Finance is a rapidly growing discipline that examines the acquisition and allocation of financial resources. Where financial accounting measures past performance, Finance as a discipline is forward focused. It is largely about future planning for firms or investors. Finance consists of three interrelated subject areas: corporate finance studies how firms raise and efficiently utilise funds obtained from lenders and shareholders financial markets and institutions explores how the financial system facilitates the transfer of funds from savers and lenders to borrowers investment analysis studies how investors choose securities and asset classes for their investment portfolios. All of these areas assess the trade-off between risk and reward and the valuation of financial and capital assets.

Today it would be rare for a person to rise to the position of chief financial officer (CFO) without a strong grounding in both Accounting and Finance. There are also many other career opportunities for Finance graduates, with typical jobs including financial analyst, money market and foreign exchange dealer, loan analyst, equity analyst, risk analyst/manager, portfolio manager, financial planner, investment banker, and small-business manager.