
Authorized Shares Form
Use a Authorized Shares template to make your document workflow more streamlined.
What the authorized shares form records
An Authorized Shares Form records the maximum number and classes of shares a corporation is permitted to issue under its formation documents or governing state filing. It gives owners, directors, investors, and filing professionals a focused record of the corporation’s equity authorization before shares are issued. The completed form should match the corporation’s charter, amendment, or Secretary of State filing. With signNow, a team can upload the form, place fields for the responsible signers, collect signatures, and preserve the signed copy and audit trail for corporate records.
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Organizations seek alternatives when they need different pricing models, stronger native automation, simpler bulk affidavit workflows, or more flexible identity-verification options than those available in a legacy envelope-based vendor.

Business types that use this form
The form is most useful wherever a corporation must document its authorized equity structure and preserve approval evidence.
Solo founders use the form to organize authorized share information before opening a corporate bank account, documenting an initial equity plan, or asking counsel to review formation records. Corporate legal teams use it to coordinate director approvals, charter amendments, and investor diligence while preserving a controlled signed copy instead of circulating inconsistent email attachments. Enterprise finance and governance teams use it alongside capitalization records, board materials, and state filings when multiple signers must approve or confirm the corporation’s authorized share structure.
These tasks are executed by both individual contributors and centralized administrators depending on organizational policy and required controls.
Who uses the authorized shares form
Founders and directors
Corporation founders and directors use the form to document authorized share limits before approving issuances, amendments, or equity transactions. It helps keep the signed record aligned with the company’s charter and state corporate filing.
Corporate professionals
Corporate attorneys, paralegals, and finance teams use it when organizing capitalization records, coordinating approvals, or sending an authorized-shares record to investors and other transaction participants.
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How the form workflow works
The signNow workflow moves the Authorized Shares Form from an editable corporate template to a signed, traceable record.
Upload form: Upload the corporate template to signNow. Review fields: Auto-detect fillable fields and review placements. Send for signing: Assign corporate signers and send invitations. Archive record: Store the signed form with its audit trail.
Complete the authorized shares form
Prepare the corporate record carefully, then use signNow to collect signatures and preserve the completed version.
Upload:
Upload the Authorized Shares Form to signNow. Prepare:
Review detected fields and add missing roles. Send:
Enter signer details and send invitations. Complete:
Collect signatures and download the completed record.
Recommended workflow settings
Use controlled signing, a complete audit trail, and secure record storage for every Authorized Shares Form.
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Authentication method | Email verification with SMS OTP |
| Signature type | Typed or drawn electronic signature |
| Audit trail | Enable signNow audit trail |
| Document retention | Retain with corporate records |
| Encryption | AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2/1.3 in transit |
Key features for this form
signNow connects field preparation, signer routing, audit evidence, and record export around the Authorized Shares Form workflow.
Field preparation
Upload the Authorized Shares Form and use detected fields to prepare share counts, class information, dates, and signer assignments before sending.
Signer routing
Route the corporate record to founders, directors, officers, or counsel in a defined signing order when the approval process requires sequential review.
Audit trail
Capture signer actions, timestamps, and document history so the completed form has supporting evidence for internal corporate-record review.
Reusable templates
Use reusable templates when the corporation repeats the same authorized-shares workflow for amendments, subsidiaries, or governance documentation.
Mobile signing
Collect signatures through desktop or mobile workflows while keeping the Authorized Shares Form in one controlled signing process.
Record export
Download the signed form and completion evidence for storage with the charter, board approvals, and related capitalization records.
Best practices for completing the form
Accurate corporate records depend on matching the form to governing documents, assigning the right signers, and preserving evidence of execution.
Match the charter before sending
Assign authorized corporate signers
Preserve the signed evidence package
Control revisions after execution
Common completion challenges
Entering an authorized share count that differs from the corporation’s charter can create conflicting capitalization records and delay corporate approvals. Assigning the form to an employee without documented authority can weaken evidence that the corporation approved the recorded share authorization. Leaving class names or voting rights blank can make the signed record difficult to reconcile with the governing corporate documents. Sharing the completed form without its audit trail can make later review of signer identity, timestamps, and document history less complete.
Authorized shares form troubleshooting
These answers address field preparation, electronic-signature validity, plan selection, and evidence preservation for this corporate record.
Upload the Authorized Shares Form as a PDF and check whether signNow detected every intended field. Add or reposition fields manually before assigning the form to corporate signers, then preview the recipient experience.
The Business plan includes templates, audit trails, and legally binding eSignatures at $8/user/month with annual billing. If the workflow needs bulk send, Business Premium is listed at $15/user/month annually.
For a consumer-facing electronic transaction, ESIGN requires disclosure of the right to receive paper records and the ability to access electronic records under 15 U.S.C. §7001(c). Review whether that rule applies before sending.
ESIGN and UETA generally recognize electronic signatures when intent, consent, attribution, and record retention are established. State corporate filing rules and the company’s governing documents may impose additional requirements.
Compare the completed form with the corporation’s charter or approved amendment before signing. signNow can preserve the executed record and audit trail, but it does not determine whether the entered share authorization is legally correct.
Use signNow’s audit trail and export the signed PDF after completion. Retain them with corporate records and related approvals so reviewers can connect the signer actions with the final Authorized Shares Form.
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