Finance or Accounting?

Hi all, I just want some input from a fresh perspective. I live outside St. Louis and will be graduating from a small private college in a few weeks. My major was finance. I already have a job lined up where I’ll be starting at $40,000 per year plus bonus. I’ll be able to get my Series 7 and Series 63, but it’s mostly a customer service job. It’s not really the “finance” I had in mind, even though it is with a financial institution. I’d like to go into corporate finance and financial analysis at some point. My question is, should I go take night classes to obtain my Bachelor’s in Accounting, as well, so I can sit for the CPA? Some people have told me the CPA is becoming more useful for financial analysis than the CFA simply due to the increasingly regulatory nature of the industry. I don’t mind the extra work for another degree–it’s the added debt that will bother me. Either way, what do you think is the best way for me to reach my career goals? Work hard in my current position and try to find my way to a real finance role, get my accounting degree and CPA, or maybe even get an MS in Finance, which I could do in about the same time as an accounting undergrad?

I cannot opine on if you should go the CPA or CFA route, but you can may be able to get a MS in Accounting rather than a second BS degree in the same amount of time. At this point I’d suggest you start working and see how things play out.

Check if your company helps pay tuition. If so, shoring up your accounting credits (you may not need the full bachelor’s) and the CPA can make sense if financial analysis is the route you prefer. If investments, then CFA/MBA over MS in Finance. Don’t add the debt for another bachelor’s, get a master’s.

Getting a second bachelors in Accounting will just allow you to sit for the CPA exam. I would suggest getting your MS in Accounting to not only sit for it but be a licensed CPA once you pass. I would suggest CPA first over CFA just to see where it takes you. You could open your own firm with a CPA and get a good business out of it. Or get a MS in finance and get a “real” finance job.