Accounting is a functional area of business that encompasses the production and dissemination of information. The information is used by various parties, including managers, investors, creditors, regulatory agencies, and others for decision-making purposes. Accounting information can affect judgments and decisions, such as how to allocate scarce resources. The study of accounting provides insight into the effect of information and the choices that underlie information production in decision making.

Fundamentally, the study of accounting includes the production and dissemination of information for financial and managerial purposes. Financial accounting is concerned with information produced for external stakeholders and underlies the financial reporting system. The production of financial information for external users is governed by generally accepted accounting principles and typically subject to audit. By comparison, managerial accounting is concerned with information produced for internal stakeholders. The production of managerial information is proprietary, subject to discretion, and intended to improve operations. Ultimately, managerial information allows firms to make optimal decisions.

The accounting faculty has a strong core of nationally recognized scholars who have published in leading academic journals. Faculty members have a wide range of research interests and expertise.

• Accounting choices, investor behavior, and market prices
• Analysts’ earnings forecasts and investors’ use of such forecasts
• CPA firms’ peer/quality reviews
• The effects of accounting standards on investment and credit decision making
• Information dissemination and market prices
• Internal auditor judgments
• Investor and managerial decision-making, using techniques from applied game theory, experimental economics, and psychology
• The transparency of accounting information

For more information, please view the accounting department website at:
http://mgt.gatech.edu/fac_research/acad_areas/acc.html