Financial data

Financial data refers to any information related to monetary transactions, financial performance, or economic status that is captured, processed, stored, or analyzed by a software application. This data is often used for decision-making, reporting, compliance, and operational purposes in business, accounting, banking, and other financial domains.

Financial data typically includes numerical values, timestamps, categorizations, and descriptive information about financial activities. It is structured to facilitate accurate calculations, analytics, and reporting, and is often governed by strict security and compliance standards.

Examples of financial data include the following:

• Transactional data: Records of individual financial transactions
• Account data: Information related to financial accounts, such as balances and account histories
• Budgeting and forecasting data: Data used for planning future financial outcomes
• Financial performance metrics: Key indicators of business or personal financial health
• Tax and compliance data: Data used for regulatory reporting and compliance
• Investment data: Information about investment portfolios, market performance, and securities
• Payroll data: Data related to salaries, wages, and employee compensation
• Expense and invoice data: Data capturing expenses and invoices for goods or services.

Financial data is highly sensitive and must be protected with encryption, access control, and compliance with standards like PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). It is typically stored in structured formats like databases or spreadsheets, with common file types including CSV, JSON, and XML.