Table:
| Years ended August 31, | 2019 | 2018 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Outstanding, beginning of the year | 105,475 | 101,538 |
| Granted | 37,600 | 47,900 |
| Distributed | (44,470) | (35,892) |
| Cancelled | (26,780) | (8,071) |
| Outstanding, end of the year | 71,825 | 105,475 |
Paragraphs:
ISU plan
The Corporation offers to its executive officers and designated employees an Incentive Share Unit ("ISU") Plan. According to this plan, executive
officers and designated employees periodically receive a given number of ISUs which entitle the participants to receive subordinate voting shares of the Corporation after three years less one day from the date of grant.
The number of ISUs is based on the dollar value of the award and the average closing stock price of the Corporation for the previous twelve month period ending August 31. A trust was created for the purpose of purchasing these shares on the stock market in order to protect against stock price fluctuation and the Corporation instructed the trustee to purchase subordinate voting shares of the Corporation on the stock market. These shares are purchased and are held in trust for the participants until they are fully vested.
The trust, considered as a special purpose entity, is consolidated in the Corporation’s financial statements with the value of the acquired subordinate voting shares held in trust under the ISU Plan presented in reduction of share capital.
Under the ISU Plan, the following ISUs were granted by the Corporation and are outstanding at August 31:
A compensation expense of $2,046,000 ($2,461,000 in 2018) was recorded for the year ended August 31, 2019 related to this plan.
Question:
What was the increase / (decrease) in the Outstanding, beginning of the year from 2018 to 2019?
Answer: 105475 - 101538 = 3937