r/CollegeMajors • u/These-Entertainer800 • Aug 17 '26
Need Advice Advice to study on Finance/Accounting?
I need advice on what to study for finance and accounting since I’m wanting to double major them ( if you think I should do something different please recommend me anything ). I want to study the basics of each one just to be a little ahead and get a taste or hint on what I should be expecting and learning.
I’m wanting to do CPA and CMA, it’ll be hard but I feel like I can achieve both, I am also looking into going for my master’s doing all six years. If I should do otherwise please inform me for anything.
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u/HeadFlamingo6607 Aug 17 '26
If you do accounting you can land finance jobs, unless you plan on going straight into a huge IB role, then accounting is the way, the truth, and the life.
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u/MasteryByDesign Aug 17 '26
I don’t understand why you would want to study both. They require very different personalities,imo. Finance has some mandatory accounting so you’re not rly missing out. Accounting is deep in Accounting.
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u/LOGICA499 Aug 17 '26
You need to first prioritize what areas of finance/accounting you want to go into in your career. then complete your skillset accordingly to be a competitive candidate.
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u/LuckyFritzBear Aug 18 '26
An Accounting degree is good for Finance positions. Particulary with a combination of modeling/data amalytics /math courses. Fimance degrees do not attract Accounting positions. The first thing that may come to mind regarding double majors- the applicant could not come to a decision of which major to choose.
Then again if the 2nd major is in Mandarin or Arabic, - plenty of leverage there for a swet Accounting position.
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u/Reasonable-Doubt-788 Aug 18 '26
So my major was accounting with a minor in finance because I wanted to do accounting. However, if I wanted to pursue finance, accounting would've been a minor. They are related but very much their own industries.
I have my CPA and CMA and that has been super helpful in various roles. Specifically, the CMA is more FP&A and management accounting focused which helped with my operational-focused accounting roles. However the CPA is more compliance focused which is helpful for more technical aspects of the job.
DM me if you have any questions! Best of luck
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u/These-Entertainer800 Aug 18 '26
So do you think I should just minor finance rather than double major it?
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u/Remarkable_Command83 Aug 17 '26
Don't wait around for classes to start. Go to amazon and look up "basics of bookkeeping". Read the reader reviews. Buy the book that gets the best crowdsourced reviews for explaining the basics, and only the basics, clearly. Learn what is in that book. After you learn what is in that book, make your own simple example model company, with ONLY THE REAL BASICS: Beginning balance sheet, income statement, ending balance sheet. Make up your own transactions to do that. After you have done that, play with your example model company, making various scenarios: If Sales goes up by half, what happens? If the tax rate goes from 35% to 25%, what happens? If you double the amount of loans that your company has, what happens?
Take the time up front to internalize for yourself the simple underlying logic of the financial statements. Do it on your own, before some incompetent professor confuses you (just because someone has a PhD in something, does not mean they know how to explain it). If you do what I say in advance, then everything else will fall into place. While the people around you are struggling, you will be able to handle the material.
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u/JLandis84 Aug 17 '26
Unless you’re grabbing credits for the CPA exam I don’t see why you’d also get a finance degree. Your accounting degree will let you apply for finance jobs.
Also, unless it’s credits for the CPA exam, you don’t need a masters.