Can't Decide Between Accounting and Finance Major...Help!

Pretty much the title, I have to decide between accounting and finance soon but can't decide what to go with. I think I like finance more, but I'm worried that since I don't go to a target, a finance degree might be seen as worthless compared to accounting. My goal is to eventually become a financial executive of a company and I also have an interest in corporate development/i-banking, so which is more relevant?

I don't really enjoy my accounting classes (I am taking intermediate right now...) but do I need to bite the bullet and take accounting because I'm not from a target? I might have a higher GPA in finance and will be able to take some classes outside of business if I major in it, but I'm just worried about how I will be perceived if I just major in finance from a non-target university

 

To be honest, focus on the subject you're better at. You have to spend a lot of time on the course and if you do something simply for the degree at the end, it'll be worthless if you get a low GPA.

 
captainmorgan:
do both. if you're at a non-target, it shouldn't be too hard to pick up that double major.

Beat me to it.
As long as you're allowed to do it you might as well. Double majoring can't be a bad thing in this situation. Also, don't get overly concerned with which one will let you into a specific career path as that mood will most likely change over time. I'm assuming if you're just declaring now that you're maybe a sophomore? Doesn't matter, give it time and do as much as you can.

 

Double majoring in both isn't allowed at my school, and my school's math/physics/etc are all just typical state school level. Nothing horrendous but nothing great either.

Pretty women make us BUY beer. Ugly women make us DRINK beer.
 

Finance will obviously position you better for the positions you seek, however as you said it is a bit riskier coming from a non-target.

Take what you enjoy and what will be more relevant (finance) and maybe an accounting concentration. Then network your butt off!

 

I had the same issue a few years ago. But then I realized that PPA is not worth it. If you want, you can test it out for a semester, and if things go bad, you can drop PPA and use the credits towards a minor in acc instead. If you want to do ibanking, don't shoot for PPA as a route to get into it, I don't believe that's the strongest way to go.

UT Austin has a financial analyst program that some banks come to recruit especially from. It looks much better to banks on your resume, plus its hella lot less work.

Finance at UT may not be #1, but its still top 10 and the FAP will help make you even more competitive in that position. Anyway.. accounting sucks and will fuck over your gpa esp in the PPA program, trust me. You'll need to try to keep your gpa in the 3.85-4.0 range to be competitive against other kids anywhere other than Houston.

 

you could considering majoring/minoring in a combination not so cut-and-dry. like maybe major in finance, minor in fuckin astrophysics or something. or double minor. if you're at a target or semi-target, just the fact that you have OCR will mean that you'll be exposed to tons of opportunities and all sorts of finance jobs (probably). if you're already concerned with setting yourself up for success, try differentiating (a little bit). because if you take a normal ugrad business school path and have finance and accounting on your resume, your GPA better be pretty standout or else the other 350 kids with the same major and minor who applied for the job will look every bit as good as you. this isn't anything against finance or accounting majors. it's just that after reviewing the 100th finance/accounting major resume, they start looking pretty much the same. the only thing that sticks out are cool minors, great GPAs, or extracurricular i also happen to like.

Remember, once you're inside you're on your own. Oh, you mean I can't count on you? No. Good!
 
snakeplissken:
you could considering majoring/minoring in a combination not so cut-and-dry. like maybe major in finance, minor in fuckin astrophysics or something. or double minor. if you're at a target or semi-target, just the fact that you have OCR will mean that you'll be exposed to tons of opportunities and all sorts of finance jobs (probably). if you're already concerned with setting yourself up for success, try differentiating (a little bit). because if you take a normal ugrad business school path and have finance and accounting on your resume, your GPA better be pretty standout or else the other 350 kids with the same major and minor who applied for the job will look every bit as good as you. this isn't anything against finance or accounting majors. it's just that after reviewing the 100th finance/accounting major resume, they start looking pretty much the same. the only thing that sticks out are cool minors, great GPAs, or extracurricular i also happen to like.

Does Finance&Accounting with English minor stand out?

 

I would suggest go for course that has solid quantitative elements.

“It is our fate to be tormented with large and small dilemmas as we daily wind our way through the risky, fractious world that gave us birth” Edward O. Wilson.
 
Angus Macgyver:
The only useful ones on that list are Biz Law, possibly Cost Accounting, and maaaaaaybe Tax, depending on what exactly it covers. If it covers shit like how to do your personal income taxes, or corporate tax planning / structuring, then you can probably skip that shit, too.
Do you pepper your angus?
 

Advanced financial accounting is definitely the best one on that list. It is so helpful when you can understand the deferred tax assets, capital vs. operating leases, derivative accounting, etc. It may not be the case at your school but at mine advanced financial accounting covers all of the accounting for business consolidations and dispostions. Business law is also a must. Cost accounting can be nice for invesent decisions if you can get ahold of the information required for some of the analyses. (Usually not public) Audit could be helpful for due diligence activities but not as much for sell side.

