如果你想从中文的角度去理解finance，我觉得是走错路了。Finance这个词放在金融业就译成金融，放在一般企业译成财务。金融这个词大概是20世纪初才在中国出现，至于财务一词，应该出现得更早。
我觉得你最好理解Finance一词内在的含义，维基是这么说的：
Finance (pronounced /fn?nts/) is the science of funds management.The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money, risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted.
至于如何翻译，只能说要“信、雅、达”了。