Q. General-purpose financial statements?

Accountants prepare general-purpose financial statements at usual intervals to meet many of the information needs of external parties and top-level internal managers. In contrast accountants are able to gather special-purpose financial information for a specific decision typically on a one-time basis.

For example management may require specific information to decide whether to purchase a new computer system. Ever since special-purpose financial information must be specific this information is best obtained from the detailed accounting records rather than from the financial statements.