[NoName]

Hi all

What are your thoughts on the folks with undergraduate degrees in business (finance concentration/focus) that are taking accounting jobs in private industry?

I personally find this highly annoying as I don’t enjoy being lumped into the same category as these types.

Just for clarification, I don’t include people in this category who also did their accounting units (such as a double major or who later got an Masters in accountancy or taxation.)

As a reference point, I think most attorneys would start becoming annoyed if accountants were assuming their jobs.

The positive thing is that the majority of these employees cannot ever get a CPA license since they most definitely lack the education prerequisites and probably the experience as well.

[felixsphone]

No I don't think it matters as long as they know what they're doing as far as job responsibilities and being a good co-worker. If you're talking about straight out of college, perhaps. It just meant they had better interview skills.

[Cannell]

Phil,

Here are my thoughts. I'm with you on the fact that I aim to separate myself as a professional (in accounting). This is one of the reasons I have decided to earn my CPA license. But to your first question, here's how I think about it.

1. Obviously finance and accounting are complimentary to an extent, this makes it easier for them to get in to accounting positions. Not to offend anyone, but I view finance to accounting like a the patty to a burger. If you have to understand finance in accounting, but you don't necessarily have to understand accounting in finance. That is actually the reason I studied accounting and not finance in general.
2. Some “Private Industry” companies just need someone who can come in and learn a job and just do the same thing every day, week, and month. Some of these companies will hire folks who have no accounting experience or accounting education because they are repetitive tasks that anyone can learn to do. HOWEVER, they might not understand what they are doing, but they can repeat a process.
3. Some companies aren't looking to hire someone to move up or excel, just someone they can get for cheap.

Now I'm talking about Accounting clerks and equivalents. For the most part, there really shouldn't be anyone without accounting knowledge or exposure working a title higher than that. But to counter that, you have folks that are just really smart and have a finance background that understand and have the skills to make due.

There you have my loosely organized thoughts. Good topic!

[ohiocpacma]

I had a professor that told me that accounting majors can get accounting and finance jobs whereas finance majors do not have the same opportunity. I call BS on this after being in accounting/finance for 9 years. Many finance programs require intermediate accounting which is really all that is needed in many accounting jobs. Later in your career, you usually specialize in a certain area, but the entry tasks can easily be learned by a business graduate. The only caveat is that public accounting and tax would only take accounting majors, but I still think finance majors could adapt and learn. My job is in corporate finance (accounting, NPV, new deal evaluation, bs and p&l analysis) and there is no way that you could do this job without understanding accounting, yet we hire people from all different degree backgrounds (finance, accounting, economics). The accounting can be taught on the job.

[DM]

@Phil – engineering, computer science, math majors, and even some liberal arts (like history & Bio) grads take finance jobs away from finance majors. So they are in the mix too! It all depends on what you apply for and which company. TBH, banks & management consulting firms snatch up the top quant and research students regardless of their major.
Applying to Big4 Audit – you need master in accounting or graduate with double major in accounting & finance, GPA 3.5+, and plan for CPA exams. Internship preferred.
Applying to Big4 Advisory or Banking (all other Financial Services) – you need a major focus in business or applicable area, GPA 3.5+, distinguishable extra curriculars (like class president, student athlete, class treasurer, finance club, etc.). Plan for CFA exams or other applicable certification. The interview pool here is very competitive. Internship usually required.
In my experience, 90-100% of internships result in a full-time offer. Internships are the most important part of college.

[iceman]

I am one of “Those people”.

Finance undergrad, MBA (Finance concentration), then CFA, Financial analyst/FP&A manager career, then Finance Director/Controller roles, then more Acct hours and CPA.

I got all the way to divisional Finance Director without even enough accounting hours to sit for the CPA, but with my new company they want this role to have it, so I took the hours online and sat for the exams – 4 for 4 in 6 months!

I've also taught several courses – my opinion is that a Finance grad with an understanding of accounting will go a lot further in industry than the “average” accounting only grad. I had too many accounting students in my finance courses who were so rules/processed based they really struggled with NPV, opportunity costs, cash flow and deal analysis, and related forward looking concepts.

[Author]

Replies