Since accounting software first became widely available in the 1970s, accounting data used for external financial reporting and internal cost and decisionmaking information has in essence been combined in a single database, which in accounting terms is referred to as an integrated ledger. For example, accounting software provided by Sage, a leading provider to UK and Irish companies, includes several products aimed at smaller and larger businesses.
While all Sage’s products are designed using databases, the list of features of the Sage 500 product clearly portrays the integrated nature of the accounting information. Within the Finance features, the Sage website lists the following:
•General ledger 

•Accounts payable and receivable 

•Cash management and payments 

•Credit management 

•Auditing 

•Fixed asset management 

•Job costing 

•General ledger consolidation 

•Absorption costing 

•Inter-entity accounting 

Not all companies will use all the above features of Sage 500, or other equivalent software, but the list of features available in one integrated system clearly shows how internal information like job costs is fed through automatically to the general ledger and to financial reporting.
Questions 

1 Can you think of any reason why management accounting data and financial accounting data might be separated in a business?
2 Would you expect accounting software to store more detailed information for management accounting purposes than for external reporting? Can you think of any examples?