The study of money and other assets;

* The management and control of those assets;

* Profiling and managing project risks;

* The science of managing money;

* As a verb, "to finance" is to provide funds for business or for an individual's large purchases (car, home, etc.).

The activity of finance is the application of a set of techniques that individuals and organizations (entities) use to manage their money, particularly the differences between income and expenditure and the risks of their investments.

An income that exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest the excess income. On the other hand, an entity whose income is less than its expenditure can raise capital by borrowing or selling equity claims, decreasing its expenses, or increasing its income. The lender can find a borrower, a financial intermediary, such as a bank or buy notes or bonds in the bond market. The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary pockets the difference.

A bank aggregates the activities of many borrowers and lenders. A bank accepts deposits from lenders, on which it pays the interest. The bank then lends these deposits to borrowers. Banks allow borrowers and lenders, of different sizes, to coordinate their activity. Banks are thus compensators of money flows in space.

Personal finance

Questions in personal finance revolve around

How much money will be needed by an individual (or by a family) at various points in the future?

Where will this money come from (e.g. savings or borrowing)?

How can people protect themselves against unforeseen events in their lives, and risk in financial markets?

How can family assets be best transferred across generations (bequests and inheritance)?

How do taxes (tax subsidies or penalties) affect personal financial decisions?

Personal financial decisions may involve paying for education, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars, buying insurance, e.g. health and property insurance, investing and saving for retirement.

Personal financial decisions may also involve paying for a loan.

Corporate finance

Managerial or corporate finance is the task of providing the funds for a corporation's activities. For small business, this is referred to as SME finance. It generally involves balancing risk and profitability, while attempting to maximize an entity's wealth and the value of its stock.

Long term funds are provided by ownership equity and long-term credit, often in the form of bonds. The balance between these forms the company's capital structure. Short-term funding or working capital is mostly provided by banks extending a line of credit.

On the bond market, borrowers package their debt in the form of bonds. The borrower receives the money that it borrows by selling the bond, which includes a promise to repay the value of the bond with interest. The purchaser of a bond can resell it so that the actual recipient of the interest payments can change over time. Bonds allow lenders to recoup the value of their loan by simply selling the bond.