I'm looking for responses from people who have gone through this before. Let's say I'm looking to lateral from my current company (company A) to a different company (company B) doing the exact same job as I am currently. For example, at my company, you receive your bonus 4 months after the end of year performance upon which it is based. Let's assume company B has the same bonus schedule and you lateral immediately after you receive your bonus. That means that in your new role, your bonus will be prorated to your start date and you will effectively lose out on 4 months of bonus.
So herein the question: do you accept the 4-month bonus loss and justify the move with a higher base? Or do you negotiate a signing bonus to cover the 4-month bonus loss? What have you monkeys done in the past?