The evolution of approaches to defining the essence of financial potential

The authors analyze the origin and evolution of various scientists' approaches to defining the essence of financial potential. The article shows that scientists have focused their attention on financial potential relatively recently, so scientific schools are not formed yet, and authors analyze the essence of financial potential of an economic entity in terms of economic crises at the beginning of the 21st century. The importance of studying financial potential and its evolution stems from the need for a successful economic entity to operate in an unstable economic environment. In the course of the study, the authors develop two approaches to studying the analyzed phenomenon: resource and factor.