Finance vs Accounting degree
 

it's time for me to finally make a decision. I have all the pre req's, and all the core classes out of the way. I now need to pick a specialization. My heart is telling me Finance (I enjoy market/investing more) but my gut is telling me accounting. I am interested in both, and do well in both (meaning good grades). I was messing around with the thought of double majoring, but just want to stick with one.


Why choose one over the other?

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

First off, what are your long-term goals? What do you plan to do after college? Any other relevant information...

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

"my gut is telling me accounting"

haha

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

I'm an accounting and finance double major. If you are thinking about an accounting degree and are interested in the CPA one thing to consider is the number of credit hours needed to sit for the exam in your state. Speaking for Illinois, 150+ credit hours are required, and in order to accumulate these hours the most likely path is to pursue a double major in undergrad or a masters in accountancy.

You probably need an accounting degree to get into public accounting and a finance degree would be a good step towards a banking job. There are a variety of business related careers in consulting, industry finance/accy departments, or sales that either degree would suit.

In my case I always considered myself an accounting major first and went the consulting route via a big 4 firm. I used my finance major to pursue my interest in more personal finance related topics versus corporate finance.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

Accounting. STFU with finance

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accounting will help you more in the long run i suppose, assuming you do get your CPA.

only problem is its boring as hell (imo i'd rather do finance but too late now)

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Finance = where you said your heart is. So, unless you have some STRONG reasons to the contrary, I'd make that my default move.

What types of jobs to finance majors from your Uni get? Are they the types of jobs you'd like?

I personally think that an undergrad major in econ/math can get you to the same place as one in finance/acc... but alot of this depends on what you want to eventually do career-wise, and whether or not grad school (the MBA route or the PhD route) is in your plans either now or in the future. It also seems like it's too late to consider either of those now (though I'd take ALOT of maths as electives from now on if I were you).

Tell us more.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

if you choose finance i think make sure your combining this with internships. whereas if your doing accountancy internships are necessary.

can you do a maths degree? if so i would recommend that, helps a lot with getting the decent finance jobs.

this is from my experience with getting finance jobs in the UK, may be a lot different than in US.

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like i said, both are pretty easy for me class wise. I'm in my 3rd year. I JUST transfered schools though.

Ohio State did a 3 year, internship over the summer, then 2 more years.

Cincinnati is more of a co op, like 2 quarters on, 1 quarter work, 3 quarters on, 1 quarter work

So I haven't had any internships/co ops yet. So really this question is hard for me to answer, but I need to make a decision soon.


I am planning on going to law school, so I guess it doesn't really matter, but I only want to go top 10 law or don't go at all, so I need something to fall back on.

might just double major, or do finance, work for 2 years, go back and do financial engineering and do quant

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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like i said, both are pretty easy for me class wise. I'm in my 3rd year. I JUST transfered schools though.

Ohio State did a 3 year, internship over the summer, then 2 more years.

Cincinnati is more of a co op, like 2 quarters on, 1 quarter work, 3 quarters on, 1 quarter work

So I haven't had any internships/co ops yet. So really this question is hard for me to answer, but I need to make a decision soon.


I am planning on going to law school, so I guess it doesn't really matter, but I only want to go top 10 law or don't go at all, so I need something to fall back on.

might just double major, or do finance, work for 2 years, go back and do financial engineering and do quant

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Good luck finding quant work. In today's market place, most quants are PHD's in the hardcore sciences such as Physics or Math. Also, quants are located in the tri-state area. If you do have interest in becoming a quant, computer science as an undergrad then financial engineering can also be a good path but finance and/or accounting is probably not going to cut it and I am speaking from experience in this area.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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Why choose one over the other?

