Unusual grant year
Also called grant-year spike, equity-heavy year.
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.
What it is
An unusual grant year, on CompensationBase, is a heuristic—not an SEC category. It flags a fiscal year where equity (stock awards plus option awards) is at least 80% of SCT Total and at least three times the prior year’s equity, with a $1 million prior-year floor so tiny bases do not trigger the note.
The label means “treat this year as a grant event.” It does not mean the award was improper, one-time, or performance-based. Many flags will be new-hire or front-loaded grants; some will be a regular program after a year of little equity.
Why companies use it
Companies do not file an “unusual grant year” box. They describe special awards in the CD&A. CompensationBase adds the flag so rankings are not read as a new cash salary.
Readers need a mechanical warning because SCT Totals have no built-in annualization.
Pros
- Stops a one-year spike from being treated as recurring pay without anyone opening the proxy.
- The rule is transparent: 80% equity share and a 3x jump.
- Works across industries without parsing CD&A adjectives like “special” or “foundational.”
Cons
- It can miss a large cash or “other” spike that is just as non-recurring.
- It can flag a noisy year that the company considers ordinary.
- Prior-year data must exist; a first year in the catalog cannot show a 3x jump.
Examples
New CEO grant
Prior-year equity $4 million, current-year equity $28 million, total $32 million. Equity is 88% of total and 7x the prior year. The profile notes an unusual grant year.
What we do not do
We do not divide $28 million by four and rewrite the ranking. The SCT Total stays as filed; the note is the interpretation aid.
On CompensationBase
When equity is at least 80% of total and at least three times the prior year (with a $1 million prior-year floor), profiles and rankings show an equity-share note. Treat that year as a grant event, not a new cash salary.
Related terms
- Multi-year equity award
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.
- Equity compensation
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.
- Fiscal year
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.