Calmer than you are, Dude.
 

Interesting. Thanks guys! I didn't know that some of those classes are actually useful for a career in Finance. Now I feel MUCH better about pursuing a double major in Finance and Accounting.

 

If you're an accounting major, chances are you'll be an account. Take account courses and major in finance/econ.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

I'm assuming you are familiar with front office, middle office, back office. Accounting is back office, and if you are looking for FO banking, you won't need a lot of the advanced accounting classes. Finance would probably be better, considering accounting is included in the major (Financial Accounting is a core class).

I think most schools would claim to have a well-rounded admissions process, and it depends on how astronomically bad your ACT is. Either your GPA or ACT won't make or break you in the admissions process. I go to a target and my GPA was subpar in high school (3.8 weighted) but it didn't adversely affect me.

UMich is highly regarded in the financial world, I don't know about the rest of them. But it all comes down to networking and knowing your shit. That's it.

 

I went to Syracuse and I would not even call it a semi-target for front-office. There are people that went the IB route but they either had connections/networked their way in or were in the Orange Value Fund (student-run fund at Whitman, only top students selected). The only OCR banks do there is for middle/back office work.

Go with finance if that's what your interested in.

 
Best Response

Let's be clear about what we're comparing. If we're talking about Big 4 audit vs. IB/PE/HF, a career in IB/PE/HF is almost always going to result in much greater leaps in career progression (though there will be a huge cost in terms of health, relationships, etc.) However, I think most people will agree that a Big 4 position would be better than most other finance positions.

If career progression is your only concern, network your way into a boutique. That being said, Big 4 is an excellent career path, and it is the one I chose in order to be able to balance my health and my relationships with my career. Though most people on this site will disagree with me, I believe spending a few years in the Big 4 is superior to any BB in terms of soft skills training. However, the technical skills you will develop at an IB are more valuable than the technical skills you'll develop at Big 4.

Though the answers to your questions will be very different depending on a million factors (how long you stay in IB, what clients you get at Big 4, what your ultimate goals are, etc.), one thing that is fairly certain is that it is not that easy to switch between finance and accounting, but it is much easier to switch from finance to accounting than vice versa.

 

Ya, maybe try to transfer to more of a target school for banks (maybe UMich?). From my personal experience, I know that being both a finance and accounting major allowed me to interview with a lot of firms/banks, and they always pointed out/commended on it. I think being a Finance over Accounting major would be your second best option.

 

Finance...accounting is a lot harder major (at least in my school) to complete and requires a lot of memorization. Do finance and try to maintain a near 4.0 GPA.

 

I went to Florida State for finance, and if I knew then what I know now, I would've definitely doubled up w/ accounting. I interviewed with NWM also(it being one of the only internships who actually called me back for an interview) and people who I asked about it who had done it told me it was a giant scam to overwork college kids for shit pay and call it great experience. There are much better ways to get great experience.

After graduating, I worked for a one man recruiting firm who promised me the goods...after I started getting some clients in. After 3 months of not seeing a dime I took a more steady job in Team sports sales, all the meanwhile applying at places like merril lynch, jp morgan, lockheed martin, and every company on business weeks top 50 firms to get an entry level job.(http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/career_launch_2009.html)

After 2 years of selling sports uniforms and footballs, I decided I was gonna go back for accounting. I am at FIU right now, getting my Certificate in Foundations of Accounting and Auditing, so that I can start my masters program, instead of getting my bachelors while i was still in undergrad.

Since I started, I've had at least 3 companies offer me a job, and I finally left my sales job to go work in the accounting department of a fairly large manufacturing company and I am getting great experience and getting paid much more than my sales job.

Even if you want to stick to finance, you can get any job a finance major can get, and probably have a better chance than they do.

As far as having a CPA. If you want to do anything other than bookkeeping its pretty much a necessary. Most accounting firms even if they hire you out of your undergrad, will require you to get your CPA.

If you dont mind putting in the time I think its worth sticking with accounting.

 

^^^ Great strategy if you have cash.

OP needs to take the conservative route, study accounting, get that GPA up to a 3.5, and land at Crowe Chizek.

We can talk in a few years when he's ready to apply for an MBA. He is probably not getting into banking or trading with a 3.1 GPA, though if he really wants to do this, he might have a shot at some of the Chicago prop shops.

