學(xué)習(xí)完企業(yè)會(huì)計(jì)學(xué)后,我感覺(jué)學(xué)到了許多知識(shí),這些知識(shí)對(duì)我以后的工作是非常有用的,F(xiàn)在,在這里,我要應(yīng)用所學(xué)知識(shí)來(lái)談?wù)勗谪?cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)和管理會(huì)計(jì)之間的區(qū)別,在會(huì)計(jì)學(xué)中,這是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的問(wèn)題。
財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)所做分析報(bào)告大都是準(zhǔn)備供外部使用,例如股東和債權(quán)人, 反之,管理會(huì)計(jì)所做分析報(bào)告大都是在企業(yè)或組織內(nèi)部為主管使用。 在使用基本方向上的不同導(dǎo)致財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)和管理會(huì)計(jì)之間存在許多重要的不同, 即使財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)和管理會(huì)計(jì)所做的分析報(bào)告使用相同的基礎(chǔ)財(cái)務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)。它們之間的區(qū)別可以用用數(shù)種方式總結(jié)。 我們?cè)谝韵碌亩温鋪?lái)討論這些不同和區(qū)別。
1.強(qiáng)調(diào)將來(lái)
自從計(jì)劃成為一個(gè)管理者工作的重要組成部分, 管理會(huì)計(jì)有強(qiáng)大的方向指導(dǎo)作用。 比較起來(lái),財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)分析報(bào)告主要提供過(guò)去財(cái)務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)的總結(jié)。 這些總結(jié)可能對(duì)計(jì)劃工作有用,但是僅僅對(duì)一個(gè)點(diǎn)。 過(guò)去的財(cái)務(wù)總結(jié)的困難之處僅僅不過(guò)是過(guò)去發(fā)生的經(jīng)營(yíng)活動(dòng)一些反映。正如我們所看到的,經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域經(jīng)常發(fā)生變化,客戶需要并且很快想要達(dá)到具有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)性的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境。 這變化要求企業(yè)或組織的管理者所做的計(jì)劃報(bào)告里能預(yù)測(cè)或評(píng)估出大部分將要發(fā)生的事件而不是關(guān)于那些已經(jīng)發(fā)生的事件的總結(jié)。
2. 數(shù)據(jù)的正確性和靈活性
財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)被希望是客觀和具有可證實(shí)性的。但是做為企業(yè)或組織內(nèi)部的管理者而言,他想得到相應(yīng)的信息,即使這些信息不完全具有客觀性或可證實(shí)性。相應(yīng)的概念,在這里是指和我們手頭上的問(wèn)題相適用的信息。 例如,檢驗(yàn)評(píng)一家Good Vibrations公司提議的新商店的銷售量是非常困難的,但是正是這類信息對(duì)在他們的管理者的決策非常有用。管理會(huì)計(jì)信息系統(tǒng)應(yīng)該靈活得足以提供任何數(shù)據(jù)能夠幫助管理者進(jìn)行經(jīng)營(yíng)決策。
3.減少精確度的要求
對(duì)管理者來(lái)說(shuō),信息的及時(shí)性經(jīng)常比精密度更重要。 如果一定要做一個(gè)決定,一位管理者寧肯現(xiàn)在要一個(gè)好的估計(jì)值也不愿要一個(gè)需再等待一周的更準(zhǔn)確的答案。 與數(shù)十?dāng)?shù)百萬(wàn)美元量有關(guān)的一個(gè)決定不需要估價(jià)到基于美分, 或者甚至到美元的精確度。做一個(gè)好的決策有可能只需估計(jì)到近百萬(wàn)美元的精確度就足夠了。既然從時(shí)間和資源方面來(lái)看,追求數(shù)據(jù)的精密度是非常昂貴的,與財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)處理相比,管理會(huì)計(jì)將較少的重點(diǎn)放于精密度的追求上。另外,管理會(huì)計(jì)將相當(dāng)多的比重放于非貨幣數(shù)據(jù)上。 例如,關(guān)于客戶滿意度的信息具有驚人的重要性,但是在一個(gè)貨幣形式里表現(xiàn)的這樣的數(shù)據(jù)將是非常困難的。
4.組織內(nèi)部的片段
財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)的分析報(bào)告主要涉及到企業(yè)或公司的整體部分。作為比較,管理會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)告分析更多是聚焦在那些公司的某一部分或者公司的分支部分上。 這些部分可能是生產(chǎn)線,銷售部門,分配部門,管理部門或者其他對(duì)管理活動(dòng)有用的任何分類部門。財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)分析報(bào)告在外部報(bào)告可能需要提供公司主要部分的收入和費(fèi)用的詳細(xì)條目, 但是這僅僅排在第二位的。 在管理會(huì)計(jì)方面,分部財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告是主要的重點(diǎn)。
5. 通用會(huì)計(jì)原理
財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)為外部用戶所做的分析報(bào)告一定要根據(jù)通用會(huì)計(jì)原理( GAAP)并且與之相吻合。 同時(shí)外部用戶應(yīng)該能夠得到一些保證,就是根據(jù)通用會(huì)計(jì)原理所準(zhǔn)備報(bào)告時(shí)必須與一些通用地方性慣例相吻合。這些通用地方性慣例可以提高數(shù)據(jù)可比性并且能夠幫助用戶降低被欺詐和受到虛偽陳述,但是他們不一定是那種在內(nèi)部使過(guò)程中最有用的報(bào)告類型的必要條件。 例如, GAAP 要求在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告中土地應(yīng)該列支在它的歷史費(fèi)用中。 但是,如果管理者正考慮把一家商店搬遷到一個(gè)新的位置然后出售商店目前坐落的土地, 管理者最想要知道的應(yīng)該是土地的現(xiàn)市價(jià),而這一重要的信息在GAAP 卻被忽視。
管理會(huì)計(jì)在一般公認(rèn)會(huì)計(jì)原理中沒(méi)有邊界的。 管理者確定關(guān)于他們自己內(nèi)部財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告的內(nèi)容和形式的基本原則。 唯一的限制條件是使用這些信息得到的期望受益應(yīng)該超過(guò)收集、分析、并且總結(jié)那些數(shù)據(jù)的費(fèi)用。 雖然如此,做財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告所需材料已經(jīng)重影響管理會(huì)計(jì)實(shí)務(wù)無(wú)可否認(rèn)已經(jīng)成為事實(shí)。
6. 管理會(huì)計(jì) ---并非強(qiáng)制性的
做財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)告是強(qiáng)制性; 那就是說(shuō),它必須得做。 在各種外部場(chǎng)合例如證券交易委員會(huì)( 證交會(huì))和稅收部門要求定期的財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表。另一方面,管理會(huì)計(jì),是沒(méi)有強(qiáng)制性的。一家公司完全可以自由地按照自己的意愿選擇多做或少做。 沒(méi)有外部機(jī)構(gòu)和實(shí)體指定什么將需要做或不需要做, 或者,任何事情都得做。 既然管理會(huì)計(jì)具有完全可選擇性,對(duì)它來(lái)說(shuō),重要的問(wèn)題往往是, 什么樣的信息是急需的?
