FINS major VS ACCT major (1 Viewer)

[| n i s s y |]

Im a 2nd yr com/law student majoring in finance, but my parents are really pressuring me to swicth to an accounting major because they reckon that commerce degrees are good for nothing unless you get a CA/CPA accreditation. IS there any truth to what they are saying? I looked in the newspaper, and yes...it does look like all the big flashy commerce jobs require CPAs/CAs. So... Is there just as many GOOD JOB oppurtunities for Law students with Finance majors as those with accounting majors. Is an ACCT major really more useful?
Any past comm/law finance major students out there? Pls tell me your experiences...!

 

[sikeveo]

I have noticed the same thing about the CA/CPA qualification bit. I find so many acct jobs but you need CA/CPA, however I hardly find any finance jobs advertised. Maybe most of the finance jobs are advertised internally, and through referrals etc?

 

[rand0m3r]

i don't do comm/law myself but i know many, many ppl doing finance/law... some even think finance works better with law. either way, i don't think you can go wrong. but i think it's more important to choose the major that you enjoy more.

 

[phrred]

u onli need a CA if u go into actual accounting, if u wanna go into an IB do finance/aw

 

[Minai]

I don't understand...why do law if you want to become an accountant? Forget what your parents tell you and do what you want. CA/CPA is useful (and a must at some firms) but for a specific area. If you want to work in law, or in the financial sector, stick with Finance

 

[sunjet]

FINS! Investment banker ftw.

 

[redruM]

If you want to be an accountant, then consider dropping law. Get kick-ass grades in accounting, do some extra-curicullars and you'll get in for CA/CPA position.

If you want to go into finance, ie- Investment Banking/Financial Planner, then keep the comm/law combination, with a major in finance. A major in accounting won't really cut it for these places. Even with comm/law, you need uber sexy grades, since you'll be competing with uber sexy actuaries.

Have a look at what sort of company you would like to work in. I think this is what will decide your choice. A good place would be through the graduate recruitement materials that should be in abundance at this point in time.

 

[rand0m3r]

I don't understand...why do law if you want to become an accountant? Forget what your parents tell you and do what you want. CA/CPA is useful (and a must at some firms) but for a specific area. If you want to work in law, or in the financial sector, stick with Finance

you work at E&Y, shouldn't you know that a lot of ppl working in tax have comm/law degrees?

 

[M@C D@DDY]

There is no point doing a com/law degree if all you want is CA/CPA qualification. I want to get into taxation law and hopefully i am doing the right course (com (acct)/ law UNSW). Dunno if i actually have to get CA accreditation to become a tax lawyer, but working in-house is fine with me also. There seems to be a lot of people who are doing finance majors with their law degrees, surely IB cannot satisfy all these people's desires.

 

[Eagles]

Im a 2nd yr com/law... parents are really pressuring me

I would have thought you'd be smart enough to make that decision.. oh wait.. I forgot the uai doesn't measure intelligence.. my bad!
At times you must question, not only your decisions, but of your parents decisions too! stand up for yourself! what's their experience, where are they coming from? perhaps even ask WHY they're saying that kinda nonsense?

Did they just read some article off the internet and then motioned to ban DHMO? (good weekend yesterday)

A CA/CPA is great! but there ARE people who survive quite well without one as well (or majoring in accounting for that matter.)

Apologies in advance, I'm abit stressed.

 

[rand0m3r]

first of all, commerce is a professional degree as long as you choose your subjects towards professional recognition.

also politik, you've said you like many things, like computers. but as you've already found out from your short experience in comp1911, computers isn't just about a pretty GUI and making things look fancy. likewise for finance, it's not just about buying/selling shares.

you said you wanted to become an academic, and now you just wanna make big bucks. it's like if everything can happen as long as you say it will. i'm not sure if you can achieve either of the above.

 

[Minai]

you work at E&Y, shouldn't you know that a lot of ppl working in tax have comm/law degrees?

