Corporations are owned by shareholders. Shares of stock can have “par value” or “no par value’ — that is, a predetermined value of one share as set by the issuer at the time of incorporation.
Most corporations and shareholders opt for shares with “no par value’, and they do so for a variety of reasons.
The primary reason most often cited for choosing “no par value” is that the shares\’ value is based upon the value of the corporation as a going concern, so there is no need to establish a stated or “par value’ in advance or at the time of incorporation.
Simply because your shares are listed as “no par value’ does not mean that your ownership does not have value; it simply means that there is no “preset’ value associated with the shares.
Further, shares can be assigned “no par value” to start, but later be sold to the shareholders at a set dollar value upon the opening of the corporate books.
The subject of par value is covered in depth as part of the content of Standard Legal’s Incorporation legal forms software.