There are many external user groups that make use of financial accounting reports. Why does the FASB focus its financial accounting standards on just two groups: creditors and investors? The types of decisions made by external users are the same from one group of users to the next. Creditors and investors are the principal external users of financial information. The mandate that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received from Congress is that financial accounting standards be targeted at creditors and investors. Company managers are very reluctant to provide financial accounting data to external users other than creditors and investors