我的會(huì)計(jì)專業(yè)知識(shí)比較匱乏,它限制了我很詳細(xì)地闡明財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)和管理會(huì)計(jì)這兩者的的區(qū)別,如果所寫的有什么錯(cuò)誤,請(qǐng)指正,我很高興得到您的指導(dǎo)。
Comparison of Financial and Managerial Accounting
LI CHENG DONG (CHD;WEIFANG POWER CO;LD SHANDONG )
After finished my accounting study, I learnt so much knowledge that will be useful to my job. Today, I will use it to talk about some differences between Financial accounting and Managerial accounting. A simple question of accounting.
Financial accounting reports are prepared for the use of external parties such as shareholders and creditors, whereas managerial accounting reports are prepared for managers inside the organization. This contrast in basic orientation results in a number of major differences between financial and managerial accounting, even though both financial and managerial accounting rely on the same underlying financial data. These differences are summarized in several ways. These differences are discussed in the following paragraphs.
1. Emphasis on the future
Since planning is such an important part of the manager’s job, managerial accounting has strong future orientation. In contrast, financial accounting primarily provides summaries of past financial transactions. These summaries may be useful in planning, but only to a point. The difficulty with summaries of the past is not simply a reflection of what has happened in the past. Change are constantly taking place in economic conditions, customer needs and desires, competitive conditions, and soon. All of these changes demand that the manager’s planning be based in large part on estimates of what will happen rather than on summaries of what has already happened.
2. Relevance and Flexibility of data
Financial accounting data are expected to be objective and verifiable. However, for internal uses the manager wants information that is relevant even if it is not completely objective or verifiable. By relevant, we mean appropriate for the problem at hand. For example, it is difficult to verify estimated sales volumes for a proposed new store at Good Vibrations, inc., but this is exactly the type of information that is most useful to managers in their decision making. The managerial accounting information system should be flexible enough to provide whatever data are relevant for particular decision.
3. Less Emphasis on Precision
Timeliness is often more important than precision to managers. If a decision must be made, a manager would much rather have a good estimation now than wait a week for a more precise answer. A decision involving tens of millions of dollars dose not have to be based on estimates that are precise down to the penny, or even to the dollar. Estimates that are accurate to the nearest million dollars may be precise enough to make a good decision. Since precision is costly in terms of both time and resources, managerial accounting places less emphasis on precision than does financial accounting. In addition, managerial accounting places considerable weight on non-monetary data. For example, information about customer satisfaction is of tremendous importance even though it would be difficult to express such data in a monetary form.
4. Segments of an Organization
Financial accounting is primarily concerned with reporting for the company as a whole. By contrast, managerial accounting focuses much more on the parts, or segments, of a company. These segments may be product lines, sales territories, divisions, departments, or any other categorization of the company’s activities that management finds useful. Financial accounting does require some breakdowns of revenues and costs by major segments in external reports, but this is a secondary emphasis. In managerial accounting, segment reporting is the primary emphasis.
5. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Financial accounting statements prepared for external users must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). External users must have some assurance that the reports have been prepared in accordance with some common set of ground rules. These common ground rules enhance comparability and help reduce fraud and misrepresentation, but they do not necessarily lead to the type of reports that would be most useful in internal making. For example, GAAP requires that land be stated at its historical cost on financial reports. However, if management is considering moving a store to a new location and then selling the land the store currently sits on, management would like to know the current market value of the land –a vital piece of information that is ignored under GAAP.
Managerial accounting is not bound by generally accepted accounting principles. Managers set their own ground rules concerning the content and form of internal reports. The only constraint is that the expected benefits from using the information should outweigh the costs of collecting, analyzing, and summarizing the data. Nevertheless, it is undeniably true that financial reporting requirements have heavily influenced management accounting practice.
6. Managerial Accounting--- Not mandatory
Financial accounting is mandatory; that is, it must be done. Various outside parties such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the tax authorities require periodic financial statements. Managerial accounting, on the other hand, is not mandatory. A company is completely free to do as much or as little as it wishes. There are no regulatory bodies or other outside agencies that specify what is to be done, or, for that matter, whether anything is to be done at all. Since managerial accounting is completely optional, the important question is always, “Is the information required?”
That’s all, since my knowledge of accounting is still poor, it limit me to describe those differences very closely, if there are something wrong, please point them, I’m glad to get your guidance.