Spreadsheets are where every cap table starts, and for a while they are the right answer: free, flexible and already open on your laptop. The trouble is that a cap table is not a table — it is a sequence of legal events — and spreadsheets are bad at sequences. The usual reason to stay on Excel or Google Sheets is that the alternative costs money. Aportia is free for now, which removes that reason and leaves only the question of whether the spreadsheet is still doing its job.
Try the free cap table simulatorEverything corporate in one place — no spreadsheets.
Set up your company's cap table in minutes.
Everything corporate in one place — no spreadsheets.
Set up your company's cap table in minutes.
Nobody's spreadsheet fails on day one. It fails on the first SAFE conversion, the first leaver with unvested shares, or the first time two people edit "cap table v7 FINAL" at once. Each of those events needs logic the sheet doesn't have — conversion math, vesting schedules, a record of who changed what — so it gets bolted on with formulas only one person understands.
In Aportia you record events instead of editing cells: issue shares, transfer shares, grant options, add a SAFE. The cap table, the fully diluted view, the share register and the timeline are all derived from those events, so they stay consistent without anyone reconciling them. Undoing a mistake is a recorded reversal, not a silent overwrite.
| Task | Excel / Google Sheets | Aportia |
|---|---|---|
| Record a new issuance | Edit cells, update totals | One transaction, totals derived |
| Convert a SAFE | Manual formula per round | Automatic at the round price |
| Track vesting | Separate tab, updated by hand | Live from the grant schedule |
| See past states | Hunt for old file versions | Timeline and audit trail |
| Share with an investor | Email a copy | Read-only access or PDF export |
| Cost | Free | Free for now |
You don't need to rebuild your history to switch. Enter each shareholder's current holdings as the opening position, add outstanding SAFEs and option grants, and from that point on every change is recorded properly. If you want the earlier history too, you can enter past issuances with their original dates and the timeline will show them in order.
The reason people like spreadsheets is that they can see everything and play with scenarios. The round simulator keeps that: change the valuation, the investment or the pool size and the resulting cap table updates instantly, without touching the real one. When the round actually closes, you record it once.
Some teams use a spreadsheet to track contributions before agreeing on a split. Aportia can do that natively with dynamic equity — time, cash and assets weighted by multipliers — and freeze the result into a static cap table when you're ready. It's opt-in; a normal cap table doesn't need it.
Yes. Aportia is free for now — no credit card and no limit on shareholders or projects — and covers what spreadsheets struggle with: conversions, vesting, history and sharing.
Yes. The cap table can be exported to CSV, and the share register and audit trail to PDF, so you're never locked in.
Two founders, no outside money and no vesting: a spreadsheet is fine. The moment you add a SAFE, an employee grant or a third shareholder, the maintenance cost starts to outweigh the convenience.
No. You can start from today's ownership as an opening position. Past events are optional and can be added later with their original dates.
Move your spreadsheet into Aportia in an afternoon. Free, no credit card, and you can export everything back out at any time.
Get started free