Hello! New poster here. Hoping someone could give me some advice on which path would be better for what I want to do in life.
Background: I’m in my late 20s. I attended a top 20 public university out of high school and was majoring in economics at the time… but I could not afford to finish because I flat out could not afford it. That was about 7 years ago. Since then I’ve worked full time in accounts management and have a bit of sales experience as well.
I’m now starting back at East Carolina University. I know it’s far from being a top 20 university but it’s really my only choice right now. The financial aid package offered will cover everything and I am VERY VERY thankful for that.
Now as to accounting or finance… I am much more interested in the finance side of a business. As much as I highly respect accountants I can’t see myself being happy working as one. The Economics (applied with accounting/finance) program I am not considering because I just don’t feel really good about the Econ program at ECU.
I have a feeling Accounting + CPA is the way to go for what I want to do instead of a Finance degree. My thinking is the experience preparing and understanding of financial statements in an Accounting program would be more beneficial for what I want to do. I’ve been really going back and forth lately with this. Currently leaning toward accounting. Any help would be appreciated.
Choices
Accounting + CPA: Would take a bit longer than a Finance degree. Seems to be a much more useful in business environments. My financial aid would still cover it though. Could take Finance courses to meet 150 hour CPA requirement?
Finance: I’m more interested in the financial side of a business. Graduate faster.
What DO you want to do? I was an Accounting major so I am obviously biased in favor of that option, but there’s a big difference between, ‘preparing and understanding financial statements might be useful’ and ‘I need to get an accounting degree, 150 hours, and then sit for the CPA exam’. I think having a basic understanding of accounting (rudimentary stuff) is important for anyone working in finance, but I also think that these skills can be picked up without actually becoming a CPA (in the same way that you can learn how to change a tire without becoming an automotive engineer).
If you’ve figured out what you want to do, try to determine which parts of it can only be acquired from an accounting education. If it’s really not that many things, I would consider majoring in Finance and maybe taking one accounting course if possible or doing some independent study on your own.
If it turns out that what you want to do requires a lot of really in-depth accounting knowledge, then one thing I would remember is that you don’t necessarily have to become a CPA if you’re not planning on working in public accounting. It’s a boon for other fields, but it’s not as compulsory if you’re not going to be an auditor or a tax consultant. You mention that you wouldn’t be happy working as an accountant; that’s perfectly fine, you don’t have to have the job title or function of ‘accountant’ to benefit from an accounting education.
It really does depend on what you really need to meet your goals. Finance and accounting are both good majors though.
DmitriR
I"m interested in working in areas that deal with markets, managing funds finances/budgets, working with stocks, bonds, cost estimate, analyst.
I’m not interested working in public accounting, auditing, taxes.
What confuses me is when I search for current entry level to mid level Finance jobs they all say “interpreting financial data” and “reviewing financial statements” as skills that are needed. From everything I’ve read finance generally “focuses on tools and principles necessary in order to make decisions in financial areas”… which is what I specifically want to learn in a program.
But…
Skimming through a list of accounting courses it seems most of that is covered and all the tedious work preparing statements seems to (as I currently understand it) give a much better background on the who/what/why of financial statements themselves. Which would make it easier to make these decisions right?
I really feel as if I would be better off majoring in accounting and add in a few finance classes than the other way around. Even if I never plan on being an accountant it seems the knowledge and background is more valuable working in “Finance” related jobs.
Sitting for the CPA is completely optional. Likely not needed at all for what I want to do. I just hear about all the doors it can open and how highly a lot of employers view passing the exam. Since my financial aid would cover the extra time and cost I have left this option open. I had the thought of using the extra 30 hours needed for the CPA on finance classes.
These 2 majors seem to have a lot of overlap. I’m so confused right now. As of now my major is listed as Finance.