Functions defined with a name (using sub function_name {  ... } syntax are always global. That means, they have a name in a package and can be called from anywhere else.

Named subs are also used as class or object methods. The only difference between a method and a named subroutine is the first argument passed: if you call methods on an object the first argument passed will be the object and if you call a method on a class the first argument will be that class (i.e. the name of the package).

package MyPackage;
sub new {
  return bless {},shift; # create an empty object of class MyPackage
}

sub called {
  my (@args) = @_;
  print "called with args @args\n";
}

package main;

MyPackage::called(1,2,3);  # call as a normal subroutine

MyPackage->called(1,2,3);  # call as a class method

my $object = MyPackage->new(); # create object
$object->called(1,2,3);    # call as an object method.
[download]

See also perlsub and perltoot.

Update: and subroutines always return whatever is passed to return() or failing that, the value of the last expression.

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