An issuer does not need a different firm for every task, but it does need a clear answer to who owns each decision. A provider list becomes useful when it explains scope, authority, and handoffs.
Begin with the offering you intend to run. Your proposed security, audience, exemption, and investor process determine the work. The SEC’s capital preparation guide identifies experienced advisers and management time as part of readiness. Hiring providers does not remove the company’s role in supplying accurate information and making business decisions.
Start with the issuer’s responsibilities
Management needs to explain the business, approve the proposed terms through the appropriate company process, and provide reliable records. Finance supplies financial information and tracks the capital the business needs. Someone must also manage the offering calendar and resolve questions that span providers.
Choose an internal offering owner with authority to get answers. That person need not make every legal or accounting judgment. Their job is to know which judgment is needed, who makes it, and whether it has been completed.
Map work to the right role
Use this responsibility worksheet to discuss engagements. It is not a universal provider requirement for every Reg A or Reg D offering.
| Role | Work to define | Boundary to clarify |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer leadership | Terms, business facts, approvals, use of proceeds, and acceptance authority | Who can authorize a change or closing? |
| Securities counsel | Exemption analysis, documents, communications review, and filing arrangements | Which filings, states, and later updates are included? |
| Accounting professionals | Financial preparation and any required audit | What records and management input are needed? |
| Broker-dealer, if engaged | The contracted securities activities and investor-review responsibilities | What does the engagement include and exclude? |
| Marketing team | Audience development, assets, and permitted campaign execution | Who reviews securities communications and compensation arrangements? |
| Payment or escrow providers | Funds flow, settlement, refunds, and any escrow instructions | Who controls funds and authorizes their release? |
| Ownership-record provider | Issuance records, transfer procedures, and any transfer-agent work | What information must arrive after each closing? |
| Issuance | Offering pages, checkout, signatures, dashboards, and data exports | Which workflow and integrations are in scope? |
For each row, add the person’s name, contact, deliverable, and backup. Avoid leaving a row assigned only to “the platform.”
Does every offering need a broker-dealer?
There is no blanket answer based only on calling the raise Reg A or Reg D. The activities of the issuer, its personnel, and other participants matter. Issuers generally are not brokers simply because they sell their own securities, but people soliciting investors or receiving transaction-related compensation may raise registration questions. The SEC’s broker-dealer resource explains these distinctions.
Review the proposed role and compensation before hiring a finder, promoter, or fundraising consultant. A job title or software agreement does not establish an exemption from broker registration. The more detailed SEC registration guide describes the relevant activities and limits.
Define handoffs before the first investor arrives
An investor may need help with an identity mismatch, signing authority, or a pending payment. Each problem needs a route to the person who can resolve it. Support can explain a missing step without deciding whether the investor legally qualifies.
For Reg A and Reg D offerings using Issuance, the offering’s broker-dealer, or the issuer where no broker-dealer handles the review, reviews the relevant investor information and makes the applicable decisions. The software helps those people work with the records.
Agree on document changes too. Who sends the approved replacement? Who confirms it appears in the correct offering? Who determines whether existing investors need new information or signatures? Those answers prevent an updated page from drifting away from the legal documents.
A coordination example
Fictional Cedar Manufacturing has counsel, an accountant, and a marketing agency. Its first prospective entity investor asks to subscribe under a different legal name from the person who started checkout.
The issuer’s offering owner sends the issue to the designated reviewer, who determines what authority and eligibility information is needed. The marketing agency continues using approved materials. The software records the investment’s progress, while the authorized parties resolve the question before acceptance.
How Issuance fits
Issuance provides a shared operational view through investment information, signature status, team permissions, and a broker review interface. Your team can use data exports to support the handoffs agreed with its providers.
Reg A and Reg D issuers arrange filing work with their own advisers. For Reg CF, Issuance Express has a separate funding portal role and helps build and file Form C. Bring your responsibility worksheet to an Issuance platform conversation so everyone understands the proposed scope.