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Portfolio — Troubleshooting & FAQs
"Shareholder does not belong to the same company as this round"
You're trying to record a shareholder's participation in a funding round that belongs to a different company. Double-check you're on the correct company's cap table before recording shares.
"Grants can only be made against a shareholder of type option_pool"
You're trying to grant options against a shareholder who isn't an option pool (for example, a founder or investor record). Create or select an option pool shareholder first, then grant against that.
Why doesn't my company show an IRR?
IRR is calculated from the company's Investments, and the company page says what's missing:
- No entries: record the investments made in it.
- An entry needs a date: usually a realized total converted from before the ledger. Add its date (see Add a date to a converted entry).
- No stake value: add the company's ownership %.
Until then, an IRR entered by hand before the ledger is still shown, marked Entered by hand.
Why did my MOIC drop?
Multiples now use the value of your stake (current valuation × ownership %), not the company's whole valuation. A $31M company where you own 12% and invested $4M was shown at 7.75x; your stake is worth $3.72M, so it's 0.93x. The new figure is the right one. See How stake value and multiples work.
Why can't I edit Invested or Realized any more?
They're the totals of the company's investment ledger, so they always match the investments and realizations behind them. Record a follow-on, sale, or exit in the Investments card, or change the entry that's wrong.
The ownership % and the cap table disagree
The company page warns when the cap table gives your fund an ownership more than one percentage point away from the ownership %. Multiples use the ownership %. Update the ownership % (Edit) or the cap table, whichever is out of date.
For the check to find your fund, mark its shareholder: on the cap table's Ownership tab, open the row's menu and click Mark as the fund. It then works whatever the shareholder is called.
Are old tear sheets and letters updated?
No. Tear sheets and approved LP letters are records of what was shared, so their figures never change, including multiples made before stake values. Create a new tear sheet, or a new version of the letter, for corrected figures.
What happens if I delete a company?
Deleting a company permanently removes it and all of its cap table data — shareholders, funding rounds, and option grants. You'll be asked to confirm before this happens, and it can't be undone.
Does everyone on my team have the same access to Portfolio?
No. Every member can view the companies they have access to, but changing them depends on their role:
| Action | Who can do it |
|---|---|
| Add, edit, or delete companies and cap tables; upload documents; review and confirm figures; create and close data requests | Admin, Partner, Analyst |
| Read figures from a document | Admin, Partner, Analyst (needs Run Cairn Intelligence) |
| Link a company to funds | Admin |
| View companies, cap tables, and financials | Everyone, including Viewers |
Admins can also limit a member to specific funds. That member then only sees companies linked to those funds. See Settings — Overview & Concepts.
A teammate can't see a company I can see
They're probably limited to specific funds, and the company isn't linked to any of them. An Admin can link the company to a fund under Company info › Funds, or change the member's fund access under Settings › Team. Companies not linked to any fund are only visible to members with access to all funds.
Why is "Confirm figures" greyed out?
At least one item under Before you confirm is marked Must fix. Usually a line has no category: pick one, or tick Exclude. If the check says revenue is far from the company's usual level, check Amounts in (thousands vs. millions).
"This file has no readable text"
The file is probably a scanned PDF (an image of a page). Scanned PDFs aren't supported yet. Upload the original PDF or an Excel export instead.
"The file's contents don't match its type"
The file's extension doesn't match what's inside it, for example a renamed file. Save it again as a real PDF, .xlsx, or .csv file and upload that.
Why do some figures say "not recent"?
The company's latest confirmed month is more than three months old. Upload and confirm a newer document to bring it up to date.
Why don't I see a company's figures on the company page yet?
Only confirmed figures appear. If a document has been read but not confirmed, it shows Draft · needs review in the documents list; open it with Review and confirm.
Why does a company show "Too early" or "—" for Health?
— means the company has no confirmed figures yet. Too early means it has some, but not enough to judge: for example a single month without a runway, or too few months to compare trends. Confirm a few more months of figures.
Why does a company show "Not recent" when its figures look fine?
Its latest confirmed figures are more than three months old, so Cairn can't say how it's doing today. Upload and confirm a newer document.
Can my firm change the health thresholds?
Not yet. Every firm uses the same rules today, listed under How health is worked out.
Why isn't NRR part of health?
Net revenue retention needs customer-level figures, and Cairn reads profit and loss lines and KPIs, not customer data. Health uses runway, burn, and revenue trends instead.
