Budget Head

To determine how to keep track of finances, one has to understand the process of which type of accountant is needed for their business. One has to know the difference between managerial and cost accountant. They are both areas of accountant, but what are they used for and would a company benefit from the two or one over the other. Once they have the right accountant set up in place they still have to know how to keep the budget under control.

Cost accountant is the branch of accounting that provides economic and financial information to decision makers within a company (www.referenceforbusiness.com, 2010). Cost accountant is much different from other types of accountant due to the information that is provides to the company. This information is given to the public through various ways such as financial statements and financial press releases (www.referenceforbusiness.com, 2010). This public information is prepared and presented based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the broad rules that assure the user of the underlying framework supporting the information (www.referenceforbusiness.com, 2010). This information is only for use within the company; which is internal. Being that it is internal information it is only used to assist the managers with making decisions that will help increase their finances or help them in the stockholder aspect of the business.

Cost accounting is similar to managerial accounting except for the fact that in managerial accounting non-financial information is also provided. In this information not only goes to the managers but other decision making employees within the company. From the looks of it, these two accounting procedures go hand in hand and have to be combined together for a final decision to be determined. One does not provide enough information to determine a sound decision. Cost accounting information is focused on the whole organization; whereas managerial accounting information focuses on