Atherosclerotic plaque characterization by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) enables quantification of coronary artery disease (CAD) burden and type, which has been demonstrated as the strongest discriminant of future risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). To date, there are no clinically useful thresholds to assist with understanding a patient's disease burden and guide diagnosis and management, as there exists with coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring. The purpose of this manuscript is to establish clinically relevant plaque stages and thresholds based on evidence from invasive angiographic stenosis (ICA) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) data.