Financial transaction

A financial transaction is an exchange or transfer of money, assets, or financial claims between parties. It may settle immediately or create obligations recorded for later settlement.

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Payer: A person or organization that provides money or another form of value in a transaction. The payer initiates or fulfills the transfer of value.
Authorization: Approval for a proposed transaction to proceed under specified rules or limits. Payment systems check authorization before allowing many transfers to continue.
Point of sale: The place or system where a merchant accepts payment for goods or services. Retail transactions are initiated and recorded at the point of sale.
Accounting entry: A recorded debit or credit representing an event in an organization’s accounts. An entry records a transaction but is not the exchange itself.
Payee: A person or organization designated to receive money or another form of value. The payee is the counterpart receiving the transaction’s value.
Clearing: The process of transmitting, reconciling, and calculating obligations arising from financial transactions. Clearing determines what counterparties owe before settlement.
Securities trade: A purchase or sale of a financial security such as a share or bond. Trading transfers financial claims through specialized market infrastructure.
Financial obligation: A duty to pay money, deliver an asset, or perform another financially valued action. An obligation may exist before any transaction fulfills it.
Payment: The transfer of money or an accepted substitute to fulfill an obligation or purchase. Payment is the money-transfer form of a financial transaction.
Double-entry bookkeeping: An accounting system that records each transaction with equal debit and credit entries. Its paired entries preserve the accounting balance when value moves.