Accounting vs Finance

Many people (especially junior) wonder what is the main difference between accounting and finance, I myself had ask the same question many times since I taking accounting subject in Form 6 even till the earlier stage of entering finance major in USM management course.

Well, after studying finance for quite a period, what I had found between the differences between these two fields is:

1) Accounting is a subject mainly focus on determine facts and accuracy of reporting, while Finance is a subject on using facts to determine both current and future value.

2) Accounting is working on accuracy and reliability, while Finance is working on prediction and creating value on money.

3) Accounting is mainly on studying numbers and figures, but Finance is mainly study on variable on real cash.

4) What a people always hear in Accounting is asset, liability, historical cost, matching principle and else accounting terms, in Finance, you will always hear of various interest rates and time value of money.

5) Example: Accountant must responsible for the accuracy on the financial report that he/she prepared or audited. Finance related jobs have to determine and make sure that the current money/cash in hand can have a maximum value in specified future time period.

Even both of the subjects are closely related, but differences are still existed. In USM, the finance major will learn these particular courses: Corporate Finance, Financial Market, Investment, Financial Statement Analysis, and Financial Derivatives.

Later I will post the main contents of the above courses, and hopefully this will help those junior to make a good choice when considering your further study in this field.