Shares Authorized
Shares Authorized is the total number of shares that one company is allowed to issue. The number is specified in company's article of incorporation and can be changed afterwards only by the vote of all shareholders.
Total number of shares authorized often can be found in the capital accounts section on the balance sheet.
In order to preserve opportunity to issue more shares in necessary and raise supplementary funds, company will always issue fewer shares than is actually allowed to.
Shares authorized are also known as authorized capital stock or authorized shares.
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