What is additional paid in capital in excess of par?

What is Additional Paid-In Capital?

Additional paid-in capital is any payment received from investors for stock that exceeds the par value of the stock. The concept applies to payments received for either common stock or preferred stock. Par value is typically set extremely low, so most of the amount paid by investors for stock will be recorded as additional paid-in capital. Par value is commonly set at $0.01, and is printed on the stock certificate. Low par values are used because many state governments mandate that shares cannot be sold at prices below their par values.

There is no change in the additional paid-in capital account when a company's shares are traded on a secondary market between investors, since the amounts exchanged during these transactions do not involve the company that issued the shares.

The additional paid-in capital account and the retained earnings account typically contain the largest balances in the equity section of the balance sheet.

How to Increase Additional Paid-In Capital

The recorded amount of additional paid-in capital can only increase when an issuer sells more stock to investors, where the price at which the shares are sold exceeds the par value of the shares. There is no impact on additional paid-in capital when the price of an issuer’s shares increases on a stock exchange, since these transactions between buyers and sellers do not involve the issuer.

Example of Additional Paid-In Capital

The board of directors of a business authorizes 10,000,000 shares of common stock at a par value of $0.01. The company then sells 1,000,000 of these shares for $5 each. To record the receipt of cash, the company records a debit of $5,000,000 to the cash account, $10,000 to the common stock account, and $4,990,000 to the additional paid-in capital account.

Terms Similar to Additional Paid-In Capital

Additional paid-in capital is also known as contributed capital in excess of par.

What is Capital in Excess of Par?

Capital in excess of par is the amount paid by investors to a company for its stock, in excess of the par value of the stock. Par value is the legal capital per share, and is usually printed on the face of the stock certificate. Since par value is usually a very small amount per share, such as $0.01, most of the amount paid by investors is usually classified as capital in excess of par. Some states allow for the issuance of stock that has no par value at all. In these cases, the capital in excess of par is the entire amount paid by investors to a company for its stock.

When stock trades among investors (such as on a stock exchange) there is no payment to the issuing entity, so there is no change in the amount of capital already recorded by the issuer.

The amount of capital in excess of par is recorded in the additional paid-in capital account, and has a credit balance. For example, if ABC Company sell 100,000 shares of its common stock for $5 per share, and the par value of each share is $0.01, then the amount of the capital in excess of par is $499,000 (100,000 shares x $4.99/share), and is recorded as follows:

Terms Similar to Capital in Excess of Par

Capital in excess of par is also known as the premium on common stock. 

Definition: Paid in Capital is the amount of cash or other assets that owners put into a company for stock. Notice that paid in capital can exist with either a contribution of cash or assets. This is particularly important for new and start up corporations.

A lot of time new companies don’t need cash as much as they need equipment. Investors can contribute equipment and receive stock in exchange. Whenever investors or current shareholders contribute money to a corporation, paid in capital is created, but what is paid in capital in excess of par?

Paid in capital in excess of par is essentially the difference between the fair market value paid for the stock and the stock’s par value. In other words, it’s the premium paid for an appreciated stock. Paid in capital in excess of par is created when investors pay more for their shares of stock than the par value.

Example

For instance, Joe decides to buy 100 shares of Orange Guitars, Inc. for $1,000. Orange Guitars, Inc. par value is only $1 per share. This means that Joe paid $9 per share more than the par value of the stock. This payment in excess of the par value is recorded in its own equity account called paid in capital in excess of par.

So Orange Guitars, Inc. would debit cash for the $1,000 and credit common stock for the $1 par value of $100 and credit paid in capital in excess of par for $900. Here is what the journal entry to record the stock issuance would look like.

What is additional paid in capital in excess of par?

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What is additional paid in capital in excess of par?

What is included in additional paid in capital?

Paid-in capital includes the par value of both common and preferred stock plus any amount paid in excess. Additional paid-in capital, as the name implies, includes only the amount paid in excess of the par value of stock issued during a company's IPO.

Is Paid in capital in excess of par a liabilities?

Any excess between the issuance price and the par value is recorded in the account called "paid in capital in excess of par" which means that the shares of stock are issued at a price greater than the par value. Paid in capital in excess of par is a component of the Shareholders' Equity.