Accounting can be defined in a variety of disciplines each with its own assortment of jobs. Financial accounting often involves recording the financial information of a company and producing reports to give information on the company’s financial situation and outlook. For companies who are publicly listed this is usually vital information as shareholders wish to know how and where their money is being invested.

Another discipline can be seen as management accounting, although performing much the same task as financial accounting the reports made are limited to the small number of decision makers at the top of a company, without giving shareholders the full picture.