Both finance and accounting are the most sought-after fields to make a career in current times. But, the issue aspirants’ face is which one to choose out of both — finance or accounting? Well, to assist you in making a wise decision, I have discussed everything about finance and accounting in particular. So, keep reading to know more!
Enjoy working with numbers and financial values?
A career in finance or accounting is a perfect suit for you. If you aren’t sure which of these fields you should opt for, then don’t fret. Many aspirants face this confusion because both the areas of study sound similar and are overlapping.
Finance has an extensive scope, and accounting has a narrower. As a matter of fact, accounting is a part of finance. Both finance and accounting professionals work hand-in-hand with each other.
So, before you go and pick either of these two, make sure to read this article on both finance and accounting and then make an informed decision.
Let’s take one of these at a time!
Finance
Finance is about managing funds and investments of individuals, firms and governmental organizations. As a finance professional, it’s your responsibility to check that the funds are distributed optimally and to ensure that there’s sufficient availability of funds to suffice the financial objectives. Finance professionals need to gather funds by capital management in a manner that risk-adjusted returns are higher.
Furthermore, the area of finance is segregated into 3 sub-categories:
Corporate Finance: Financial activities carried out for operating business or investment purpose come under corporate finance. The financial position of a company is involved in corporate finance.
Personal Finance: Personal finance refers to analyzing an individual’s financial position and devising strategies for an individual’s future wealth management.
Public Finance: Public finance concerns with budgeting, taxation and debt-payments of government bodies and their related policies.
Career in Finance
Finance is a broad discipline that involves the management of funds. As no industry can work without finance, there are plentiful opportunities available to the aspirants. Some of the job roles that finance grads can look for are:
- Financial Analyst
- Fund Manager
- Financial Broker
- Investment Banker
- Financial Advisor
- Risk Analyst
- Financial Planner
Generally, anyone interested in the finance field opts for an MBA in Finance. MBA helps develop industry-ready skills and gain knowledge about financial concepts.
Accounting
In accounting, you need to report, organize, and maintain financial records. The field entirely focuses on creating financial records for a firm, individual or government-owned enterprise. As an accounting professional, it’s your responsibility to check whether the transactions are recorded accurately or not. You will also need to prepare financial statements of the company to become aware of its financial position.
Furthermore, the area of accounting is segregated into 3 sub-categories:
Financial Accounting: Financial accounting focuses on recording transactions through the income statement and balance sheet to know the financial position of a company.
Cost Accounting: Cost accounting regards the collection, classification and determination of the firm’s production cost. This accounting helps firms control costs and make wise decisions.
Managerial Accounting: This accounting helps make decisions, solve complex business issues, plan, control and formulate policies from the information available from financial and cost accounting.
Career in Accounting
Like finance, companies cannot work without accounting, as it’s a crucial part of an organization.Because of the diverse requirements of each company, the demand for accounting professionals is on the acceleration. Some of the job roles that accounting grads can look for are:
- Public Accountant
- Government Accountant
- Forensic Accountant
- Accountant
- Internal Auditor
- Management Accountant
The minimum educational qualification to start a career in accounting is a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) or any other relevant bachelor’s degree in accounting. Besides, to advance your education in the field, you can opt for masters’ courses like M.Com or professional qualifications like Chartered Accountancy (CA).
Finance vs. Accounting: Which One is Right for You?
With the finance sector growing like crazy, the need for both finance and accounting professionals is surging at present and will continue to arise in the future as well. Both disciplines have a tremendous potential to build a successful career if chosen the right course and college to study.
In a nutshell, your career can flourish in any of these disciplines. However, you need to choose one out of them based on your ambition and interests. Go for accounting if you have an interest in recording and maintaining financial transactions. If managing funds and investment is what you love, finance works the best!
Hope this post helped you figure out which ones ideal for you.
You can comment below in case of any suggestions or further questions.
