Quality consultants claim that top managers often do not pay enough attention to quality since the costs of low quality (i.e., high defect rates) are hidden by the typical cost accounting system. While accounting systems often report statistics concerning scrap and there may be a quality assurance department with its own budget, many of the other costs associated with defects are buried in general overhead or in other accounts. A quality cost report makes these costs visible and organizes the data so as to help managers make trade-offs. Since the reports are really just attention-directing devices, the numbers in the reports do not have to be precise.