Financial and Management Accounts

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companies being required to prepare only brief accounts

The format of published financial accounts is determined by several different regulatory elements:

? Company Law
? Accounting Standards
? Stock Exchange

Financial accounts concentrate on the business as a whole rather than analyzing the component parts of the business. For example, sales are aggregated to provide a figure for total sales rather than publish a detailed analysis of sales by product, market etc.

Most financial accounting information is of a monetary nature [2]

By definition, financial accounts present a historic perspective on the financial performance of the business .There is no legal requirement to prepare management accounts, although few (if any) well-run businesses can survive without them.

There is no pre-determined format for management accounts. They can be as detailed or brief as management wish .Management accounts can focus on specific areas of a business' activities. ...

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with Accounting Standards and the Companies Act

Directors' Report

Description by the Directors of the performance of the business during the accounting period + various additional disclosures, particularly in relation to directors' shareholdings, remuneration etc[4]

Financial accounts are geared towards external users of accounting information. To answer their needs, financial accountants draw up the profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement for the company as a whole in order for users to answer questions such as:

- "Should I invest my money in this company?"
- "Should I lend money to this business?"
- "What are the profits on which this company must ...

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