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Note: The name of the "capital account" was changed in the US in 1999. It is now referred to as the financial account
The 'capital account' is one of two primary components of the balance of payments, the other being the current account.
The capital account records all transactions between a domestic and foreign resident that involves a change of ownership of an asset. It is the net result of public and private international investment flowing in and out of a country. This includes foreign direct investment, plus changes in holdings of stocks, bonds, loans, bank accounts, and currencies.
From a domestic point of view, a foreign investor acquiring a domestic asset is considered a capital inflow, while a domestic resident acquiring a foreign asset is considered a capital outflow.
Along with transactions pertaining to non-financial and non-produced assets, the capital account may also include debt forgiveness, the transfer of goods and financial assets by migrants leaving or entering a country, the transfer of ownership on fixed assets, the transfer of funds received to the sale or acquisition of fixed assets, gift and inheritance taxes, death levies, patents, copyrights, royalties, and uninsured damage to fixed assets.
(http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/070203.asp).