about management?

Question

hi you guys .. i am dutch and study in the university ..
by the way , i have plan to transfer my major to business administration . but i don' t mean i want to major in "management"
.. i have a vague idea to be a accountant . but in my country , we have to take a test involving managment . i know there are so many differences between accounting and management . but i guess i should study both of them and enocomy .
my question to you guys is that how well i should know about math . i mean i am really afraid by the chance that i could give my dream to be a accountant for lacking of math ability . so ..
i am guess some of you guys are good at math and management .
i think it is time that you can give a valuable tips about your major to the people who want to be in your field.

Answer 1

Math is good if you're an accountant. I don't think you'll need calculus, unless you start researching really exotic derivatives, but you do need a strong grounding up to algebra, since much of accounting involves that level of analysis. If you've made it through a normal high school curriculum, you should be fine. The issue with accounting is that you need to be good at the math you do know. Wrong answers to questions will erode your credibility quickly. Spreadsheets and calculators have greatly limited the amount of math you need to be able to do in your head, but you do need to be able to make calculations in Excel and on calculators that are correct the first time.

Answer 2

The extent of math needed in accounting is usually limited to simple addition and subtraction, with an occasional weird statistical technique and multiplication. Calculus, trig, and most algebra is basically non-applicable. Thus math is not extremely critical beyond mastery of the basic skill set. On the other hand, economics requires intense calculus and stats if you plan to study it beyond the undergraduate level.

In my experience both working as a financial analyst and as an MBA, the management skills are not very difficult and generally common sense. Thus I would not fear the "soft" elements of business if accounting is what interests you.

Answer 3

Hi, I've been a manager for some time and maths is not my strong point. Financial management does require the ability to follow logic - much of the accounting requires you to follow structure and rules, rather than perform raw calculations. Having said that, arithmetic is useful and I'm sure mathematicians would find it a lot easier to decode my annual report than I do.

My accountant does not profess to be a maths whizz, just good at understanding numbers and their relationships to the structures and processes of business.

Answer 4

You might want to investigate further what your speciality will be to get the right accrediation:


AAT - Association of Accounting Technicians
ACCA - Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
ATT - Association of Tax Technicians
CF – Corporate Finance Qualification
CFE - Certified Fraud Examiner
CIMA - Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
CIOT - The Chartered Institute of Taxation

etc.....