Financial Accounting vs Management Accounting

1. Objective: 
Financial Accounting - detail the performance of an organization over a defined period (e.g. 1 financial year) and the state of affairs at the end of that period.
vs
Management Accounting - are used to aid management record, plan and control the organization's activities and to help the decision making process.

2. Information provided to:
Financial Accounting - third parties (e.g. audit, tax government, etc.)
vs
Management Accounting - within company (e.g. strategy department, director, etc.)

3. Regulation of Report statement:
Financial Accounting - must, by law, prepare financial accounts.
vs
Management Accounting - no legal requirement.

4. Format regulation:
Financial Accounting - determined by local law, by International Accounting Standards (view more: IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (view more: IFRS).
vs
Management Accounting - no strict rule govern. Each organization can devise its own management accounting system and format of reports.

5. Reporting focus on:

Financial Accounting - concentrate on the business as a whole, aggregating revenues and costs. Monetary nature.
vs
Management Accounting - focus on specific areas of an organization's activities. Non-monetary measures (e.g. monthly machine hours, miles travelled by sales staff, etc.)

6. Information on the report:
Financial Accounting - present an essentially historic picture of past operations.
vs
Management Accounting - are both  an historical record and a future planning tool.

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