Topic > A look at the ideology of cost accounting

Essentially, managerial accounting is performed to inform an internal audience while the financial accountant's records are focused on the needs of an audience external to the organization. Managerial accounting emerges as an operational tool compared to financial accounting which has the primary purpose of communicating financial data. Although the financial data that make up the reports are essentially the same, managerial accounting can narrow down to cost accounting at the department and product line level and uncover, for example, the reason for declining performance or profits, emphasizing the focus on short-term profit. Financial accounting, on the other hand, is limited to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), to provide overall performance in terms of engaged parties such as investors and stakeholders. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Financial accounting records are therefore periodic based on established standards while managerial accounting is based on the financial information needed for timely action and decision making on the operational level. Financial accounting therefore cannot be used in decision making as it only provides information about the past through recording past transactions. Management accounting is also subjective and not always bound by accounting standards such as auditability, which is a major concern in financial accounting. Aside from the orientation of the two fields and similar underlying financial data, management accounting does not adhere to purely monitoring data by relying on other information to inform financial management decisions where relevance is more critical than accuracy (Angrawal, 2010) . The scope of managerial accounting is also broader as managerial accounting uses methods such as ABC methods to detail segmented reports inclusive of employee and customer data, while financial accounting sticks to the overall organizational financial summary. It is also interesting to note that, unlike financial accounting, an organization can decide to escape from any managerial accounting. As evidenced by the facts that distinguish financial accounting from managerial accounting, the focus and direction of data obtained from the latter does not require a mandate. . Managerial accounting informs future-oriented decision making and keeps financial transactions relevant and timely for each industry. It is therefore the operational accounting system available to managers for decision making in daily activities. Planning is a critical function that managers cannot perform effectively without adequate information about the relevance of the initial action. The selection of alternatives in financial matters should also be informed by more than just history as opportunities come with changing demands as well as challenges, but preparations need to be made before all the information is available. One aspect, for example, is that the budget uses internal management accounting reports to make annual quantitative preparations. Management accounting could also be a useful method for encouraging employee and staff development through the provision of internal records of daily performance for the purposes of evaluating or identifying motivation needs. Internal reports are also a key control tool as they are used.