Finance vs. Accounting

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Okay, so I know that there have been countless questions about the difference between finance and accounting degrees, but here is another one. I just graduated my first year at an expensive art school. Then I realized I was paying for my own college, and unfortunately being a designer with 150k in student debt just doesn't sound fun. I want to be financially stable. So my questions are as follows: </p>

<p>In which job do you have to take less risk taking for a company? </p>

<p>Which has a better job market/ better pay? I have read multiple answers. </p>

<p>Which requires less math? I don't want to be that guy but hey I did go to art school- math wasn't my strong suit. I really am driven to work hard and practice, though. </p>

<p>When it comes to schools I am looking at DePaul. They take my transfer credits, also I know it's not that hard to get accepted. I was depressed my first few years of high school so my freshman year my gpa was 2.0 but senior year it was above 4.0. I heard going to DePaul is good if you're trying to get a job in the Chicagoland area. Any thoughts on DePaul as well?</p>

2

<p>First off,I would like to distinguish that majors really aren’t jobs themselves so just be careful of isolating them to certain paths. But just for the sake of the question; we’ll pretend that they are isolated paths; accounting majors become accountants and finance majors become investment bankers and/or financial advisors.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>** At a general level , accountants will take a lot less risk-taking for their company opposed to investment bankers and financial advisors because accountants will do mostly bookkeeping and auditing which other than the risk of making a mistake and auditing in the grey area, there really isn’t any.</p></li>
<li><p> At a general level , there are a lot more accounting jobs than there are financing jobs because accounting is very time-consuming and people typically perform putting their time towards other areas of the business. Although there is less finance jobs, they do typically pay more.</p></li>
<li><p> At a general level **, there is probably more math on a daily basis for an accountants but the math really isn’t that advanced, just a ton of arithmetic. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Again I want to emphasize that these are general guidelines, most jobs will involve both disciplines and will hire from both. It’s really only at the entry-level (little to no experience), that a company will give either discipline a preference. Also there are many levels of job types, which can vary the answers to your question. Example; partner at an accounting firm has lower job market but better pay than a typical financial analyst and etc.</p>

3

<p>In which job do you have to take less risk taking for a company?</p>

<p>Answer: I don’t know how to answer this? Are you saying in which position, in the case of you making a mistake on a report, would cause the least amount of harm?</p>

<p>Which has a better job market/ better pay? I have read multiple answers.</p>

<p>Answer: The reason you have read multiple answers is because the question is too broad. Accounting is a sub-section of Finance, Finance includes a variety of disciplines and sections from Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Tax Accounting, Auditing, Forensic Accounting, Commercial Finance, I-Banking, Banking, Hedge Funds, Insurance, Mortgages, Stock Brokers, Personal Financial Planners, etc. As you can see, there’s no ONE answer to your question, it comes down to your career planning, structuring, the specialization you choose, the area of the country you work, who you work for (start-up, small business, medium business, large corporation), etc. </p>

<p>Which requires less math? I don’t want to be that guy but hey I did go to art school- math wasn’t my strong suit. I really am driven to work hard and practice, though.</p>

<p>Answer: If you hate math, why do you want to major in Finance/Accounting? Just because you went to Art School and now figure you want to “make money” and thus you want to go into a field that requires something that you aren’t that good in? I totally understand that a number of people say major in a STEM and Finance/Accounting fits that mode, but at the same time you have to follow your talents and passions. If you hate math or aren’t good in math, you aren’t going to like Finance/Accounting because math is the foundation of every specialization within the field. Some require more “math” than others, but how much “math” is used is really subjective and dependent upon the size of the company, customers targeted and a variety of other factors. </p>

4

<p>OP- DePaul is a very good school if you are looking for a job in Chicagoland. Its reputation within the local area far surpasses its perceived national reputation. The alumni connections in Chicago run very deep with DePaul. There are numerous hiring managers, accounting partners, CFO’s, CEO’s that are alums, so campus recruiting options tend to be strong. All this being said, there are other good business schools with a strong presence in the area (UIUC, ND, IU, Wisc, Miami OH, NIU, etc.), so you need to present yourself well and have a good GPA to have a shot at the top jobs.</p>

<p>My concern for you is related to cost: DePaul is a private school that can be quite expensive if you do not have a scholarship or significant financial aid. Are the state school not options due to transfer credits? </p>

5

<p>My state school is IU. They don’t take my transfer credits, but the tuition at IU is 10k a year compared to Depauls like 30k</p>

6

<p>Well, you have an interesting finance problem to solve. </p>

<p>You have one year of art college complete. Assuming DePaul takes all your credits, you will need 3 full years of tuition or $90,000 based upon your figures. (I know for example that the accounting program use to chew up most of your electives, so assuming those art courses are being accepted as electives and general ed requirements, you may well need an additional class or two to meet the accounting school graduation requirements - that will increase the total cost.) IU won’t take your credits but only costs $10,000, or $40,000 in total, but you will delay entering the job market for an extra year.</p>

<p>I haven’t checked figures, but I know DePaul doesn’t have many dorms for upperclassmen. You will probably need to get an apartment. If you stay in the Lincoln Park area, that will likely be more than Bloomington.</p>

<p>I’m a proud DePaul alum, but assuming you or your parents will be paying or borrowing the full cost, it looks like IU would make more sense. If your family was in Chicago and you could live at home, then the math can change and DePaul might make more sense, since you would save three years of R&B costs and get out a year earlier. </p>

<p>IU is well respected in the Chicago area - I wouldn’t pay $50k more to go to DePaul. The added advantage for IU is if you want to go to say the east coast, it has a more national reputation.</p>

7

<p>Thank you so much. This was a very helpful. </p>