Finance Vs Accounting: Which One Should You Choose?

Finance vs accounting is one of the most debatable topics you might find when you are in banking and accounts and thinking about the finance sector or vice versa. There is a minute difference in both of these fields, as both are very relatable as they both revolve around money. In this article, we are going to compare finance vs accounting and know their major differences.

Table of Contents

What is Accounting?

Accounting is the process of recording, analyzing, summarizing, and reporting the financial transactions of a business or individual. It provides a systematic method of tracking financial activities and helps businesses make informed business decisions.

Major activities in accounting deal with recording financial transactions in a business. They manage day-to-day cash flow within an organization. Some of the responsibilities of the accountant include examining financial statements, tax computation, maintaining financial records, budgets, audits, and more.

What is Finance?

Finance is related to the management of money and assets. It deals with developing strategies and management of money for growth. Financial analysis studies market trends and makes analyses to make informed decisions regarding investments and opportunities.

Financial analysts are responsible for analyzing economic conditions and market trends to make informed investment strategies.

Finance Vs Accounting: Key Takeaways

Finance is the use of financial information such as market trends, market analysis, economic conditions, and more to make informed decisions regarding investments and opportunities.
Accounting is a relatively limited concept with recording, maintaining, and summarizing various day-to-day data in the company.
Finance is a wider concept consisting of more risks and authority.

Finance Vs Accounting: Overview

Some of the major highlights about finance and accounting are given below for you.

Accounting is a narrower field than finance. It only focuses on managing records and data. Finance deals with these collected data to make strong investment decisions and grow money and assets.
Finance consists of many risk factors, while accounting is very low on the risk meter.
Accounting is considered to be tough with strict formulas and complex, arithmetic calculations.
A career in accounting will require you to collect insights and manage them, while finance demands strong strategies and control.
Exceptional money growth can be achieved with the right investment practices. There is no growth in money or asset growth factor in accounting.

Finance vs Accounting: Qualification Required

If you are looking for a career in finance or accounting, then the qualifications are flexible yet highly dependent on your skills, knowledge, and ability to make informed decisions. However, check some of the major qualifications required for a good career in both these fields.

	Finance Vs Accounting: Qualifications
Criteria	Accounting	Finance
Educational Background	Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or a related field.	Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, or a relevant field.
Professional Certifications	CPA (Certified Public Accountant) CMA (Certified Management Accountant) ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)	CPA (Certified Public Accountant) CMA (Certified Management Accountant) ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
Major Skills	Attention to detail Analytical skills Knowledge of accounting principles and standards Proficiency in accounting software	Analytical Skills Understanding of financial markets Investment analysis Risk management, and more.
Relevant experiences	Experience in bookkeeping, auditing, tax preparation, and financial reporting	Experience in investment banking, financial analysis, portfolio management, corporate finance
Job profiles	Accountant Auditor Risk assessment Tax Advisor Payroll administrator	Financial Consultant Trader Fund manager Wealth management Investment banker

Finance Vs Accounting: Carrer Opportunities

Finance and accounting are filled with diverse opportunities with a high margin of growth and upskilling. Where accounting deals with tracking, recording, and analyzing financial transactions. Finance is more focused on managing assets, liabilities, taking risks, and making informed decisions for the growth of the organization.

There are plenty of entry-level roles for freshers or young graduates with a lot of growth options and a decent salary. Some of the entry-level roles are staff accountant, tax associate, financial analyst, investment banking analyst, credit analyst, and more.

Finance Vs Accounting: Projected Growth

People’s interest in finance and accounting is increasing day by day. More and more private banks are taking the lead and providing many new opportunities, especially for freshers. People are now taking more interest in the stock market and other modes of investment.

In the coming days, these two fields are set to grow and expand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLU) projected an increase of 10 percent in accounting jobs by 2026. Financial analysts are also projected to grow by the same amount in the coming years.

Finance Vs Accounting: Which One to Choose?

Both Finance and accounting provide good career opportunities for freshers as well as working professionals. If you are interested in growing wealth through informed analysis and predictions, then finance is a good career path for you.

However, choosing one between finance and accounting depends on your interests. You might be more satisfied with accounting jobs and want to make a career in it. Hence, before choosing a career path, first research well, then choose anyone among finance and accounting.

Finance Vs Accounting: Salary

Accountants prepare and maintain financial records. They make sure that the records are accurate and make a proper compilation of taxes. Their main goal is to make sure organizations run efficiently.

An average accountant can earn 5-10 lakh per year, depending on the organization. While a finance analyst or relevant professional can earn anywhere around 10-20 lakh per year.

Finance vs Accounting Vs Economics

Let us know the difference between these three important terms finance, accounting, and economics.

Finance: Finance is the study of asset allocation, risk management, decision-making, market analysis and more to make growth in assets in the future.
Accounting: This is a field comprising the recording and maintenance of financial information about a company through balance sheets, account statements, and more. It involves complex arithmetic calculations and analysis of day to day cash flow, revenue and more in the company.
Economics: Economics is a science that studies how individuals, businesses, governments and societies use their limited resources to satisfy their unlimited desires. It includes exploring the behaviour and interaction of economic agents and how economies work.

Difference Between Finance and Accounting in Tabular Form

Some of the major differences between finance and accounting are mentioned in table.

Finance	Accounting
Finance is the process of planning, managing, and distributing assets within a company.	Accounting is the art of making reports and reporting daily financial transactions.
Bachelor in finance, accountancy, economics, Mathematics, MBA, and more.	Bachelor in accounting, Masters in accounting, CA, CMA, etc.
Financial modeling overview valuations, modeling, financial statements, and more.	Accounting depends on trial balance, balance sheet, cash flows, income statements, etc.
There are many areas within the finance sector.	Major managerial positions in corporate finance.
There are many career opportunities in this sector, such as investment banking, equity research, private equity, quantitative analytics, technical analysis, etc.	Some career options in accounting are management accounting, forensic accounting, financial accounting, auditing, taxation, government accounting, etc.
Finance is a wider field.	Accounting is a narrow field as compared to finance.
Finance sector involves risk management and informed decision-making.	It mainly depends on record keeping and collecting data.

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Finance Vs Accounting FAQs

Q1. Which is better, an accountant or finance?

Ans: As a finance professional, you will deal with investment, risk management, return on investment, and more. As an accountant, your main focus will be to maintain balance sheets, income statements, and more. If you are looking for better pay then a career in finance might be a good choice for you. However, if you are looking for a safe desk job then an accountant is a better option.

Q2. Is accounting easier than finance?

Ans: Sometimes we make accounting easier than finance, however, in accounting, there are more strict calculations, formulas, and arithmetic calculations to reach a solution. While finance requires knowledge of economics with analysis techniques.

Q3. Is finance very difficult?

Ans: Finance can be challenging as it is a dynamic field. You just need to be disciplined and keep updating your knowledge as per the market changes. You must be good at statistics, numbers, and decision-making to ace a golden career in finance.