finance the management and allocation of capital with the objective of investing, forecasting, budgeting, saving, borrowing, lending, and so on. This uses accounting information to achieve these objectives.(the study of managing and allocating funds at the personal or business level.) Accounting the system of recording, reporting, and summarizing past financial information and transactions. capital a financial asset that can be used by a firm or individual. Ex: Machinery or cash held by a firm. There are three primary areas in the world of finance: Business finance Investments Financial institutions Business finance an area of finance that deals with sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of a firm for its owners, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. It is also known as managerial finance, financial management, and organizational finance.(an area of finance that involves activities used to increase shareholder wealth.) capital structure the mixture of debt and equity used to finance a firm investments involves deciding which assets to invest in to create wealth in the future. The most common responsibility within this field is that of an asset manager, who invests funds in an attempt to create more wealth and earn positive returns.(an area of finance that deals with investment allocation and asset pricing.) asset pricing The process of valuing assets