Accounting or Finance major (1 Viewer)

[Ch00]

Really not sure which one to do - i thought the question would get easier over time, but apparently not. Anyone out there doing B Bus (or B Comm at other uni's) with experience of both (or either) majors that have any insights to share would be appreciated.

 

[*Pooja*]

oooh...do accounting! i talked 2 alot of ppl and they recommended majoring in accounting gives u a wide scope when u finish ur degree and go find work.

i know this may be crazy but when i was trying to decide on which course to pick 4 my preferences i made myself think of what i wanted to do in uni - when i was happy, sad, over-excited, extremely depressed, too sleepy, felt drunk, felt cold, felt hot, after yellign at someone, after having someone yell at me, when i was angry and annoyed..and such emotions.

it took me a week or something to confirm what i wanted to do and now i know. maybe u should try it too. if u dont think its crazy or something...

 

[Max Marks]

accounting

I do business/law, so i only have one major to pick from. I picked accounting and i think it was the right option. I was tossing it up between accounting and finance, but in the end i talked to some people (most of which did both majors) and almost 100% recommended accounting. Most said accounting is highly demanded, and finance is less so. But yeah im enjoying accounting and the subjects along with the lecturers are awesome. You probably already had Tyler, and next u will have Portelli, Prabs, Peter, Pernilla....and they are all good lecturers. So yeah i say DO ACCOUNTING

Sash

 

[Ch00]

heheh yep im bus/law too - i had portelli last semester for accounting 2.

 

[schwang_thang]

I do business/law, so i only have one major to pick from. I picked accounting and i think it was the right option. I was tossing it up between accounting and finance, but in the end i talked to some people (most of which did both majors) and almost 100% recommended accounting. Most said accounting is highly demanded, and finance is less so. But yeah im enjoying accounting and the subjects along with the lecturers are awesome. You probably already had Tyler, and next u will have Portelli, Prabs, Peter, Pernilla....and they are all good lecturers. So yeah i say DO ACCOUNTING

Sash

SATYA!!! Hey how's it going? LOL I haven't been to this forum for over 2 years and the 1st time I follow the links to this forum, I see your 'Maxmark' logo! (it's Chau, and btw congrats on your MDC results, shit you killed it!!)

Anyway, to answer the original question, I would recommend finance (I'm studying both accounting and finance). Screw the 'employers prefer accounting' argument, finance doesn't have the absolute bore, bullshit (sorry) factor that accounting does. Accounting (as most people say) provides a broad foundation for students. However, I think that a major like finance or economics (I've also done two economics subjects) provides far more depth and analytical skills, and the subject content is substantially more interesting and stimulating.

IMO accounting is extremely bland, monotonous, and the way in which it is taught is very incoherent. Whereas in my finance major I've found that all the subjects exhibit clear links with each other and compliment each other well, this is not the case (as I have experienced, and once again this is purely my opinion and not necessarily what others might have found) with accounting. The major jumps from the financial accounting aspect which is pure monotony, to the legal and ethical elements of reporting (which is taught quite poorly I think), to the management accounting strand which attempts to inject a 'thinking outside the box' style of thinking, (and after doing two mgmt accounting subjects, I don't believe that my approach to solving problems has been significantly broadened at all. As a matter of fact, I hated them, but that's a different topic althogether). I guess it is these elements which comprise the broad foundations aspect of accounting which I previously mentioned, but I still maintain that accounting is a major that teaches breadth and not depth. Because of this, I feel that I know a little about everything in accounting but I don't confidently know anything in particular well enough (as I do with my finance major).

Perhaps this cyncial stance is due to my complete lack of interest in accounting (and I still regret taking up accounting instead of economics, because of the 'employers like accounting' perspective), but following a torturous year of studying accounting major subjects, my advice to you would be to select your major based on your interests rather than because of job prospects or because it is practically a default major.

So I guess I will be the 1% that recommends a finance major over an accounting major. If job prospects are your most important priority, then you might decide on accounting, although bear in mind that finance also offers numerous opportunities in the job market. If you pay alot of attention to detail, then again, your choice may be skewed towards accounting (particularly financial accounting) as the accuracy of accounts relies on a heck of adding and balancing and all that crap. On the other hand if you prefer something alot more interesting, I would say that finance is the major to choose. The majority of people I know doing Business or Commerce are doing accounting/finance double majors and I can guarantee that the majority of these prefer finance for the interest factor (based on previous conversations - not a stab in the dark!). And although finance may relatively have less job prospects, the jobs in finance (equities, fund management, trading etc) I believe are ultimately far more interesting than in accounting (auditing, tax etc).

Sorry for the ramble, but thats just my humble opinion! Anyway, good luck with your eventual choice.

 

[chicaraca]

i am in the same position as you, and i was thinking i might do a double major (acc/fin) and then i can either drop the major i'm struggling with or finish my degree with a double major

 

[Jeevers]

Most of what schwang_thang said is absolutely true! If you do both accounting and finance majors however, you will be missing out on some very specialized subjects which are highly sought after in the finance industry especially as well as the accounting profession.

If you are good in economics + mathematics, and enjoy the analysis that goes behind it, a finance major seems to me to be the clear solution (a blend of strong stats, IT and finance skills is highly sought after everywhere around the world). Anyway, you would have heard this a thousand times but a high UAI doesn't guarantee you anything: the real world awaits you as soon as university begins, so choose your'e course carefully.

Thats my 2 cents worth of input anyway.