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Do what you love

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

I would take the accounting route and take as many advanced finance classes as you can squeeze in as well. It just gives you more downside job protection. The worst case is you get a job at a local accounting firm and get your CPA in 3 years - then go to B school or law school for an advanced degree and a career change.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

$1k down. whoever was that dick who raised with Qc7c and i smooth called with AhQh preflop only for flop to come Ac and two rag clubs owes me $700.

please transfer the $700 to my stars SN thanks.

first and last time i ever play on stars. asijcaoiscjoasjc

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

I don't know about other schools, but the recruiters at University of Illinois weren't very eager to recruit someone with just an undergrad finance degree - to me it almost seemed like a pre-law or pre-med major... wth do you do with it if you don't go further?

An accounting degree will give you a lot of versatility and it looks very good to employers. You can squeeze financial accounting classes in too for a finance focus. And if you want to do the finance route you can always go for an MBA or CFA or whatever else your position requires after you graduate.

If you have the luxury/will, go for the double major route. An extra major can't hurt... I'm pretty sure mine set me apart in an interview or two

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like i said, both are pretty easy for me class wise. I'm in my 3rd year. I JUST transfered schools though.

Ohio State did a 3 year, internship over the summer, then 2 more years.

Cincinnati is more of a co op, like 2 quarters on, 1 quarter work, 3 quarters on, 1 quarter work

So I haven't had any internships/co ops yet. So really this question is hard for me to answer, but I need to make a decision soon.


I am planning on going to law school, so I guess it doesn't really matter, but I only want to go top 10 law or don't go at all, so I need something to fall back on.

might just double major, or do finance, work for 2 years, go back and do financial engineering and do quant

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Good luck finding quant work. In today's market place, most quants are PHD's in the hardcore sciences such as Physics or Math. Also, quants are located in the tri-state area. If you do have interest in becoming a quant, computer science as an undergrad then financial engineering can also be a good path but finance and/or accounting is probably not going to cut it and I am speaking from experience in this area.

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yea, if i could program i'd be a quant by now lol.

you need academic quality modelling skills in addition to computer science graduate level programming skills.

you need to be able to take a model from theory to practice, backtest it, evaluate it, and make it run by itself.

furhter, as mentioned, quants are typically in tristate area and a majority of the time refer to PhD in math, finance, physics, engineering + computer skills.

DE shaw and many others though hire undergraduate-graduate level quant analysts.

not an easy thing to break into. if i had a "do-over" it'd be to be a sick computer programmer.

Barron

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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I don't know about other schools, but the recruiters at University of Illinois weren't very eager to recruit someone with just an undergrad finance degree - to me it almost seemed like a pre-law or pre-med major... wth do you do with it if you don't go further?

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Are you being serious here, because this is pretty ridiculous?

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

The first part of his statement is true. Recruiters at U of I are generally more eager to go after accounting majors than finance majors.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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I don't know about other schools, but the recruiters at University of Illinois weren't very eager to recruit someone with just an undergrad finance degree - to me it almost seemed like a pre-law or pre-med major... wth do you do with it if you don't go further?


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This is the complete opposite at my school. From what I have been told in the Minneapolis area it is really easy to get a job with a finance degree from my school.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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I don't know about other schools, but the recruiters at University of Illinois weren't very eager to recruit someone with just an undergrad finance degree - to me it almost seemed like a pre-law or pre-med major... wth do you do with it if you don't go further?

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Are you being serious here, because this is pretty ridiculous?

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Yes, 100% serious... but like I said, it's specific to my school. And even then, my view might be skewed because I didn't talk to every recruiter.

I suck at making points - I exaggerated by saying almost like pre med/pre law. Yeah, you could get jobs with a finance degree, but definitely not many higher end jobs.. definitely not compared to accounting. If I was going just finance, I'd definitely get an MBA.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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The first part of his statement is true. Recruiters at U of I are generally more eager to go after accounting majors than finance majors.

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I'd agree to some extent - the Big 4 has a huge presence at U of I because of the accountancy program's reputation, but in my experience finance majors were not struggling to get jobs. I went the Big 4 route and my roommate who I'd describe as an average finance major got a job with JPMC and is making at least 2x the money I am fwiw.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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Yeah, you could get jobs with a finance degree, but definitely not many higher end jobs.. definitely not compared to accounting. If I was going just finance, I'd definitely get an MBA.

