Figure 4 illustrates the large domain of accounting with three components: tax accounting, financial accounting, and management accounting. Two types of data sources are displayed in the upper right. The upper source is from financial transactions and bookkeeping, such as purchases and payroll. The lower source is non financial measures, such as payroll hours worked, retail items sold, or gallons of liquid produced. The financial accounting component is intended for external reporting, such as for regulatory agencies, banks, stockholders, and the investment community. Financial accounting follows compliance rules aimed at economic valuation, so it typically isn't adequate or sufficient for decision making. And the tax accounting component is its own world of legislated rules. Our area of concern-the management accounting component can be subdivided into three categories: (1) cost accounting, (2) cost reporting and analysis, and (3) decision support with cost planning. To oversimplify a distinction between financial and management