voting on directors and say-on-pay.
Companies use the same table in the CD&A narrative as the official recap of what was paid and granted.
Pros
- Column definitions are set by rule, so “Stock Awards” means grant-date fair value at every large filer.
- Three years in one table show direction without opening older proxies.
- The Total column is a single, citable figure.
Cons
- It is dense. Mix, vesting, and performance calibration live in footnotes and the CD&A, not in the grid.
- Prior-year numbers in a new proxy can be restated when the NEO group or a column definition changes.
- It omits most officers. Only NEOs appear.
Examples
Where to find it
In a DEF 14A, search for “Summary Compensation Table.” It sits after the CD&A. CompensationBase links each company and executive profile to the accession number of the filing that supplied the table.
Three-year view
A 2026 proxy may show fiscal 2025, 2024, and 2023. CompensationBase uses that latest parsable table; it does not stitch a fourth year from an older proxy into the same row.
On CompensationBase
Figures are taken from each company’s latest parsable SCT. Prior-year columns on a profile come from that same three-year table, not from earlier proxies.
Related terms
- 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.
- SCT 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.
- DEF 14A
The definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC before a shareholder meeting. It is CompensationBase’s primary source for the Summary Compensation Table.
- Named executive officer
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.