How to Track Single Trigger Acceleration After the Grant

How to track single trigger acceleration is a one-event vesting ledger on the signed grant, not the two-event double-trigger path. For each person and grant, log the trigger event copied (sale of the company, or an involuntary termination without cause), the percent of unvested equity that accelerates on that event alone, the trigger date if any, whether the award was assumed or cashed out, and whether acceleration applied (yes or no). Raziel's double trigger acceleration tracking page is sale plus a qualifying termination inside a window. Raziel's founder vesting tracking page is the ordinary cliff and cadence. This page is the single event that lapses the restriction by itself.

This is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Raziel does not provide it. Copy the signed plan, grant notice, or award agreement. Do not invent a 100 percent default.

What this single-event ledger is (and is not)

Cooley GO (Craig Jacoby, last reviewed April 20, 2022) defines single-trigger acceleration as the partial or full acceleration of vesting of someone's options or stock based on the occurrence of a single event. Typically the triggering event is the sale of the company, but it can also be an involuntary termination of employment. Acceleration triggered solely by the sale of the company is called single-trigger acceleration and results in some or all of the vesting restriction lapsing in connection with the sale. Cooley GO's glossary (last reviewed May 10, 2021) uses the same sale-only definition, and it also labels acceleration upon an involuntary termination of employment without cause as single-trigger. Carta (The Carta Team, July 29, 2026) prints a definitional table: single-trigger means all unvested equity vests at once after a single event, which is almost always an acquisition. Double-trigger, on that same table, requires an acquisition and a termination without cause. Cooley GO (Founder's Stock, Vesting and Founder Departures) restates the pair: a single-trigger provision accelerates unvested shares as of the time of the sale; a double-trigger provision accelerates if the company is sold and the employee is terminated without cause within some time period following closing. A double-trigger window is not this row. Do not book it here.

Six columns on one single-trigger row

Open one row per person per grant that has a single-event acceleration clause. A later amendment is the same row with a new PDF, not a second grant.

• Person and grant. Name, grant date, share or option count, and the plan or award agreement that holds the clause. NVCA's model financing package (COI, SPA, IRA, Voting Agreement, ROFR/Co-Sale) does not print a standard option or RSU award form with single-trigger blanks. Copy the grant PDF.

• Trigger event copied. Cooley GO: typically the sale of the company; can also be an involuntary termination. Copy the defined term the paper uses (Change of Control, Deemed Liquidation Event, termination without Cause). If both a sale trigger and a termination trigger exist as separate single events, one row per trigger, or a parent row plus child rows. Do not collapse them into double-trigger unless the paper requires both.

• Percent of unvested that accelerates. Cooley GO: some or all of the vesting restriction. Carta's table describes all unvested equity vesting at once. That is Carta's definitional line, not this grant. Copy the signed percent (or share count). Store silent if the notice does not restate it.

• Trigger date if any. Closing date of the sale, or the termination date, as the paper defines it. If no trigger has occurred, store none and keep the clause live. Cooley GO notes that a sale-only acceleration is designed to reward the employee for contribution to a sale. That purpose sentence is not a date.

• Award assumed or cashed out. Cooley GO (on the double-trigger path) notes that underlying options need to be assumed by an acquirer for post-transaction double-trigger to be meaningful, and that this does not always occur. On a sale-only single trigger, copy whether the paper lapses the restriction at close, cashes out the accelerated piece, or leaves unvested shares to be assumed. Store silent if the deal documents have not arrived.

• Acceleration applied (yes / no). Yes only after the single event has occurred and the restriction has lapsed (or the cash has been paid) for the copied percent. Partial application gets the percent that actually vested. No if the event has not occurred, or if the paper's definition was not met.

Copy the signed trigger, not a market-default percent

Do not paste 100 percent as this company's term. Cooley GO (April 20, 2022) states that single-trigger acceleration remains relatively less common, and that investors will often be more likely to push back against such provisions. That is Cooley's commentary, not a rule for this grant. Carta (July 29, 2026) also states double-trigger is more common for acquirer-retention reasons. Use Carta for the definitional table. Do not turn prevalence into this company's clause. The signed award controls.

When the ledger holds

The row holds if the six cells are copied from the PDF (or marked missing). It fails when you invent a 100 percent statutory acceleration, book a double-trigger window as a single event, or mark acceleration applied because a deal is rumored. Raziel's startup investment tracker is the book those grant notices should sit on: documents, dates, cap tables, IRR and MOIC. Raziel does not interpret your award agreement. Copy the six columns.