what is the main purpose of financial accounting 
financial accounting is intended to provide financial information on a company s operating performance though management can analyze reports generated using financial accounting they often find it more useful to use managerial accounting an internally geared method of calculating financial results that is not allowable for external reports financial accounting is the widely accepted method of preparing financial results for external use who uses financial accounting public companies are required to perform financial accounting as part of the preparation of their financial statement reporting small or private companies may also use financial accounting but they often operate with different reporting requirements financial statements generated through financial accounting are used by many parties outside of a company including lenders government agencies auditors insurance agencies and investors the bottom linefinancial accounting is the framework that sets the rules on how financial statements are prepared the u s follows different accounting rules than most other countries these guidelines dictate how a company translates its operations into a series of widely accepted and standardized financial reports financial accounting plays a critical part in keeping companies responsible for their performance and transparent regarding their operations 