A share register template, free, in Excel or on paper.

The template

What the law asks for

For a company that keeps its own register the law lists what it must hold (ABL 5 kap. 5 §). The template has a column for each.

Every share's number

The shares are listed in number order. Consecutive shares with the same holder share a row: from number, to number.

The shareholder

Name, personnummer or organisationsnummer or another id number, and postal address.

The class

Only when the company has shares of more than one class.

Share certificate

Whether an aktiebrev has been issued for the shares. Most companies have none.

Förbehåll

Whether the shares are covered by hembud, förköp, samtycke or a conversion or redemption clause in the bolagsordning.

The day of each entry

Every entry and note is dated (5 kap. 9 §). The template also has a column for how the shares were acquired and from whom, which makes the register readable years later.

Filling it in

Start with the formation: the founders and their shares, numbered from 1, on the day the stiftelseurkund was signed.

A new issue adds rows with the next free numbers, on the day the board allotted the shares.

A sale changes the holder of some numbers. Do not write over the old row: strike it through, keep it, and write the buyer on a new row with the day of the entry. When only part of a block is sold, the seller's remaining numbers get a row of their own and keep their old day.

Nothing is erased. What is removed from a register must be kept for at least ten years, and a register kept on paper is kept in its original form (5 kap. 3 §).

When a sheet is not enough

A sheet holds a register. It does not hold the history that explains it, work out who owns how much, or stop a share number from being written twice.

aktiebok.io does, and it is free: every change is an entry with its date and basis, the cap table follows from the register, and the register prints as a PDF whenever someone asks for it. A filled-in template moves in with its rows as they are: see Moving a share register.

In the app, the same columns are a page

The Register tab is this sheet, kept in order automatically. The History tab is every row that was ever struck through.

Questions that come up

Is a register in Excel allowed?

Yes. The law's main rule is a register kept by computer, and a company that keeps its own register may also use a bound book or a safe loose-leaf or card system (5 kap. 2 §). It has to hold what the law lists, and be kept.

Who keeps the register?

The board is responsible for it being kept, stored and available (5 kap. 7 §).

Is the register public?

Yes. It is kept available at the company for everyone who wants to read it (5 kap. 10 §).

Do warrants and options go in the register?

No. A register lists shares. A warrant or an option shows up in it only on the day it becomes shares.