Finance or Accounting Major?

[Justin]

I am currenty in my second year of university. The first two years are the same for all students, and in Feb. of second year all students select their major. Finance and Accouning require the highest average to get into due to the higher demand, but my average is high enough so that is not a concern.

I am having a hard time deciding between accounting or finance. I did better in my intro accounting class and found it easier, but also a little boring and repetitive. I found my intro finance a fair bit harder (still got 84%), but also more interesting.

Other majors such as HR, marketing, management do not interest me.


Which major is easier to find a good paying job when done university? Which generally has a higher salary?

I know for accouting a designation will probably be needed? Is this true? What about finance?

If a need to spend a couple years after university working towards a CA, CMA or CGA for accounting and finance has no such requirement to get a good job, i might choose finance just because of that. But, if finance will also require continued education then I have no idea

[SoGood]

I am currenty in my second year of university. The first two years are the same for all students, and in Feb. of second year all students select their major. Finance and Accouning require the highest average to get into due to the higher demand, but my average is high enough so that is not a concern.

I am having a hard time deciding between accounting or finance. I did better in my intro accounting class and found it easier, but also a little boring and repetitive. I found my intro finance a fair bit harder (still got 84%), but also more interesting.

Other majors such as HR, marketing, management do not interest me.


Which major is easier to find a good paying job when done university? Which generally has a higher salary?

I know for accouting a designation will probably be needed? Is this true? What about finance?

If a need to spend a couple years after university working towards a CA, CMA or CGA for accounting and finance has no such requirement to get a good job, i might choose finance just because of that. But, if finance will also require continued education then I have no idea

there are designations for finance as well. CPA, CFA i believe...i'm not too sure what the requirements are. check in with your school, they should have info.
also choose what you like best, if your not interested in what you will be doing, then sure you'll get money, but you're going to be dreading your work.
if you want to open more doors, you can do a double major or minor in the one you don't major in.

[R8247]

Accounting is boring as hell, and this is coming from an Accounting major.

I wish I had majored in finance. Damn CA designation had me brainwashed

[the_fm]

Accounting is boring as hell, and this is coming from an Accounting major.

I wish I had majored in finance. Damn CA designation had me brainwashed

lol. you know you can specialized in finance. that's what i might do but for now, just get my degree and my designation

[Azxster]

You know the CFA doesn't care what degree you have?

You could always opt for a MBA to open up doors...

[T3NSION]

I'm doing a double in Accounting & Finance. It takes 4 more courses to double in Finance if you're going to be doing the CASB requirements for Accounting.

If I could choose one, I'd choose Accounting. More jobs out there; there really aren't many jobs for Finance majors in Canada. You have to be a cream of the crop student to land a good job with a Finance major.

If you're looking for more interesting classes, Finance is the way to go. Accounting classes are also quite a bit harder in my opinion.

[alysomji]

There seem to be too many students heading into accounting right now - and it wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of unemployed accounting students in a few years, or accounting students working in jobs they wish they weren't in. I'm not saying this will definitely happen - but it certainly seems quite possible to me. There are already a fair number of accounting students in one of these situations.

For finance, you would be looking at doing one or more of the CFA, CFP or MBA designations (for starters, after your degree). The CPA designation is the US equivalent of the CA designation - and is thereby an accounting (and not a finance-related) designation. There actually are a lot of finance jobs out there. Maybe not a lot of i-banking jobs - but quite a few jobs in other areas of finance. The Big 5 banks in Canada always hire a lot of students. Keep in mind, also, that many older finance professionals will need to be replaced as Canada's baby boomers continue to get older.

[noktrnl]

Have to agree.. there are far too many accounting students out there. They're attracted to the stability, above-average income, and (I use this term very loosely) prestige. Sadly, most of them have no idea what accounting is about.

Finance is pretty broad.
The really good positions in Finance (e.g. i-banking) are few and far between in Canada.
The other positions (e.g. financial planning) don't really make use of your Finance degree.

[adehbone]

Based on what I hear out here in Calgary, they are dying for CAs and insurance students. No CAs want to move out there, heck no CMAs even, or students willing to be one or other.

The insurance industry is growing like crazy across the country. CFA demand in insurance in 3-5 yrs will be crazy high, the need for risk analysts as well.