 

thanks for the advice. Again 3.12 is pretty terrible and I realize this. I knew someone would rip me on that. Also I feel like I-banking is out of the question because I feel you need to go to a prestigious school and also have an amazing gpa. Also what kind of gpa do I need to get a solid job (not big 4.... not going to lie: don't expect myself to get my gpa high enough to get into a big 4 firm). I feel like 3.25-3.4 is achievable if i work really hard but 3.5 and above seems almost impossible because I'm moving into 300 and 400 level accounting classes. And finally is their anyway I could work at a chicago prop shop with an accounting degree? I'm way more interested in finance when compared to accounting but I feel like the job market for accounting is extremely safe when compared to finance. And again thanks for the advice... I realize there are many bright people on this forum and I value your advice.

 

Hi, I did dual CPA Accounting/Finance major in college and am now pursuing the CFA level 3. I haven't taken the CPA yet.

Since you are strapped for cash, you should know that the CPA accounting track is huge.CPA track at my school was huge, nearly 10 courses while the Finance track was only five.

In most states (but not all) sitting for the CPA exam requires 150 credit hours and the equilvalent master's of accountancy. Check the CPA website for accounting regulations in your area. I'm in the nyc area, which was one of the few relaxed places that only required bachelor's degree.

It's beneficial to do both, as the CPA/CFA dual credential is viewed as very favorable and rather impressive. But you can do the CFA without a major in finance while the CPA requires CPA accountancy full major in order to sit in for the exam.

The material that is covered by the CFA level 1 strongely mirrors that taught by undergraduate level finance and if you can't do both, I would do CPA accountancy in your situation. But that's just me.

Note: You can't sit for the CPA exam if you major in general accountancy, which is the CPA-half major without the business law and auditing components. It's a bastardized accounting degree, basically.

 
sternfox:
Hi, I did dual CPA Accounting/Finance major in college and am now pursuing the CFA level 3. I haven't taken the CPA yet.

Since you are strapped for cash, you should know that the CPA accounting track is huge.CPA track at my school was huge, nearly 10 courses while the Finance track was only five.

In most states (but not all) sitting for the CPA exam requires 150 credit hours and the equilvalent master's of accountancy. Check the CPA website for accounting regulations in your area. I'm in the nyc area, which was one of the few relaxed places that only required bachelor's degree.

It's beneficial to do both, as the CPA/CFA dual credential is viewed as very favorable and rather impressive. But you can do the CFA without a major in finance while the CPA requires CPA accountancy full major in order to sit in for the exam.

The material that is covered by the CFA level 1 strongely mirrors that taught by undergraduate level finance and if you can't do both, I would do CPA accountancy in your situation. But that's just me.

Note: You can't sit for the CPA exam if you major in general accountancy, which is the CPA-half major without the business law and auditing components. It's a bastardized accounting degree, basically.

what benefits are there to having both the CPA and CFA?

 

At MSU I do not believe you can dual major within the college of business. Many people choose finance or accounting and then take as many of the other classes as they can with their elective credits. I was in the same situation you are in, at the beginning of last year. I also want to pursue a career in finance but was an accounting major because I knew the degree was better from MSU. Ultimately I was sitting in my intermediate accounting class at the beginning of last year and couldn't take it anymore. The material was just too dry for me, and knowing that I didn't want to be a CPA made it that much more difficult to stand. I switched my major from Accounting to Finance and am very happy I did. I really have enjoyed the upper level finance courses that I have taken and look forward to next fall. I will be a senior next year and am planning on taking the CFA Level 1 in June 2008. I don't know what your status will be when you come into the Broad School school but you may want to look into joining the Financial Markets Institute. It's a great program for finance majors to set themselves apart from the crowd, it will give you a better shot at landing a job with top BBs or consulting firms. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about what courses and what not to take.

Lastly, make sure you have a good time while you're in EL. Its a good school, but a great place to meet all kinds of people and have some fun too.

Cheers, Aakash

Go Green Go White!

 

I'm considering the same things as you are regarding CFA and CPA. I live in Canada, so I would be pursuing the CA (Chartered Accountant) designation instead of the CPA. Currently I am majoring in Accounting, as my university does not formally allow students to double major; however, they award admittance into classes of a different major based on academic averages. Therefor, at my university, as long as you keep high marks, which are pretty much necessary for IBanking anyway, it is possible to do it. I chose the Acc major instead of Finance, because as was previously mentioned, the Acc major requirements are much more intensive than for Finance.

What I haven't quite figured out yet is how I will achieve the CFA designation at the same time as the CA designation, or if not at the same time, in as short of a time frame as possible?

I would disagree with the pigeonholing effect. Knowledge of finance and accounting go hand in hand. For example, I know there are CA specialist designations regarding business valuation. Almost all the finance classes required to major in Finance at my University are recommended as prerequisites to the Master of Professional Accounting program which leads to the CA designation.

 

Some folks have truly unbelieveable credentials.

Business card:

John Whatever, PhD, JD, MBA, CFA, CPA, CMA, CFM, PRM, FRM, CAIA, CFP, blah blah blah..

The finance and accounting superman....

 

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