Managerial versus Financial Accounting

Financial statements are used by both external users and internal management and provide general information about the entire company. For example, the balance sheet reports total inventories and the income statement reports cost of goods sold, but the costs of individual products are not disclosed to the public. Internal management needs detailed information to make decisions about its business. A comparison of managerial and financial accounting shows the differences between the two sets of information.

Managerial and Financial Accounting Comparison

Managerial Accounting

Financial Accounting

Users

Internal managers

Creditors, investors, analysts, and other external users

Guidelines for preparation

Flexible

GAAP—rigid

Purpose

Decision making and control information

General information for credit and investment decisions

Frequency of preparation

As needed

Annually and quarterly

Independent opinion

None required

Auditor's opinionopinion

Type of information

Specific to project or management action—may be detailed and include estimates

General purpose—very few estimates

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