The Ministry of Finance proposed in the designated reference book for national certified public accountants that financial management is "a part of enterprise management, and is the management work related to the acquisition and effective use of funds." This definition highlights that financial management is the management work about how to obtain funds and how to use them effectively.
After introducing Western management accounting, domestic experts and scholars actively explored the definition of management accounting in combination with China's national conditions. Some believed that management accounting is "a new discipline, which was generated to meet the needs of internal enterprise management prediction, decision-making, control, and assessment. It integrates accounting with management, serving to strengthen enterprise management and improve economic efficiency. It is not only a means to achieve modernization of enterprise management but also an important content of modern enterprise management." Others considered management accounting as "a highly practical emerging discipline developed by Western scholars who skillfully integrate the themes of management and accounting, with the fundamental purpose of strengthening internal management and improving economic efficiency." Both definitions consider management accounting as a clever combination of management and accounting, aiming to strengthen the internal management of enterprises and improve economic efficiency.