shares Authorized, Issued, and Outstanding

• Authorized: Number of shares a company has available to issue based on the articles of incorporation.
• Issued: Shares for which the company has exchanged for economic value (cash, services, assets) from other parties.
• Outstanding: Shares issued by the company that are owned by all parties excluding the company itself. 
  • Outstanding = Issued - Treasury Stock 

Shares outstanding can therefore never exceed the number of shares issued, which, in turn, cannot exceed the number of shares authorized.    

Source: www.accountingcoach.com