
A budget is a financial plan for a defined period, often one year. It may also include planned sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities, costs and expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. Companies, governments, families, and other organizations use it to express strategic plans of activities or events in measurable terms.

The American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM) was a US-based board of standards, certifying body, and accreditation council focused on the finance sector and management professionals. It was criticized in The Wall Street Journal as having low requirements for the credentials it confers and for excessive claims of links to other associations and industry experts. AAFM was superseded by the Global Academy of Finance and Management.

The Financial Management Service was a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury and provided several financial services for the federal government. On October 7, 2012, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner issued a directive merging the FMS with the Bureau of the Public Debt to form the new Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

In general usage, a financial plan is a comprehensive evaluation of an individual's current pay and future financial state by using current known variables to predict future income, asset values and withdrawal plans. This often includes a budget which organizes an individual's finances and sometimes includes a series of steps or specific goals for spending and saving in the future. This plan allocates future income to various types of expenses, such as rent or utilities, and also reserves some income for short-term and long-term savings. A financial plan is sometimes referred to as an investment plan, but in personal finance, a financial plan can focus on other specific areas such as risk management, estates, college, or retirement.

International financial management, also known as international finance, is the management of finance in an international business environment; that is, trading and making money through the exchange of foreign currency. The international financial activities help the organizations to connect with international dealings with overseas business partners- customers, suppliers, lenders etc. It is also used by government organization and non-profit institutions.

Managerial finance is the branch of finance that concerns itself with the managerial application of finance techniques and theory, emphasizing the financial aspects of managerial decisions. The techniques addressed are drawn in the main from managerial accounting and corporate finance; the former allow management to better understand, and hence act on, financial information relating to profitability and performance; the latter are about optimizing the overall financial-structure.

In economics, profit maximization is the short run or long run process by which a firm may determine the price, input and output levels that lead to the highest profit. Neoclassical economics, currently the mainstream approach to microeconomics, usually models the firm as maximizing profit.

Strategic financial management is the study of finance with a long term view considering the strategic goals of the enterprise. Financial management is nowadays increasingly referred to as "Strategic Financial Management" so as to give it an increased frame of reference.