The number of authorized shares is specified in the company's articles of incorporation. You can also see the number in the capital accounts section on the balance sheet.
Authorised Share Capital It is the maximum amount of the capital for which shares can be issued by the Company to shareholders. The Authorised capital is mentioned in the Memorandum of Association of the Company under the heading of “Capital Clause”. It is even decided prior to incorporation of the Company.
Authorized shares are the total number of shares a company can legally issue, while issued shares are the number the company has issued to date. The number of authorized and issued shares may be the same or different, in which case there would be more authorized than issued shares.
The number of issued shares is recorded on a company's balance sheet as capital stock or owners' equity, while the shares outstanding (issued shares minus any shares in the treasury) are listed on the company's quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Authorized Shares For example, a corporation with three owners may decide to authorize 1,000 shares and issue 250 shares to each owner (750 shares issued). This leaves 250 shares to issue to future investors or partners.
Share and shareholder information appears on the Companies House register. This means anyone who is interested can freely (and relatively simply) look up a company on the Companies House register and see how many shares are in the company, the type of shares these are (i.e., what class they are), and who owns them.
Authorized shares refer to maximum number of shares that a corporation is allowed to issue. This number is usually referenced in a company's Articles of Incorporation. The only way to increase authorized shares is to make an amendment to the aforementioned document.
The calculation There should be a "common stock" section, which can tell you the number of issued shares as well as the number of authorized shares. Divide the number of issued shares by the number of authorized shares, and then multiply by 100 to convert to a percentage.