THE RELEVANCE OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: A CASE STUDY OF GRUPO ZEMA

Abstract

The methodology of this paper is ‘case study based’ and objectives to identify contributions of Financial Accounting to decision-making process and in entity management, in spite of the restrictions of the Fundamental Principles of Accounting and Regulations, dictated by the various external authorities involved in Financial Accounting. Hard discussions have been done in and out of academic environment about Financial Accounting suppose deficiencies to supply the several users with information about the richness managed. The author selected a corporation, whose main activities were commercial in nature, and which was headquartered in Araxá, in the State of Minas Gerais. Besides this, the Group also has business interests in three other Brazilian states. To meet these objectives, the researcher and author used interviews, studied documents and collected data, which, after careful and methodical analysis together with further examination of relevant published texts, results were collated and conclusions drawn. Finishing the research, it is evidenced that Financial Accounting is used to satisfy the needs of external users. Moreover, Financial Accounting is considered a rich database and source for Management Accounting Systems, which is destined to supply information to internal users involved in the decision-making process.