Meaning of share capital denotes the amount of capital raised by the issue of shares, by a company. It is collected through the issue of shares and remains with the company till its liquidation. Share capital is borrowed capital of the company, since it is the money of the shareholder and the shareholder are partly of the company. The total share capital is divided into small parts and each part is called a share. Share is the smallest part of the total capital of a company. Advantages of share capital: Meaning of Share capital is borrowed capital of the company. It is actually the money of the shareholders and since the shareholders are partly the owners of the company. It remains with the company till its liquidation. Meaning of Share capital does not include any charge on the assets of the company. Share capital also gives its shareholders the benefit of limited liability as the liability of its shareholders is limited up to the face value of each share. Share capital enables its shareholders to have a meaningful participation in the expansion of corporate sector. It raises the credit worthiness of the company. Types of share capital Authorized capital: Meaning of share capital (authorized) of a company (sometimes referred to as the authorized share capital, registered capital or nominal capital) is the maximum amount of share capital that the company is authorized by its constitution to issue (allocate) to shareholders. Part of the authorized capital can (and frequently does) remain unissued. This number can be changed by shareholders’ approval. The part of the authorized capital which has been issued to shareholders is referred to as the issued share capital of the company. Issued shares: Meaning of share capital (Issued) is the quantity of shares of a corporation, which have been allocated (allotted) and are subsequently held by shareholders. The act of creating new issued shares is called issuance, allocation or allotment. In simple words it is the creation of shares and their transfer to a subscriber. After allotment, a subscriber becomes a shareholder. The number of issued shares is a part of the total Authorized Capital. It is that amount which the BOD &/or shareholders have agreed to allocate.  Meaning of share capital can be explained by a simple formula given below Shares Authorised = Shares issued +Shares Unissued     Unissued capital: It is that part of the authorized capital which is not being issued to the general public. Subscribed capital: It is that part of the issued capital which is actually subscribed by the general public. Unsubscribed capital: It is that part of the issued capital which is not subscribed by the general public. Subscribed capital is the portion of the issued capital, which has been subscribed by all the investors including the public. This may be less than the issued share capital as there may be capital for which no applications have been received yet (“unsubscribed capital”).   Called up share capital is the total amount of issued capital for which the shareholders are required to pay. This may be less than the subscribed capital as the company may ask shareholders to pay by installments.   Paid up share capital is the amount of share capital paid by the shareholders. This may be less than the called up capital as payments may be in installments (“calls-in-arrears”) Unpaid up capital: It is that part of the called up capital which is not being paid by the shareholders.. Unpaid up capital is also known as Calls in Arrears.