I dismissed an alert and it came back
Each alert belongs to one month of figures. Dismissing hides it for that month only; when the company's next confirmed figures still cross the threshold, a new alert appears. Dismissing never affects anyone else.
Why don't I see any alerts?
Alerts need confirmed figures. A company with no confirmed months, or one that's exited or written off, never raises alerts. If you're limited to certain funds, you only see alerts for companies linked to them. An Admin may also have turned an alert off under Settings › Notifications.
Can I get alerts by email?
Not yet. Alerts appear under the bell in Cairn. Email alerts are listed as coming soon on Settings › Notifications.
How are alerts different from health?
Health is a status every company with figures has, shown in the Command Center and on the company page, using the same rules for every firm. Alerts use your firm's own thresholds, can be switched off, and come to you under the bell so you don't have to go looking.
The current valuation changed after I added a valuation
The current valuation is always the most recent dated valuation. If the valuation you added is newer than all the others, it becomes current, and MOIC and the other metrics update with it. To add history without changing the current valuation, date it before the latest one.
Why can't I date a valuation in the future?
A valuation records what the company was worth on a day that has already happened. Add it on or after that date instead.
I edited the valuation twice today but there's only one point
Each date holds one valuation, so a second change on the same day replaces the first. The history keeps the last value you entered that day.
I added a valuation but my tear sheet didn't change
Tear sheets are fixed when they're made, so later changes never alter them. Create a new tear sheet for the same date to include the new valuation, then delete the old one if you no longer need it.
Why does my tear sheet say "No confirmed figures up to this date"?
The company had no confirmed monthly figures on or before the tear sheet's date. Read and confirm a board pack or P&L for that period, then create a new tear sheet.
"The balance sheet doesn't balance"
In at least one month, the assets Cairn read differ from liabilities plus equity by more than 1%. Usually a line has no category, is excluded, or is in the wrong one (for example, a liability categorized as an asset). It's a warning, so you can still confirm, which is useful when a pack shows only part of its balance sheet.
Why does the company show a monthly burn it never reported?
When a company doesn't report burn, Cairn works it out from its cash flow statement: the cash used by operating and investing activities that month. If the company later reports burn, the reported figure is used instead.
Why is equity negative?
Equity includes the company's accumulated losses, so an early-stage company that has spent more than it has raised can have negative equity. Cairn stores it as reported and doesn't flag it.
Can Cairn email the request to the company?
Not yet. Cairn makes the link, and you send it from your own email: the envelope icon opens your email with the message filled in. Automatic emails and reminders may come later.
The company says its link doesn't work
The page tells them why:
- "This request is closed": the request was closed, or it's more than 60 days past its due date. Create a new request and send its link.
- "This link isn't valid": the link was replaced with New link, or it was copied incompletely. Copy the current link from the request and send it again.
A file a company sent says it couldn't be read
The request shows the reason. Usually it's a scanned PDF (see "This file has no readable text"), or the read didn't finish. The file is on the company's page either way: open the company, find the document under Financials, and click Read figures, or ask the company to send an Excel export instead.
Do figures a company types in count straight away?
No. They arrive as a draft reading with the categories already chosen. Someone on your team still reviews and confirms them before they appear on the company page, in the Command Center, or in reports.
Does a data request use AI credits?
Reading each file a company uploads does, the same as clicking Read figures. Typed-in figures don't.
"Q3 2026 figures are already requested from …"
That company already has an open request for the same period. Send its existing link, or close that request first if you want a new one.
Why is my company under Unassigned on the Geography page?
It has no HQ country. Set it with Set country in the Unassigned notice, or in the company's Edit form. Cairn doesn't work out a country from a city, so an HQ location of "Toronto" alone isn't enough.
Why isn't my country shaded on the map?
Some countries are too small to draw on a world map, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malta. They're listed under the map ("Too small to show on this map") and always appear in the table. Click one to see its holdings.
Why do the Geography totals change when I pick a fund?
With a fund or vintage selected, each company shows only that fund's share of it, from the company's investments. A company held by two funds counts partly in each. See How geographic exposure is worked out.
Why does a country show no TVPI?
None of its companies has a stake value, usually because their ownership % is missing. Add the ownership % on each company. DPI still shows.
Does the concentration threshold save?
No. It's for the Geography page only and goes back to 25% when you leave.