By ALICIA TUOVILA

Reviewed by MARGARET JAMES

Fact checked by KIRSTEN ROHRS SCHMITT

编写人：ALICIA TUOVILA

审核人：MARGARET JAMES

事实核查人：KIRSTEN ROHRS SCHMITT

What Is Share Capital?

什么是股本？

Share capital is the money a company raises by issuing common or preferred stock. The amount of share capital or equity financing a company has can change over time with additional public offerings.

股本是公司通过发行普通股或优先股筹集到的资金。公司拥有的股本或股权融资金额会因额外的公开募股而发生变化。

The term share capital can mean slightly different things depending on the context. Accountants have a much narrower definition and their definition rules on the balance sheets of public companies. It means the total amount raised by the company in sales of shares.

不同的语境，股本一词所代表的含义略有不同。对于会计师而言，股本涵盖的范围相对而言更窄，相关定义规则适用于上市公司的资产负债表，意为公司出售股票筹集的资金总额。

Understanding Share Capital

了解股本

Share capital is reported by a company on its balance sheet in the shareholder's equity section. The information may be listed in separate line items depending on the source of the funds. These usually include a line for common stock, another for preferred stock, and a third for additional paid-in capital.

公司会在资产负债表中的“股东权益”部分列示股本。根据资金来源，相关信息可能会在单独的行项目中列示，通常包括普通股、优先股和其他实缴资本。

Common stock and preferred stock shares are reported at their par value at the time of sale. In modern business, the "par" or face value is a nominal figure. The actual amount received by a company in excess of par value is reported as "additional paid-in capital."

普通股和优先股按出售时的票面价值列报。在现代商业中，票面价值是名义数字。公司实际收到的超过票面价值的金额被列报为“额外缴入资本”。

Important: On a balance sheet, the proceeds of stock sales are listed at their nominal par value while the "additional paid-in capital" line reflects the real price paid over par for the shares.

重要信息：在资产负债表中，出售股票获得的收益按其票面价值列报，“额外缴入资本”反映的是针对股票实际支付的超过票面价值的价格。

The amount of share capital reported by a company includes only payments for purchases made directly from the company. The later sales and purchases of those shares and the rise or fall of their prices on the open market have no effect on the company's share capital.

公司列报的股本金额仅包括直接从公司购买股票而支付的款项。后续买卖股票以及公开市场上股价的上涨或下跌均不会对公司的股本产生影响。

A company may opt to have more than one public offering after its initial public offering (IPO). The proceeds of those later sales would increase the share capital on its balance sheet.

公司在首次公开募股（IPO）后可能会选择进行多次公开募股。后续出售股票获得的收益会引起资产负债表上的股本增加。

Types of Share Capital

股本类别

The term "share capital" is often used to mean slightly different things depending on the context. When discussing the amount of money a company can legally raise through the sale of stock, there are several categories of share capital.

在不同的语境下，“股本”一词的含义通常略有不同。当论及公司可以通过出售股票合法筹集的资金数额时，股本可分为几个类别。

Accountants have a much narrower definition.

对会计师而言，股本涵盖的范围相对而言更窄。

Authorized Share Capital

法定股本

Before a company can raise equity capital, it must obtain permission to execute the sale of stock. The company must specify the total amount of equity it wants to raise and the base value of its shares, called the par value.

公司在筹集股本之前，必须获得出售股票的许可，必须明确说明其想要筹集的股本总额以及股票的基础价值（称为“票面价值”）。

The maximum amount of share capital a company is allowed to raise is called its authorized capital.

允许公司筹集的最高股本数额称为“法定股本”。

This does not limit the number of shares a company may issue but it puts a ceiling on the total amount of money that can be raised by the sale of those shares. For example, if a company obtains authorization to raise $5 million and its stock has a par value of $1, it may issue and sell up to 5 million shares of stock.

公司可以发行的股票数量不会受到限制，但是对通过出售股票可以筹集的资金总额设定了上限。比如，如果公司获授权筹集500万美元，且其股票的票面价值为1美元，那么该公司最多可发行和出售500万股股票。

Issued Share Capital

已发行股本

The total value of the shares a company elects to sell to investors is called its issued share capital. The par value of the issued share capital cannot exceed the value of the authorized share capital. Some companies—depending on where they are located—can issue investor called-up shares with the promise to be paid in full at a later date.

公司选择向投资者出售的股票总价值被称为已发行股本。已发行股本的票面价值不得超过法定股本的价值。某些公司（取决于所在位置）可向投资者发行认缴股本，投资者承诺日后全额支付。

Share Capital on a Balance Sheet

资产负债表中的股本

The technical accounting definition of share capital is the par value of all equity securities, including common and preferred stock, sold to shareholders.

在会计领域，股本是指向股东出售的所有股票（包括普通股和优先股）的票面价值。

However, people who are not accountants often include the price of the stock in excess of par value in the calculation of share capital. As noted, the par value of stock is nominal, typically $1 or less. So, the difference between the par value and the real sale price, called paid-in capital, is usually considerable. Nevertheless, it is not technically included in share capital or capped by authorized capital limits.

但是，除会计师以外，人们在计算股本时经常会计入股票超过票面价值的价格。如前所述，股票的票面价值为名义价值，通常为1美元或少于1美元。因此，票面价值与实际售价（即实缴股本）之间的差额通常相当大。不过，严格来说，不会包含在股本中，也不会受法定股本限额的限制。

Here's an example, and how it appears on a balance sheet: Assume company ABC issues 1,000 shares. Each share has a par value of $1 and sells for $25. The company's accountant will record $1,000 as share capital and the remaining $24,000 as additional paid-in capital.

下面举个例子，在资产负债表的列报方式为：假设ABC公司发行了1,000股股票，每股票面价值为1美元，售价25美元，那么公司的会计师会将1,000美元记作股本，余下的24,000美元记作额外缴入资本。