preview

Accounting and Financial Statements Essay example

Better Essays

In this essay I am going to explain and identify external users of accounting information and give detail on the main characteristics and how these characteristics and the conceptual framework develop the benefits of financial statements for external users. Financial accounting includes information distributed to external users that are not part of the enterprise, e.g. stockholders, creditors, customers and suppliers, although the information is also of interest to the company's officers and managers. (Yahoo, 2007) External users have an interest in the businesses final accounts. They are individuals or groups from outside the business. (Cox, Fordon, 2008) They are also interested in the capability of a business to pay dividends. They …show more content…

They want to know how quick they are going to be paid. (Elliot, B and Elliot, J 2011, p.4) Trade creditors are interested in data that allows making a decision about whether they should sell to the business and whether the amount owed to them will be paid when it is due. (Weetman P, 2011, p.15) Government is interested in the distribution of resources and therefore, in the activities of entities. They require information in order to control this and provide a basis for national income and economic statistics to assess taxation. The Government look at the businesses profit because they are interested in making sure that the businesses accounts are not bias, therefore, ensuring that the correct amount of tax is collected from them. The government tries to make the financial records produced by the use of various accounting systems, so that the ability to compare numbers between companies and industries isn’t lost. (Weetman P, 2011, p.16) Customers are interested in the duration of the entity, especially when they have a long term involvement with a business. They want to know how reliable the business is. They need information about the current and future supply of goods and services offered, price and other product details, including the conditions of their products and returns policies. This information can be found from sales staff of the business or from trade. Customers are able to choose from all the businesses in the market and are looking for

Get Access