An accountant is a person whose job involves adherence to the highest levels of ethical conduct while providing a series of accounting services to the government, individual or organization. While there are several other kinds of accountants, two kinds being specifically contrasted hereunder are a Management Accountant and a Financial Accountant.
The first area of difference between both jobs is the reports supplied vis-Ă -vis GAAP. The reports provided by a Management Accountant need not adhere to the regulations specified by the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles . In contrast, it is mandatory for the reports provided by a Financial Accountant to adhere to the regulations laid down in GAAP (Accountingformanagement.com).
The second area of difference lies in the type of reports supplied by both accountants. The information provided by a Management Accountant is in the form of 4 groups of reports all of which are not restricted by any guideline. The first group of reports concentrates on the performance of managers or business units by making comparisons between real results and assessment standards that are in place. The second group of reports supply appropriate, regular and fresh information about important matters like sales achieved, number of orders executed and number of orders pending. The third group of reports analyzes certain problems like drop in financial profit of a particular product group. The last group of reports examines newly arising business chances. In contrast, a Financial Accountant supplies a restricted number of quarterly and yearly financial reports strictly in accordance to guidelines (Accountingformanagement.com).
The third area of difference lies in the type of users that utilize the information provided by both accountants. A Management Accountant supplies data to users who exist within the organization, namely, the managers at various levels. In contrast, a Financial Accountant supplies data to users who exist outside the organization such as banks, tax authorities, shareholders and lenders (Accountingformanagement.com).
The fourth area of difference lies in the usage employed by the users of the information. The management of the organization uses the information provided by a Management Accountant to carry out day-to-day functions such as planning, motivation, evaluation of performances, supervision and control (Accountingformanagement.com). In contrast, the external players use the information provided by a Financial Accountant to evaluate the performance of the organization and compare it with other competitors in the same field of business with the ultimate aim of determining their level of participation with the organization. Their overall analysis will play an important part in their decision whether to continue participation at the same level, enhance such participation, reduce it or even terminate the participation.
The fifth area of difference is the time element involved in both cases. A Management Accountant concentrates on decisions that relates to the future of the organization. In contrast, a Financial Accountant focuses on the financial results of the past operations of the organization (Accountingformanagement.com).
The sixth area of difference is the key ingredient in the information provided by both accountants. Timeliness is the key ingredient in the data provided by a Management Accountant. In contrast, accuracy is the key ingredient in the data provided by a Financial Accountant (Accountingformanagement.com).
The last area of difference is the nature of the data supplied by both accountants. The information supplied by a Management Accountant includes specific component reports concerning organizational sections, products, clients and workers. In contrast, the data supplied by a Financial Accountant is in the form of summarized information relating to the whole business organization (Accountingformanagement.com).
Reference
“Introduction to Managerial Accounting (Cost or Management Accounting).” Accountingforinformation.com. 2009. Web.