Finance
Finance studies and addresses the ways in which
individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and
use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks
entailed in their projects. The term "finance" may thus
incorporate any of the following:
- 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.). Many businesses choose to Finance Business Equipment rather than purchase outright
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 entity whose income 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.
A specific example of corporate finance is the sale
of stock by a company to institutional investors like investment
banks, who in turn generally sell it to the public. The stock gives
whoever owns it part ownership in that company. If you buy one share
of XYZ Inc, and they have 100 shares outstanding (held by investors),
you are 1/100 owner of that company. Of course, in return for the
stock, the company receives cash, which it uses to expand its business
in a process called "equity financing". Equity financing
mixed with the sale of bonds (or any other debt financing) is called
the company's capital structure.
Finance is used by individuals (personal finance),
by governments (public finance), by businesses (corporate finance),
as well as by a wide variety of organizations including schools
and non-profit organizations. In general, the goals of each of the
above activities are achieved through the use of appropriate financial
instruments, with consideration to their institutional setting.
Finance is one of the most important aspects
of business management. Without proper financial planning a new
enterprise
Type of finanace
- Personal finance
- Corporate finance
- Finance of states
- Financial economics
- Financial mathematics
- Experimental finance
- Quantitative
behavioral finance
| |
 |