You don't need a law degree to work in tax, and I think it's a waste to do a Com/Law degree and end up working in tax at an accounting firm. You'd be better off dropping law, finishing in 3 years instead of 5 and having a headstart in your career. You don't magically get seniority at any firm because you have a law degree, an BCom grad working in tax would already be a senior (2 years experience), whereas the Com/Law grad would be 2 years behind

 

[rand0m3r]

i'm sure there are ppl without law degrees in tax, but having law will certainly be advantageous and could separate one person from another when going through the selection process.

you make law seem like such a waste of time. regardless of whatever career path a comm/law grad chooses, just having those two degrees in his/her arsenal will be very useful... it may not be used now, but you never know what the future holds. don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[phrred]

You don't need a law degree to work in tax, and I think it's a waste to do a Com/Law degree and end up working in tax at an accounting firm. You'd be better off dropping law, finishing in 3 years instead of 5 and having a headstart in your career. You don't magically get seniority at any firm because you have a law degree, an BCom grad working in tax would already be a senior (2 years experience), whereas the Com/Law grad would be 2 years behind

well said, also with a BComm u can have 2 Commerce majors. so u can have skills in finance , accounting + 2 years experience instead of just finance or accounting /law

 

[| n i s s y |]

Thanks for the advice guys...Its easy for ppl to say 'stick up to your parents'...but it can be really difficult to put in practice. anyhoo.. i definately dont wanna be an accountant. But I do want to in a job that will make good use of BOTH degrees....I just wanna make sure that When i do graduate...that I have all the qualifications I need to suceed....whether it be in IB or law firm. ...it would suck if i end up having to do accounting bridging courses at the end of my degree because this one job that i really want wont consider me unless I have a CPA quailfication or whatever.. But the chances of that happening are low i gues...

I know one thing, I love my law degree and i would never consider dropping it. And I love commerce as well!...Im inclined to stick with finance... ...and CA sounds totally out of the question anyway..take too long..

 

[rand0m3r]

Thanks for the advice guys...Its easy for ppl to say 'stick up to your parents'...but it can be really difficult to put in practice. anyhoo.. i definately dont wanna be an accountant. But I do want to in a job that will make good use of BOTH degrees....I just wanna make sure that When i do graduate...that I have all the qualifications I need to suceed....whether it be in IB or law firm. ...it would suck if i end up having to do accounting bridging courses at the end of my degree because this one job that i really want wont consider me unless I have a CPA quailfication or whatever.. But the chances of that happening are low i gues...

I know one thing, I love my law degree and i would never consider dropping it. And I love commerce as well!...Im inclined to stick with finance... ...and CA sounds totally out of the question anyway..take too long..

i'm not sure if other ppl have already addressed this, but you no longer need an accounting major/degree to get a CA. however, there will be a fair number of bridging courses to do.

and politik, you missed out on CSE stureps... sucked in. what kind of a lamer would nominate himself to be a CSE sturep when he isn't even part of the CSE faculty.

 

[bshoc]

I just love it how people are arguing about which boring office job is better - they're both sh*t guys, if you're really going to choose, just pick the one you hate less.

 

[Minai]

i'm sure there are ppl without law degrees in tax, but having law will certainly be advantageous and could separate one person from another when going through the selection process.

you make law seem like such a waste of time. regardless of whatever career path a comm/law grad chooses, just having those two degrees in his/her arsenal will be very useful... it may not be used now, but you never know what the future holds. don't put all your eggs in one basket.

You're taking things out of context, I'm talking about a career at an accounting firm. Of course the law degree is useful, that's the whole point of me telling the person to stick to finance, to properly utilise the law degree - and yes, law is a waste of time IF you're going to work for an accounting firm. The law degree has no advantage in the selection process (I've been through accounting firms' selection process).

 

[rand0m3r]

Because he wanted to represent the CSE First-Years?

and how do you expect to represent the CSE first-years when you're not even part of the CSE? thank god the voters saw the light. they had to pick 2 out of 3, and somehow had the sense to not choose you.

 

[M@C D@DDY]

You're taking things out of context, I'm talking about a career at an accounting firm. Of course the law degree is useful, that's the whole point of me telling the person to stick to finance, to properly utilise the law degree - and yes, law is a waste of time IF you're going to work for an accounting firm. The law degree has no advantage in the selection process (I've been through accounting firms' selection process).

I question your point in the sense that if the firm is paying the exact same amount of salary, wouldn't they rather a candidate with a law degree. I believe that on the inside there must be favouritism for law graduates though i agree with you that it is a waste of time to study law if accounting is what you want to do. A Bcom is more than sufficent for that. When i went to KPMG for instance, the partner only had a Bcom but the manager who was older than the partner had a Bcom/LLB and knew every page of the Tax Assessment Act. That i guess raises points for both sides of the argument.