What's the difference between a finance major and an accounting major?

What's the difference between Finance, Banking, and Accounting? Somebody pls enlighten me..?

• What do you study in Finance, Banking, Economics, and Accounting respectively? What is the difference between them? If I want to be a banker, what major do I have to take? I am quite clueless right now, please help! Thanks much-ly beforehand! =)

• Answer:

  Accounting is the gathering and reporting of financial information on companies and organizations. It deals with the preparation of statements that are used to understand the financial condition of a company at specific points in time, and its reveniues, expenses, income and cash flows over periods of time. When you study accounting you learn how to read financial statements, including the balance sheet, the income statement and the funds flow statement. In finance, you study ways in which you can use accounting information and other information to make finnancial decisions. These decisions might include such things as determining whether to extend credit to a person or a business, determining the best way to help a company raise money, and determining whether the securities of a particular company represent a good investment. Economics studies the broader system by which goods and services are allocated. In macroeconomics you study the structure and function of the U.S. economy, including the driving factors behind such variables money supply, interest rates, and inflation. In microeconomics you study the theory of the corporation, including production, supply and demand, and costs. In banking you study the structure and function of the banking system, including the role of the Federal Reserve bank, the different types of banks, electronic funds transfer, and so on. Each of these areas is different, but they are interrelated in subtle ways. For the areas you are interested in you should take courses in accounting, economics, banking and finance, so that you have a sufficiently broad background to handle advanced coursework or on the job training. Then ideally you should major in finance (although this is not a strict requirement -- I work in finance but my undergraduate major was in economics).