Accounting/CS

CS graduate here working as web dev in London earning 47k at the age of 25. Not an impressive salary but I didn't put much effort. I am not sure that an accountant with the same experience would get the same money, plus work is actually fun.

>>1664096
>accounting considered a hard degree because of the maths aspect
its basic algebra
what makes it hard is combing legal logic and algebra while remaining organized

>>1664111
combining*

>>1664111
I see. Are you an accountant if i may ask?

Accounting is only hard because it's extremely analytical and uses a ton of business lingo. I did extremely well in economics but finished accounting with a C. After that, I switched my major to Computer Science. I love CS.

A computer science major with finance would probably be fantastic for the corporate worlds.

>>1664233
I am from the UKand unfortunately i can only get a degree in one one field Accounting and Finance or CS and I don't know what the fuck to do. I have less than a month to decide

>>1664346
>Accounting and Finance

>>1664096
Hhahahaah Accounting math..

Hard..

Jesus Christ.

The absolute hardest thing is things like NPV, and even then it's just like 5 steps and 4 year degree to learn it.

>>1664357
Ever heard of MACRS? Or any math related to accounting? NPV is mainly a finance-side calculation bud. Lurk more and finish primary school.

The math in CS will be harder than that in accounting, especially if you want to be good with it.

For accounting a lot depends on what you want to do. Taxes are nasty - lots of complicated rules to follow, but aside from that pretty mindless. Business accounting / finance is more analytical, you actually have to pay attention to what you're invested in, but it's not super hard and the math is mostly just plug in formulas - it's the interpretation that's hard.

Auditing / forensic accounting is some math, but usually less nitpicky than taxes or something (though you still have to know what you're doing).

At my uni I think you only have to take up through Calculus 1 for an accounting, and most people scrape past with a C on that one.

With CS you'll usually have to take three or four advanced math courses - set theory, discrete, etc. They're usually not to bad, but if you really want to set yourself apart you should take more. Math and code are more related than most people give them credit for.

When I went in I did accounting because I didn't always want to be learning new languages and having to "keep up" in case I had kids or something. Now I regret that decision and wish I'd done CS instead. That's just me though.

One thing you might want to do is talk to some actual coders or accountants in your area and just see what a "day in the life of" looks like. Think long term about how you want to spend your career, not just the next four years.

It's a huge misconception that Accounting is hard due to the math. The reality is that Accounting is more like law. It's really just remembering rules and to some people it may involve a lot of new vocabulary. Accounting is pretty much the language of business.

>>1664407
Thanks for giving me a decent response, thats exactly why iam hesitating with CS i really want to to do it but i heard accounting is a more stable job for the future and it pays more (apparently) also I am in the UK so the salaries might be different. Also if i may ask, why do you wish you had done CS instead?

Certain aspects of accounting are difficult. In terms of courses you'll have intermediate to weed out the retards, and tax I & 2, which is very complicated. When people say, "Oh, you must be good at math," I always say, "no, I'm good at using a calculator."

>>1664658
>>1664500
>>1664407
So I am a little bit into accounting, will be finishing up intermediates and tax 1. I would say that it is all about laws and rules and very little math is involved. I got into it because I could do all the math in a couple of seconds (autistic or something) but have been finding out it is more and more about rules and reading rules. Read some of the tax codes, that shit is annoying. Talking to accountants can give you the best source in where you want to go in accounting and also it is best to talk to accountants that have been doing it for years not some new grads as what they say can be bullshit.
TLDR: Little math, talk to accountants, and read legal documents.

>>1664096
Not to steal OP's thread but, I'm a bit old but I'll try to become an accountant.

Most people my age are accountant's already.

I just need to get better at Algebra.

Accounting sounds like great carreer, because you earn a good amount of money and it has good job security.

>>1664749
Damn, I forgot to add that it won't be easy.

Then again, only minimum wage jobs are easy.

I'd appreciate some advice from any Accounting or any Finance majors here on /biz/.

>>1664749
It's alright. I'm in my fourth year now. Spent my first 3 years at a big 4 firm doing asset management tax. The busy seasons sucked. I never got a day off from July 4th until September 15th. In the office 7 days a week. 80-100 hours with a few weeks 100+.

I did enjoy some aspects of it though. It's cool to get inside looks at what firms like Goldman are investing in, and who's investing in Goldman.

The pay was trash though. Started at 49k in a low cost of living city, was at 64k right before I quit. I left to go to a private asset management company in my hometown. Got a pay bump to 75k, and they paid for my relocation. There will be busy weeks in the summer/fall, but they only worked 3 saturdays last year. No Sundays. Outside of that, it's strictly 40 hours a week though. A lot less pressure too.

Big 4 was fun because at 27, I was one of the oldest people in our group outside of upper management. Everyone was young and enjoyed being around each other. During busy season we'd get $30 a night to use on dinner, which we usually spent on drinks. Now everyone I work with is a good bit older, in their 30s/40s/50s. I'm loving it though, actually having time to have a life outside of work is such a difference for me.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions about the field. I don't know too much about audit, but know a bunch of auditors.

>>1664810
Would you say that your job takes up most of the time in your personal life? or is it balanced