deciding on my college business major? finance or accounting?

Question

I am currently enrolled in a college and was wondering what i really want to do in business, their are so many fields in which i may enter..i need to know the least boring field...or the most easiest? can any1 tell me which field would most suit this??

Answer 1

I did both, but I would prefer accounting over finance. Here's why:

1) Accounting needs discipline. It's pretty basic stuff (e.g. capital markets, securities, macro-economics) that you can learn out of only a few basic texts. Accounting, on the other hand, is pretty dry stuff that needs the discipline of a formal university regime. Furthermore, finance is pretty pervasive in the newspapers and you're going to pick up a bunch of it just through the course of your life. Accounting, on the other hand, is something you have to study to learn. It's just not going to "happen".

2) You don't need finance to do accounting, but you need accounting to do finance. Why? The core "finance" roles (e.g. investment banking) needs people with an accounting background and a passion for finance. Accountants needs accounting, but not necessarily finance. As I always say: "Accounting is the language of business".

3) Finance is more fun. I did both industries. Lot more money and fun in finance. However, job security and competition is much worse in finance. Want a job forever? Do accounting.

4) Easier? Don't do either. If you want to excel in either, you will need continuing education, post graduate work and industry certification (e.g. CFA, CPA, CFP, Series 7). You want challenging, fast paced, big paycheck business - do finance and accounting. You want easy, less boring - do something else.