ISO planning combines exercise timing, cash needs, AMT exposure, and the tax treatment of a later sale.
Review the grant and history
Open the client → Equity. Check grant date, strike price, expiration, vesting schedule, completed exercises, and remaining shares. Reconcile exercise details with the client's records, including Form 3921 where applicable.
Model an exercise and sale
Create or open a manual trading plan.
Review the option inventory and enter the proposed exercise.
If modeling a sale, select the intended shares and sale date.
Review exercise cost, sale treatment, and the plan's tax summary.
Open Tax and review AMT Additions & Calculation, payments, and the relevant years.
Interpret the tax results
An ISO exercise can create an AMT adjustment even when it does not create regular taxable income at exercise. A sale before the special holding requirements are satisfied can change the disposition's treatment. IRS Topic 427.
Review the actual dates and reported basis with the client's tax professional. An AMT credit balance in a projection is not a promise that the entire amount can be used in the next year.
Use Multi-Year View to review timing across years, and Cashflow to check exercise and tax funding. If a modeled sale is disqualified, follow Why an ISO sale is shown as disqualifying.