[jel247thoe]

What useful programming languages are there in the accounting field that can be beneficial on the job? VBA since it’s already in Excel? I was looking for a career change to web development, but found dealing with shapes and objects a little tedious and wanted to see what options there are in programming with an accounting background.

Thanks!

[LawGuy]

I think programming is a fantastic addition to any skill set. What language you should learn depends almost entirely on what your objectives are.

I would say Python is the best language to start out with. It's easy to learn and very powerful. It can be used for web development (Django), simple apps, and data science. Many of the best AI tools are compatible with python.

If you want to build applications for large enterprises, languages like VBA and C# are good because they can be easily integrated with many Microsoft applications (I recommend C#, personally). Powerful Microsoft Office add-ins can be developed using VBA or C#.

Microsoft has recently been making its newer Office applications available as cloud-based apps, and the add-ins for those are based on Javascript. The Javascript add-in functionality isn't currently as powerful as C# or VBA add-in functionality, but I don't expect that to last for too much longer. Javascript is also essential for web development, and you can easily use it to do a lot of fancy things with websites and such.

[kay]

If you like accounting and programming or are just in general tech savvy look into data analytics. Big Data is huge and accounting/auditing brains tend to do well with it. Learn SQL and as many analytics softwares as you can and you will create a very desierable skill set for yourself.

[Sweet]

I am looking into some kind of hybrid programming career path that could benefit with an accounting background too. I wonder what kind of job title I should look into.

[jel247thoe]

Thanks for your input guys. Long story short, I think programming is a better fit for me career wise in the long run. I studied web development through various free resources online for like 2 months and enjoyed Javascript. HTML & CSS felt a little tedious dealing with shapes and positioning them. Are things suppose to get less tedious when you learn new frameworks, libraries or whatever you call them?
What is the quickest and ideal way to get into programming from accounting? Web dev bootcamps are popular these days, but is there an area that I can apply accounting knowledge to? Is this basically a career change as most accounting jobs don't really program?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

My background is in accounting and I learned how to program. If you wanted to program accounting all you need is VBA. I figured hey i'll just learn VBA and SQL and just be done with it right? Boy was I wrong, if you are working full time in accounting it could take around 6 years to be a good object oriented programmer in a computer language like python or java. I spent so much time learning VBA that I figured mide as well just become a real programmer at this point. It is true all you need is VBA and SQL as an accountant with programming. However with the amount of time it takes to master those languages you mide as well just start with an object oriented language like python or visual basic.net.

[Brian]

lol “mide”

[Books]

VBA, SQL. SQL is huge. Lots of data analytics and SAP BOBJ tools. SQL for Oracle. 20 years experience. Not the normal path but a change after handling month end closings.

[Author]

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