Publications
Publications
- October 2001 (Revised February 2007)
- HBS Case Collection
Accounting for Employee Stock Options
Abstract
Employees who have been granted stock options have the right to purchase shares of their company's stock at a specified price within a specified time period. The accounting for such employee stock options has been a controversial and complex topic for decades. The debate has continued to the present time because of the high visibility of company executives who have made fortunes under their stock option programs. This note chronicles the history and debate surrounding the rules for stock options accounting and provides a simple, instructive example of accounting entries for fixed stock option grants.
Keywords
Citation
Bradshaw, Mark T. "Accounting for Employee Stock Options." Harvard Business School Background Note 102-039, October 2001. (Revised February 2007.)