An Overview of Finance Major Specializations

Finance is a very broad field of area of study that basically deals with the analysis, creation, management, and implementation of financial instruments and concepts used for financial investment and planning. Basically, finance is the language of money as it is expressed and processed through banks, the main lending institutions in a country, financial organizations such as mutual funds, credit unions, banks, and other money managers. All these institutions work on the basic principle of lending money. It has always been an integral part of all types of economic activity and is the source through which money is lent to people or businesses for purposes such as purchasing homes, making investments, financing production and development projects, paying wages, and so on.

Besides all these purposes, finance also includes other important activities such as making the inventory, budgeting, risk management, and financial planning. Accounting is one of the important aspects of finance. The process of accounting involves the collection of information in the financial records that are needed to perform these various financial activities. In accounting, separate units of account are created for financial reporting like sales order recording, asset management, liability recording, and financial balance. The modern function of accounting is to create statements of accounts that provide information on the day-to-day financial activity of the enterprise.

Finance is, basically, the science of obtaining maximum returns from the limited resources that are available. The purpose of financial services is to help individuals and enterprises in their monetary needs by providing them with feasible investment options. Basically, finance majors study various aspects of finance in order to be prepared to enter into professions that deal specifically with financial management. A few examples of areas of specialization in finance include banking, economics, investment banking, venture capital, international finance, mortgage banking, and financial advising.