Whats the Difference Between Issued and Authorized Shares?
The board of directors control the issuance of stock. Authorized shares is the total number of shares of stock that the board of directors are “authorized” to issue to shareholders. The board may issue all the shares now, or issue some now, and some later. Authorized shares become issued shares when “issued” or distributed to a stockholder. Shares that are not issued are usually called authorized but UN-issued shares. UN-issued shares belong to the corporation and are not considered for shareholders’ ownership percentages.
Authorized shares is the total number of shares of stock that the board of directors are “authorized” to issue to shareholders. The board may issue all the shares now, or issue some now, and some later. Authorized shares become issued shares when “issued” or distributed to a stockholder. Shares that are not issued are usually called authorized but unissued shares. Unissued shares belong to the corporation and are not considered for shareholders’ ownership percentages. There is no minimum number of shares that must be authorized in the articles of incorporation. One or more shares may be authorized. However, the corporation may not sell more shares than it is authorized to issue and it must receive consideration in exchange for its shares.
(back to top) The Board of Directors control the issuance of stock. Authorized shares is the total number of shares of stock that the board of directors are “authorized” to issue to shareholders. The board may issue all the shares now, or issue some now, and some later. Authorized shares become issued shares when “issued” or distributed to a stockholder. Shares that are not issued are usually called authorized but unissued shares. Unissued shares belong to the corporation and are not considered for shareholders’ ownership percentages. There is no minimum number of shares that must be authorized in the articles of incorporation. One or more shares may be authorized. However, the corporation may not sell more shares than it is authorized to issue and it must receive consideration in exchange for its shares.
The board of directors controls the issuance of stock. But the shareholders set the number of shares the directors are allowed to issue. Authorized shares is the total number of shares of stock that the board of directors are “authorized” to issue to shareholders. Authorized shares become issued shares when “issued” or distributed to a stockholder.
Wikipedia Issued shares is a term of law and finance for the quantity of shares of a corporation, which have been sold or awarded and are subsequently held by the shareholders. The number of issued shares usually a subset of the total authorized shares, which the board of directors and/or shareholders have agreed to distribute under certain circumstances.