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Do you just like making stuff up?

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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Good luck finding quant work. In today's market place, most quants are PHD's in the hardcore sciences such as Physics or Math. Also, quants are located in the tri-state area. If you do have interest in becoming a quant, computer science as an undergrad then financial engineering can also be a good path but finance and/or accounting is probably not going to cut it and I am speaking from experience in this area.

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yea, if i could program i'd be a quant by now lol.

you need academic quality modelling skills in addition to computer science graduate level programming skills.

you need to be able to take a model from theory to practice, backtest it, evaluate it, and make it run by itself.

furhter, as mentioned, quants are typically in tristate area and a majority of the time refer to PhD in math, finance, physics, engineering + computer skills.

DE shaw and many others though hire undergraduate-graduate level quant analysts.

not an easy thing to break into. if i had a "do-over" it'd be to be a sick computer programmer.

Barron

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um, no. while DE shaw and some others may specifically want math/comp sci kids with no finance background, many quant shops are perfectly happy to have an econ or finance undergrad, as long as they have a modicum of programming ability. believe it or not, quants need to have economic intuition and a knowledge of financial instruments, not just the ability to work with c++ and stochastic calculus. it really doesn't take that much programming skill to backtest a model, but you have to be smart enough and have the intuition to come up with reasonable things to test and interpret the results once you do.

that being said, the above is really geared towards the hedge fund world .. I'd imagine sell-side shops have more PhD's and more pure math guys.

sincerely,
just out of undergrad and working at a quant fund.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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Yeah, you could get jobs with a finance degree, but definitely not many higher end jobs.. definitely not compared to accounting. If I was going just finance, I'd definitely get an MBA.

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Do you just like making stuff up?

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I was talking about my school, not the world in general. And I made it perfectly clear that my view may be skewed because I didn't talk to every single recruiter. I'm not ignorant enough to think there are no higher end finance jobs. If that's what you assumed, you should start thinking before posting.

To clarify some more, at my school accounting>finance MBA>finance because there were very few great job openings for finance and a horde of finance students. You really had to stand out to land an awesome job. OTOH Getting off to a great start in accounting wasn't as hard. Of my accounting friends, about half went to work at the big 4, and the rest went to work at large regional firms (McGladrey, Crowe Chizek), all making ~60k a year.

So to OP: It all depends on the recruiting opportunities available to you at your school and how much work you want to put in.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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Good luck finding quant work. In today's market place, most quants are PHD's in the hardcore sciences such as Physics or Math. Also, quants are located in the tri-state area. If you do have interest in becoming a quant, computer science as an undergrad then financial engineering can also be a good path but finance and/or accounting is probably not going to cut it and I am speaking from experience in this area.

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yea, if i could program i'd be a quant by now lol.

you need academic quality modelling skills in addition to computer science graduate level programming skills.

you need to be able to take a model from theory to practice, backtest it, evaluate it, and make it run by itself.

furhter, as mentioned, quants are typically in tristate area and a majority of the time refer to PhD in math, finance, physics, engineering + computer skills.

DE shaw and many others though hire undergraduate-graduate level quant analysts.

not an easy thing to break into. if i had a "do-over" it'd be to be a sick computer programmer.

Barron

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um, no. while DE shaw and some others may specifically want math/comp sci kids with no finance background, many quant shops are perfectly happy to have an econ or finance undergrad, as long as they have a modicum of programming ability. believe it or not, quants need to have economic intuition and a knowledge of financial instruments, not just the ability to work with c++ and stochastic calculus. it really doesn't take that much programming skill to backtest a model, but you have to be smart enough and have the intuition to come up with reasonable things to test and interpret the results once you do.

that being said, the above is really geared towards the hedge fund world .. I'd imagine sell-side shops have more PhD's and more pure math guys.

sincerely,
just out of undergrad and working at a quant fund.

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i didn't think i was implying that any programmer could do it.

you clearly have to have a finance background/economic fundamentals. for me that wouldn't be the issue. there were also maths tests i had to take. that wouldnt' be the issue either...the C++/Java programming test would be.

i searched job boards, personal contacts, recruiters etc. for analytics/quant etc. positions and i'd say a huge chunk of them require at least my schooling (MBA mathematical finance, 1 year financial analysis training) and programming.

the ones that don't require the schooling do absolutely require the programming and somem fin/econ background.

i've spoken with many people and they all seem to say the same thing: "we can train a good logical thinker with some fin/econ background in econ better than we can train a great financial economic mind to program"

so like i said, i wish i had that do-over lol.

btw, what is "a modicum" or programming ability. i can program in matlab to test and develop, but can't bring the model live so to speak (i.e. pull data from somewhere and put it somewhere else)

Barron

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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btw, what is "a modicum" or programming ability. i can program in matlab to test and develop, but can't bring the model live so to speak (i.e. pull data from somewhere and put it somewhere else)

Barron

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how difficult it is to move from research to production depends in large part on how good the systems are that are in place at a given firm and how good their IT staff is. I would imagine that the smaller and newer the fund, the more a quant would have to know about databases and such to be able to do their job effectively.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

I noticed D.E. Shaw mentioned. This firm is a special case in all areas as they for the most part only hire individuals from elite universities. In any case, I challenge anyone to show me someone who is a real quant analyst at a reputable firm whether it be a brokerage house or a hedge fund with a Finance BA and MBA. I do not think they exist because that is not what employers want. As I stated previously, they want proficiency in C++/matlab/python/java and/or high level sciences like Physics or Math. The preference as another poster mentioned is to have both. On another note, I would tell any person who deciding on a major right now to take computer science. The market for people with a background in computer science and economics is incredible and shows no sign of slowing down.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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I don't know about other schools, but the recruiters at University of Illinois weren't very eager to recruit someone with just an undergrad finance degree - to me it almost seemed like a pre-law or pre-med major... wth do you do with it if you don't go further?

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Are you being serious here, because this is pretty ridiculous?

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I graduated from U of I with "just" a finance degree. It's true that at that particular school, you have more opportunities with an Accy degree, but this is a special case, imo.

U of I has the best Accounting program in the country and you can pretty much get a job anywhere in the field if you have a decent GPA. As far as finance goes, it's one of the best schools in the midwest, but it isn't competing seriously with ivy league schools for top finance jobs.

I'm not sure if you are interested in banking but I know quite a few Finance grads from U of I that have great banking jobs and a few that have great trading opportunities as well. Finance definitely seems like the "riskier" route, only because with Accounting you pretty much know what you are going to get when you graduate, where as there is huge upside in Finance but also more dead end career paths.

Personally, I couldn't stand the accounting classes I took. I just wasn't interested in it at all and I don't think I could have really applied myself in that major, at least at the entry level classes that were so boring to me. Do what you love, you will be happy years down the road.

Best,
tc

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

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I noticed D.E. Shaw mentioned. This firm is a special case in all areas as they for the most part only hire individuals from elite universities. In any case, I challenge anyone to show me someone who is a real quant analyst at a reputable firm whether it be a brokerage house or a hedge fund with a Finance BA and MBA.

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I work with at least one (I think two, but the other might have doubled in math) who only has the BA portion of that, is that close enough?

edit to add: it would be very rare for a good candidate for a quant position with a finance BA to go on to get an mba; for someone with a pure math/stat/compsci background it might be useful, but a finance ba looking to go into quant who was actually interested and qualified wouldn't make the decision to get an mba over going to work or more quantitative graduate work.

Re: Finance vs Accounting degree
 

if i could do it all over again i would have a double major of finance and computer sci/quant related stuff.
programmers (C++, unix...etc) who know their finance stuff are in sick demand from both hedge funds and i-banks.