In Depth
The Summary Compensation Table (SCT) is the standardized disclosure format mandated by SEC Regulation S-K Item 402 that presents the total compensation of a company's named executive officers (NEOs) in a consistent, comparable format. The NEOs include the principal executive officer (typically the CEO), the principal financial officer (CFO), and the three other most highly compensated executive officers. The SCT reports compensation for the most recent three fiscal years and includes seven compensation columns: salary (fixed cash), bonus (discretionary cash payments, rarely used for most companies), stock awards (grant-date fair value of RSUs, PSUs, and restricted stock), option awards (grant-date fair value using Black-Scholes or binomial models), non-equity incentive plan compensation (formulaic cash bonuses), change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings, and all other compensation (perquisites, company 401(k) contributions, insurance premiums, and other benefits). The final "Total" column sums all elements. The SCT is accompanied by several supplementary tables including Grants of Plan-Based Awards, Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End, Option Exercises and Stock Vested, Pension Benefits, and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation. Together, these tables provide a comprehensive picture of what each executive was paid, what equity remains unvested, and what potential payments exist under various termination scenarios. The SCT is the most widely cited source of executive compensation data in media coverage, academic research, and governance analysis.