# Post-termination exercise period

> Post-termination exercise period — How long a departing holder has to exercise vested options before they lapse — often 90 days, because an ISO exercised more than three months after employment ends is taxed as an NSO. A plan may allow longer; the options then lose ISO treatment, not validity.

Source: https://lopifi.com/glossary/post-termination-exercise-period
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

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**What is post-termination exercise period?** In accounting, post-termination exercise period means how long a departing holder has to exercise vested options before they lapse — often 90 days, because an ISO exercised more than three months after employment ends is taxed as an NSO. A plan may allow longer; the options then lose ISO treatment, not validity.

## Also known as

- PTEP

## Words this system refuses for it

- vesting period
- cliff

- **Category:** Equity & financing
- **Specified in:** [Lexicon](https://lopifi.com/md/docs/domain/11-lexicon)
- **Related:** period