Equity Split Calculator

Enter each partner’s cash contribution and the dollar value of their sweat equity — get ownership percentages derived from the numbers, not the argument.

Partner A
Partner B
Partner C (opt.)
Free — no signup Runs in your browser Pairs with the Partnership Agreement
Worked example

Cash founder vs. sweat founder — a 50/50 that’s actually earned

Example: A puts in $30k cash + $20k work · B puts in $10k cash + $40k work

Value every contribution in dollars — cash at face value, work at a defensible market rate — and the percentages fall out of the arithmetic:

Partner A = $30,000 cash + $20,000 sweat = $50,000
Partner B = $10,000 cash + $40,000 sweat = $50,000
Total    = $100,000  →  A: 50%  /  B: 50%

The hard part isn’t the division — it’s pricing the sweat. Value committed work at what you’d pay a stranger to do it (market salary × time committed), not at what the partner hopes it’s worth. Then write the split, and what happens if someone leaves early, into the partnership agreement.

FAQ

Equity split questions

Price the work at market rate: what you’d realistically pay someone else to do that job for that time commitment. A founder committing a year of full-time work worth $90,000 in salary is contributing $90,000 of sweat — regardless of what the idea might be worth someday. Optimistic self-valuations are where splits go wrong.
A 50/50 split with no tiebreaker can deadlock a two-person company — neither side can decide anything the other resists. If you do go equal, the partnership agreement should include a deadlock-breaking mechanism (a buy-sell clause, a designated tiebreaker, or mediation) so a disagreement can’t freeze the business.
This calculator splits contributions to date, but most of a company’s value comes from work not yet done. Vesting — equity earned over time, typically 3–4 years with a cliff — protects everyone from a partner who leaves in month two with a founder-sized stake. Vesting terms live in the partnership or operating agreement.
Not necessarily — partnerships can allocate profits differently from ownership percentages, but special allocations have to satisfy IRS substantial-economic-effect rules, and sweat equity itself can be taxable when granted. Worth a conversation with a tax professional once the split is agreed.

This calculator provides general estimates for planning purposes and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Equity and tax treatment of sweat equity can be complex; consult a professional for significant stakes.

The split is fair.
Make it binding.

A percentage in a spreadsheet isn’t ownership. BizDocs writes the partnership agreement that makes the split — and the exit rules — enforceable.

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