Can You Do Accounting With a Finance Degree?

Understanding the Relationship Between Finance and Accounting

Accounting focuses on recording, classifying, and summarizing financial transactions to present an entity’s past financial performance and position. It adheres to established frameworks, such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States, which dictate how financial data is prepared and reported. It ensures accuracy, transparency, and compliance, enabling stakeholders to understand an organization’s financial health through statements like the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

Finance, conversely, emphasizes the management of money and assets, focusing on future-oriented decisions to maximize wealth. It involves activities like investment analysis, capital budgeting, risk management, and strategic financial planning. Finance professionals utilize accounting data as a foundation but apply it to forecasting, valuation, and making informed choices about resource allocation.

While both fields deal with financial data, their core objectives diverge. Accounting provides a historical record and ensures compliance, acting as a language for business operations. Finance takes this historical information and projects it forward, assessing potential returns and risks to guide future financial strategies and investment decisions. Financial decisions rely heavily on accurate accounting information, highlighting the constant interplay between these disciplines.

Accounting Career Paths for Finance Graduates

A finance degree provides a solid foundation for several accounting-related career paths, especially those bridging historical financial reporting and future-oriented strategic planning. Graduates find opportunities in roles requiring strong analytical skills and an understanding of how financial data impacts business operations. These roles leverage financial modeling and valuation expertise gained in a finance curriculum.

One common path is becoming a financial analyst, a role involving significant analysis of accounting statements to assess company performance, value investments, and make recommendations. Budget analysts also benefit from a finance background, as their work involves forecasting financial needs, allocating resources, and monitoring expenditures against planned budgets. This requires understanding both financial operations and accounting principles.

Internal audit roles, especially those focused on operational audits or financial compliance, are also suitable. These positions involve evaluating the effectiveness of internal controls, identifying risks, and ensuring adherence to policies, requiring an understanding of financial processes and reporting. Corporate finance departments, in areas like treasury or financial planning and analysis (FP&A), frequently hire finance graduates for their ability to interpret financial data for strategic decision-making and performance measurement.

Pathways to Expand Accounting Expertise

For finance graduates aiming to broaden their career options within accounting, several pathways exist to acquire the specialized expertise required for a wider range of roles. One direct route involves pursuing a Master’s in Accounting (MAcc) degree. This advanced program provides a concentrated curriculum in various accounting disciplines, often fulfilling educational requirements to sit for professional accounting certifications.

Another approach is to take specific undergraduate or graduate-level accounting courses. These courses can cover areas such as intermediate accounting, auditing, or taxation, which are prerequisites for more technical accounting positions or for meeting educational criteria for professional certifications. Many universities offer post-baccalaureate programs or allow students to enroll in individual courses to fulfill credit hour requirements without committing to a full degree.

Obtaining professional certifications relevant to accounting also enhances a finance graduate’s profile. The Certified Management Accountant (CMA) certification focuses on financial planning, analysis, control, and decision support, aligning with a finance professional’s analytical skills while adding management accounting competencies. Additionally, gaining practical experience in roles with significant accounting responsibilities, even if initially finance-centric, builds valuable on-the-job knowledge and skills.