The capital that a corporation raises by issuing stock is referred to as contributed capital.
Stock represents a person s ownership interest in a corporation.
Transfer of ownership in a corporation is accomplished by selling shares of stock. There is no limit to the number of shares a corporation may authorize, and there is no minimum number of shares that actually must be issued. A corporation should authorize more shares than it plans to issue in case additional capital has to be raised in the future. A corporation can amend its articles of incorporation to authorize more shares, if necessary. Dividends on common stock are generally based on corporate profit rather than a stated amount, which can mean high returns in years when corporate profit is high.