A faculty blog by Dr. Roger Stichter.
As a professor of accounting at Grace College, I find that many high school students struggle with choosing whether to major in accounting or finance in college. The degrees, which are both housed under our School of Business, do contain some overlap. Here are a few steps you can take to decide which major is best for you.
The best way to choose between a Finance or Accounting major in college is to try classes from both majors and then make your decision. This probably means taking Intermediate Accounting I and at least one upper-level Finance class.
Most business programs at colleges require all majors related to business, such as marketing, management, economics, accounting, and finance, to take two basic accounting classes and one basic finance class. So you’ll need to take courses beyond the basic, required classes.
Once you have taken these upper-level courses, you’ll probably have a better idea of which major fits you best.
If this doesn’t help you decide, try to work an internship in both majors to see which you like best. Accounting focuses on working with more historical data, while finance often involves working with future information and projections.
Many accounting students work for public accounting firms completing audits and tax returns, while finance majors intern at investment banks or insurance companies. Both students are likely qualified to join a corporate finance team.
If taking internships still doesn’t solidify the finance vs accounting degree debate, I personally recommend choosing a degree for accounting to become a Certified Public Accountant. You’ll find a greater wealth of career options at your disposal as a CPA. While CPAs are qualified for nearly all finance-related jobs, finance majors are not qualified for many accounting-related jobs.
Finance vs accounting degree: You may not know the answer until you dive in.
At Grace College, we assume that the overwhelming majority of students are Christ followers who desire to follow Him their entire lives. Grace’s accounting and finance programs start with this assumption and build on it.
Our programs emphasize that pursuing a degree for accounting or finance is a way to represent Christ to those in the business world who have no other Christian witness. This is the key reason we work in any job: to minister to those who either don’t know or don’t believe there is a God who loves them and wants a relationship with them.
One way I integrate a biblical worldview into my classes is through leading devotions before covering the course content. These devotions address many aspects of Christian life, from handling money to dealing with the difficulties we are promised when we follow Christ.
The world expects those who work in accounting and finance to be enamored with making more and more money. Do we produce workers who make money by working hard and excelling? Yes! But for graduates of our programs, money is not the most important thing. Representing Christ to a world that needs a Savior is.
Learn more about the finance and accounting programs in Grace College’s School of Business.
Dr. Roger Stichter serves as the professor of accounting at Grace College and the namesake of the Dr. Roger Stichter Endowed Chair of Accounting. He graduated with a D.BA. from Anderson University. He has authored a book and published several articles about his research in accounting.
