Definition of Paid-in Capital
Paid-in capital is one of the major categories of stockholders' equity. Generally, paid-in capital reports the amount that a corporation received from its stockholders (or shareholders) in exchange for the newly issued shares of its capital stock.
Paid-in capital is also referred to as contributed capital and as permanent capital.
Definition of Retained Earnings
Generally, retained earnings is the cumulative amount of after-tax net income earned by the corporation since its inception minus the dividends that have been distributed to its stockholders since the corporation began.
