Financial accounting is the area of accounting that focuses on providing external users with useful information. In other words, financial accounting is a way of reporting business activity and financial information to investors, creditors, and other people outside the business organization. Companies issue financial statements on a routine schedule. The statements are considered external because they are given to people outside of the company, with the primary recipients being owners/stockholders, as well as certain lenders. If a corporation's stock is publicly traded, however, its financial statements (and other financial reportings) tend to be widely circulated, and information will likely reach secondary recipients such as competitors, customers, employees, labor organizations, and investment analysts. What Does Financial Accounting Mean? Investors and creditors are often called external users because they are people outside of the organization who use the company financial information to make decisions. The most common form of financial information issued to external users by companies is a general purpose set of financial statements. Example These financial statements, along with financial accounting standards in general, must be held to strict rules, so the financial statements will be useful and of high quality. That is why GAAP governs the principles and standards of financial accounting. GAAP requires that accounting information be relevant, reliable, and consistent among other things. This insures that external users will be able to have quality information to base their financial decisions on. All external users have different needs when it comes to financial information. For instance, a lender is primarily concerned with a company’s cash flow and ability to repay loans with interest. An investor, on the other hand, is more concerned with company profit performance and longevity. The overall purpose of financial accounting is to create information or financial statements that can be used by all external users to base their financial decisions on whether or not these decisions involve lending money or investing money. Accounting for internal users is typically considered managerial accounting and is subject to less stringent standards and requirements. The financial statements used in financial reports describe the five major financial data classifications: income, expenditures, assets, liabilities, and equity. Revenues and expenses are listed on the income statement. They will involve anything from research and development to the payroll. Financial accounting results in net profit being calculated at the bottom of the income statement. The balance sheet reports on the assets, liabilities, and equity accounts. The balance sheet uses financial statements to disclose control of the potential economic benefits of the company. The main distinction between financial and managerial accounting is that financial accounting is intended to provide information to parties outside the organisation. In contrast, managerial accounting information is designed to help managers make decisions within the organisation. For governmental bodies and financial institutions, preparation of financial statements using accounting standards is of the highest importance.