"Authorized shares" refers to the number of shares the corporation is allowed to issue under its certificate or articles of incorporation. Authorizing and Issuing​​ Authorizing is the same as creating.If you authorize 100 shares, you are creating 100 shares of stock. Issued shares are drawn from the total pool of authorized shares and can never exceed the number of authorized shares. In California, a corporation must authorize at least one share but may authorize any number. There is a difference between "authorized" shares and "issued" shares. Outstanding shares are shares of stock that have been issued. Authorized shares are the maximum number of shares a corporation can sell, give away, etc. When a company sells shares of stock, those shares of stock are said to be: O Authorized shares O Issued shares O Outstanding shares O Treasury shares. A business entity can be formed in California online at bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov.