Finance or accounting degree?

[Yenisei]

It looks like you can do a double major while collecting VA benefits. See: VA General FAQ

The VA no longer approves minors unless it is required by your major or you can complete the minor within the 122 credits required to graduate. The loop hole for minors is requesting a dual major in the subject you wish to minor in and only completing the minor requirements. To request a dual major, you just need to fill out the dual major request form through our office.

Do the double major. You don't seem to know which way you want to go, and you may change your mind anyway.

[vickyvicky]

I found a bunch of debates on this on other forums doing a quick google search, but I was wondering what everyone thought on here about the benefits and advantages of getting a finance degree vs an accounting degree?

Salary, job outlook, benefits, etc

Based on the occupational outlook handbook it seems there are more job openings for accounting, but finance jobs pay more and therefore have more competition.

Just wondering

*pow* @-("Q)

i am sorry, but what is the difference?

[joel66]

If I had to complete my business degree again, I would have done a concentration like accounting instead of a general business degree. This is one of the reasons why I am working on completing an MS in Accounting at Liberty University. I almost considered getting a second bachelors degree, but realized that as an Army veteran Liberty U. only charges 250 per unit. Also, like yourself I was split between accounting and finance. This is one of the reasons why I am considering the MBA in Finance after I complete my MSA degree.

[ryoder]

You rock Joel!
I'm working on an MBA in Applied Computer Science now. I just started but I really love the idea of having an MBA with a relevant concentration. I am a software developer at a bank so it should work out well.

[kimaya24]

If I had to complete my business degree again, I would have done a concentration like accounting instead of a general business degree. This is one of the reasons why I am working on completing an MS in Accounting at Liberty University. I almost considered getting a second bachelors degree, but realized that as an Army veteran Liberty U. only charges 250 per unit. Also, like yourself I was split between accounting and finance. This is one of the reasons why I am considering the MBA in Finance after I complete my MSA degree.

Hey, I'm going to Liberty too!! My husband is active duty and I am using his GI Bill to get my B.S. in Accounting. I thought about doing a double major in finance, all I would have had to do is take the major courses for finance as my electives, but I decided not to. 1. It would have taken me a lot longer to finish my degree 2. I would be spending GI Bill money on B.S. courses that I could be using for my Master's instead.

Instead of using up the GI Bill, I decided to do CLEP/ DSSTs for 12 or 13 classes (electives, upper level business, general ed. requirements). Then, I will go on to get my Master's in Accounting. My sister-in-law was saying I should get my degree in Finance, but I decided to go with accounting. I hope to get my CPA one day and after getting some experience and my Master's I'd like to look into being an online Accounting instructor on the side.

[CollegeStudent7]

I work at a staffing agency and, simply put, they love to see Accounting degrees. More people apply that have Finance degrees and there is nothing wrong with that, but a Finance degree only requires a few Accounting classes as where Accounting is a bit more specialized. My staffing agency personally says that Accountants are always in demand. I have noticed the jobs that our agency offers pay more than some of the Finance based positions.

[joel66]

Hey, I'm going to Liberty too!! My husband is active duty and I am using his GI Bill to get my B.S. in Accounting. I thought about doing a double major in finance, all I would have had to do is take the major courses for finance as my electives, but I decided not to. 1. It would have taken me a lot longer to finish my degree 2. I would be spending GI Bill money on B.S. courses that I could be using for my Master's instead.

Instead of using up the GI Bill, I decided to do CLEP/ DSSTs for 12 or 13 classes (electives, upper level business, general ed. requirements). Then, I will go on to get my Master's in Accounting. My sister-in-law was saying I should get my degree in Finance, but I decided to go with accounting. I hope to get my CPA one day and after getting some experience and my Master's I'd like to look into being an online Accounting instructor on the side.

If you are getting your BS in Accounting at Liberty I would seriously consider an MBA in Accounting or Finance instead of an MSA. Reason being, you already have 32 credits in accounting. Better yet, focus on your CPA after you complete your BS degree, and once you get a job in the accounting field, you can decide what direction to go. It could be that your future employer will pay for your degree and they can guide you on what route to take like MBA in ACCT or Finance.

[CollegeStudent7]

My friends hubby works in Accounting. He has his Bachelors and is in his early 40s. He makes $140,000/year. I know CPAs that make the same and OHHHHHHHHHHHH SOOOOO MUCH more during tax season. Accounting is said to be a bit more difficult than a Finance degree, so if you are ANY good at ALL at Accounting, I would encourage you to go for it. I'm considering Finance, myself, and if I end up being good at Accounting, I'll get my Masters in it.

[kimaya24]

If you are getting your BS in Accounting at Liberty I would seriously consider an MBA in Accounting or Finance instead of an MSA. Reason being, you already have 32 credits in accounting. Better yet, focus on your CPA after you complete your BS degree, and once you get a job in the accounting field, you can decide what direction to go. It could be that your future employer will pay for your degree and they can guide you on what route to take like MBA in ACCT or Finance.

That's a great idea, if I remember right, I was thinking of doing the MSA since it was less credits than the MBA, but I think the MBA would be more versatile. Also, I think in Texas you have to have 5 years experience before you can even sit for the CPA. AAFES Headquarters has a lot of Accounting Tech positions, so I've been applying hoping to get in, but no luck yet. My husband knows a Soldier that works in HR there and he said to apply for anything just to get in then apply for the accounting tech because they give current employees first dibs on the jobs so that's what I'm doing

[kimaya24]

My friends hubby works in Accounting. He has his Bachelors and is in his early 40s. He makes $140,000/year. I know CPAs that make the same and OHHHHHHHHHHHH SOOOOO MUCH more during tax season. Accounting is said to be a bit more difficult than a Finance degree, so if you are ANY good at ALL at Accounting, I would encourage you to go for it. I'm considering Finance, myself, and if I end up being good at Accounting, I'll get my Masters in it.

I took accounting at a vocational school my last 2 years of high school (10+ years ago) and I got straight As; I don't know how because I really didn't understand it and thought it was soooo boring (then we did most of the work by hand on that green ledger paper...yuck!!). That's part of why it took me so long to go back to school because I didn't know what to major in and I didn't like accounting in school. Then I got a job in the accounting department of the credit union I worked at and for the first time accounting made sense...and I liked it

Then when I took my first college accounting course I understand what was going on because I could relate it to my work experience and the practice was done on computer instead on paper which I like much better. That was when I knew accounting was right for me. My opinion is that studying accounting and actually working in accounting is different, you might hate taking the classes, but like doing the work hands on. Right now though, I'm taking Advanced Accounting I and I really like it, it's challenging, but the thing is to work on it a little bit everyday...I love it when the numbers add up right