Start with the question your team needs to answer
An offering attracts 2,000 visitors, receives 100 commitments, and completes 70 investments. Each number describes useful progress. None explains the whole raise.
The marketing lead needs to know whether the audience understands the opportunity. The offering team needs to identify unfinished steps. Finance needs to know what has closed and what cash the company has received. A useful fundraising report answers all three questions without calling every stage “invested.”
Your company leads audience building and outreach. Issuance Express provides the Reg CF portal, investor onboarding, and offering operations. Agree on the status definitions and available records with the team before launch. The worksheet below is an operating method you can use with your own records; it does not describe a promised portal dashboard or integration.
Define the stages before comparing results
Use a consistent description for each event. Where a system uses another label, write down the mapping rather than assuming the words mean the same thing.
| Stage | What to count | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Audience engagement | A defined action, such as an email link click or event attendance | Someone paid attention; they have not necessarily visited the offering |
| Offering-page visit | A visit to the offering information, using a stated method for counting unique visitors | Someone reached the materials |
| Started investment | A prospective purchaser began the investment process | Interest progressed to an attempt, with steps still unfinished |
| Signed documents | The required signature step was completed | A document was signed; verify whether a commitment was also received |
| Received commitment | The portal recorded an investment commitment and its amount | An investment intention entered the offering process |
| Funded commitment | Payment associated with a commitment was received and reconciled with the appropriate provider | Funds are in the process; this does not complete the securities sale |
| Cancelled commitment | A commitment was cancelled, with refund status tracked separately | An earlier commitment no longer belongs in the active total |
| Completed investment | The investment was included in a completed securities transaction | Securities were sold through the closing process |
A signature and a received commitment may occur together in a particular workflow. Keep their meanings distinct so an incomplete or rejected submission does not inflate the commitment count. One investor can also make several investments. Count distinct purchasers when measuring people and distinct transactions when measuring investments.
The regulatory process distinguishes commitment notices, handling of funds, and transaction confirmations. Those are separate duties under Rule 303(d)–(f), which is why an internal “conversion” label cannot establish that a sale has completed.
Use one group of visitors and one measurement date
A cohort is a group followed over time. For example, follow people whose first recorded offering-page visit occurred during the first week of the campaign. Check their progress at the end of week four.
An illustrative report might show:
| Measure for that visitor cohort | Count | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Unique offering-page visitors | 2,000 | Starting group |
| Visitors who started an investment | 160 | 160 ÷ 2,000 = 8% |
| Visitors who signed and made a received commitment | 100 | 100 ÷ 160 = 62.5% of starters |
| Committed purchasers whose payments were reconciled | 85 | 85 ÷ 100 = 85% of committed purchasers |
| Purchasers included in a completed close | 70 | 70 ÷ 100 = 70% of committed purchasers |
These are invented numbers, not benchmarks or expected Issuance Express results. At the measurement date, ten of the original 100 committed purchasers might have cancelled and twenty might remain pending. The 70 completed purchasers and those two groups account for all 100. Some pending payments may already be in escrow.
Do not divide this week’s completions by this week’s visitors and call it a conversion rate. The completed investments may come from people who visited weeks earlier. State the observation period, group, unit, and data limitations beside the percentage.
Reconcile dollars separately from people
A report showing 100 purchasers does not reveal whether they committed equal amounts. Track dollars alongside counts, using the same timestamp and offering scope.
Suppose cumulative received commitments are $300,000. Cancelled commitments total $30,000. Of the remaining $270,000, $200,000 has closed, $50,000 is funded but not closed, and $20,000 is awaiting payment or another required step. These amounts reconcile without counting closed investments twice.
The company’s cash receipts require another reconciliation: completed gross proceeds less deductions and amounts still awaiting release. Match the close to the closing statement and bank receipt. Use the offering budget to distinguish those receipts from the capital remaining after other offering expenses.
Investor funds are held by a qualified third-party escrow agent; Issuance Express does not hold them. Receipt of funds into escrow does not make them company cash. Rule 303(e) governs transmission and return of funds.
Diagnose the unfinished step
Use a change in the funnel to choose a question before choosing a solution.
- Engagement without visits: Does the communication make the next step clear, and does its link work?
- Visits without starts: Can a reader understand the business, security, risks, and documents on the offering page?
- Starts without commitments: Are people asking repeated questions, missing required information, or encountering a technical problem?
- Commitments without funding: Is payment pending, unmatched, or awaiting a provider action? Confirm the status before contacting the investor.
- Funding without completion: Is the investment waiting for a scheduled close, required period, notice, or other condition?
An investor may decide against investing after reviewing the risks. That is a valid outcome. Avoid treating every unfinished investment as a technical failure or pressuring a person to bypass the required process.
Keep campaign reporting consistent with offering rules
Ordinary cancellation rights and material-change reconfirmation can change the active total. Record cancellations, pending reconfirmations, and refunds separately. The closing guide explains the rules established in Rule 304.
An internal report is also different from a public advertisement. Progress toward the funding target is an offering term under Rule 204. Have public progress messages reviewed under the marketing process, even when a number came from an accurate internal worksheet.
Use a weekly operating worksheet
Record these fields together: reporting timestamp; cohort dates; channel; distinct people; transaction count; gross commitments; active commitments; funded amount awaiting close; completed gross proceeds; cancellations; pending refunds; and net cash received.
Assign marketing to the audience figures, the offering contact to status questions, and finance to cash reconciliation. Agree which records control when systems disagree. Review aggregate results without circulating unnecessary investor identity or financial information. End the meeting with an owner and next action for each unresolved issue.
Related reading
Sources and further reading
Reviewed . Read the governing rules and official guidance behind this article.
General education from Issuance Express. This article is not legal, tax, or investment advice, an offer of securities, or a guarantee that an offering is eligible for the portal. Work with qualified advisers on the facts of your offering. SEC registration and FINRA membership do not imply approval of an offering or its merits.