The problem though I hear, from 30ish CAs, is this generation of students are ridiculous and frustrating. No one wants to move west, no one wants to put max overtime, everyone wants to be an banker, or have a perfect work/life balance.

So the demand is out there, the reason these students are unemployed now and will continue to be, is mostly based on their attitude. It reminds to the CS industry after dot-com boost, they were looking for true talent not any moron who thought they could become an overnight millionaire.

I am sure if you major in Insurance/Finance, and move into the insurance industry and rack up a CFA, you will be in demand.

[urban1]

Calgary definitely has a shortage of accountants especially CAs. I was under the impression this was the case across Canada. CAs are really fighting to stay relevant and are having difficulty attracting students. The business world has changed and the CA profession isnt as attractive as it used to be. And theres too many old school CAs who dont like change and hence CA firms operate the same way as they always have. On the CA website you can find the report they had done when they were considering the merger with CMAs. The report details all the threats to the CA designation.

Have to agree.. there are far too many accounting students out there. They're attracted to the stability, above-average income, and (I use this term very loosely) prestige. Sadly, most of them have no idea what accounting is about.

Finance is pretty broad.
The really good positions in Finance (e.g. i-banking) are few and far between in Canada.
The other positions (e.g. financial planning) don't really make use of your Finance degree.

Based on what I hear out here in Calgary, they are dying for CAs and insurance students. No CAs want to move out there, heck no CMAs even, or students willing to be one or other.

The insurance industry is growing like crazy across the country. CFA demand in insurance in 3-5 yrs will be crazy high, the need for risk analysts as well.

The problem though I hear, from 30ish CAs, is this generation of students are ridiculous and frustrating. No one wants to move west, no one wants to put max overtime, everyone wants to be an banker, or have a perfect work/life balance.

So the demand is out there, the reason these students are unemployed now and will continue to be, is mostly based on their attitude. It reminds to the CS industry after dot-com boost, they were looking for true talent not any moron who thought they could become an overnight millionaire.

I am sure if you major in Insurance/Finance, and move into the insurance industry and rack up a CFA, you will be in demand.

[SoGood]

Calgary definitely has a shortage of accountants especially CAs. I was under the impression this was the case across Canada. CAs are really fighting to stay relevant and are having difficulty attracting students. The business world has changed and the CA profession isnt as attractive as it used to be. And theres too many old school CAs who dont like change and hence CA firms operate the same way as they always have. On the CA website you can find the report they had done when they were considering the merger with CMAs. The report details all the threats to the CA designation.

CA's having difficulty attracting students?
is it because CMA is so leinient on the requirements now that many are enticed by it and go for that designation?

[harlequin]

Keep in mind, also, that many older finance professionals will need to be replaced as Canada's baby boomers continue to get older.

.... yes, this is true for finance professionals and most other job categories as well, including accountants. As of Jan 2003, 25% of CAs were 55 or older:

http://www.icao.on.ca/CA/StrategicCr...09page5156.pdf

See page 7 of the above document.

It's difficult to see how there will be a surplus of accountants if a quarter of them are retiring in 5 to 10 years.

[faken]

It's not always about the money.. pursue the one you find more interesting.

[alysomji]

It's difficult to see how there will be a surplus of accountants if a quarter of them are retiring in 5 to 10 years.

I was waiting for you to bring your statistics on the large amount of room there is for accounting students to get jobs. Yet, the fact remains that many of them either get jobs they don't want or are stuck being unemployed.

Everywhere I look, BBA and BCom students are, for the most part, concentrating in accounting. Just look at how many posts there are on this board related to accounting - as corroboration of what I'm saying. The hype around becoming a CA reminds me of when everyone studied CS in hopes of getting a job in the hot IT market around 10 years ago. The seemingly endless demand for computer scientists ended up in a crash - leaving a lot of educated and qualified people in IT looking for jobs.

Right now, it seems like there will be (if there isn't already) an oversupply of students wanting accounting jobs. Employers like the Big 4 will simply take their pickings and let the rest rot. They've already started hiring less students than they have in the last couple of years, from what I've seen - particularly on the assurance side.

[sunnybono]

Accounting is boring as hell, and this is coming from an Accounting major.

I wish I had majored in finance. Damn CA designation had me brainwashed

Go the CMA route then. Its definitely not boring being a CMA. A lot of strategy work involved with planning and execution that follows!!!!!!

sk