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Public offerings provide private companies tremendous opportunities for growth, but it also entails exposing them to rules and regulation that they weren’t required adhere to when they were private businesses. Therefore, it is essential that companies know all the risks and obstacles they might face prior to taking the plunge into public markets.

If you are contemplating an IPO for your company or not, establishing a checklist of best practices is the first step in making sure you are prepared. A checklist for IPOs should be able to cover everything from stakeholder alignment to due diligence to gathering and analyzing financial data. A thorough checklist can help you to pinpoint and close holes in your company’s condition and where it should be prior to ringing the IPO bell.

It’s a smart idea to consult a tax professional when you are planning to go public. This will aid you in understanding the various kinds of equity compensation, and how they impact your tax cost. You can then prepare accordingly. For example, if you’ve made an 83(b) election, be aware that you could be subject to a substantial increase in taxable ordinary income on IPO day, and if you’re holding incentive stock options (ISOs) it’s essential to be prepared for the possibility of alternative tax liabilities that are minimal.

A checklist for preparing an IPO must include guidance on the compliance requirements of regulatory compliance that come with an IPO that includes the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) registration and disclosure rules. The checklist for IPOs should contain all the steps required to prepare and submit your Draft Registration Statement/S-1 as well as submissions of both EDGAR files and iXBRL instances.