Financial Accounting Degree Guide

Financial accounting focuses on recording, analyzing, summarizing, and documenting organizations’ financial activities. This field also includes the production of official financial statements for public release.

You can study financial accounting as a generalist, learning the core methods and systems accountants use to perform these tasks. You can also pursue a specialization within your financial accounting coursework. Relevant subfields of accounting include:

You can earn a financial accounting degree at any level, beginning with predegree certificate programs and extending to professional and terminal degrees. Use our guide to compare the available pathways and gain insights into how your schooling choices can support different career goals.

The primary objective of financial accounting is to compile, organize, and report financial information for external party use. These external parties typically include investors, financial institutions, and compliance or taxation officials.

In the United States, companies subject to public reporting requirements must comply with an accounting system known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Financial accounting degrees emphasize GAAP methods and other standards that organizations use when reporting to external parties.

General accounting programs cover GAAP and other financial accounting concepts. However, they more evenly balance their financial accounting coursework with other important accounting subdisciplines, such as cost accounting and managerial accounting.

It’s also crucial to understand the difference between “financial accounting” and “finance.” Despite sounding similar, the two disciplines are very different: Finance focuses on managing, growing, and maximizing organizations’ financial resources through strategic deployment and investment.

Professionals in this field usually hold an associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree. Review the sections below for a profile of typical content covered in each financial accounting degree level.

Financial accounting degrees cover GAAP and supporting concepts. Depending on the program’s philosophy and design, topics may include:

The subjects your program covers also vary by degree level. Associate degrees mainly focus on foundational essentials. Bachelor’s programs also establish foundations, but build on them through advanced coursework. Curricula become even more specialized, analytical, and technical at the master’s level.

Programs at all levels also develop important soft skills in areas like communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.

Schools offer financial accounting degrees at every level, from associate to doctorate. However, doctoral programs are typically for aspiring professors and researchers, so the credential is less common outside academia. Consequently, the sections below only profile programs up to the master’s level, which is more popular with professionals in the workforce. This list also includes nondegree programs, which are available to both undergraduates and graduates.

Undergraduate certificate programs usually survey a broad cross-section of fundamental concepts, including financial accounting. They are designed for learners new to the study of accounting at the postsecondary level who do not already hold a degree in a related field.

Schools structure their certificate programs in different ways: Some use full-time enrollment schedules, while others specifically accommodate part-time learners. Therefore, completion timelines vary. Depending on the program’s pace, you can usually complete a certificate in about one academic year.

With an undergraduate certificate, you can primarily qualify for entry-level and supporting accounting roles, such as accounting clerk or bookkeeper.

Associate programs explore financial accounting in greater depth and detail than undergraduate certificate programs. While most associate accounting degrees remain general in their focus, they often emphasize financial accounting concepts in curricula that cover about 60 semester credits — two years of full-time study.

As with undergraduate certificates, associate programs mainly prepare students for supporting-level career paths. However, they offer the additional advantage of qualifying you for advanced standing in a bachelor’s program if you want to upgrade your degree.

Associate programs lead to various degree designations, including associate of arts, associate of science, or associate of applied science.

Covering about 120 semester credits or four full-time academic years, bachelor’s degrees in financial accounting function as the basic standard educational credential for accounting careers with advancement potential.

This degree can help you qualify for jobs like staff accountant or certified public accountant (CPA). General and specialized accounting programs can lead to similar career options, but a specialized financial accounting degree emphasizes the specific skills CPAs and other advanced accounting professionals require.

Different degree designations indicate variable emphasis on interdisciplinary or technical coursework. Bachelor of arts programs tend to integrate more concepts from the humanities, while bachelor of science programs emphasize mathematics and technical proficiencies.

You can also earn a financial accounting degree with a bachelor of business administration or bachelor of accountancy designation.

Graduate certificates generally appeal to students with bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business, finance, or another related field. They help students build on existing knowledge by developing targeted financial accounting skills.

One notable function of graduate certificate programs relates to the CPA career track. Most states require CPA licensure applicants to have 150 semester credits or the equivalent. Since bachelor’s programs only require 120 credits, CPA candidates often need 30 additional credits to meet their state’s educational requirements.

Graduate certificate programs can help fill this gap. You can usually complete this credential in 1-2 semesters of full-time study.

At the master’s level, financial accounting degrees become more focused on technical coursework and advanced accounting skills. Many programs reflect these objectives in their program titles, which include variations like:

Like bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees in financial accounting can lead to accountancy, arts, or science designations.

You can also get an MBA with an accounting or financial accounting concentration. These programs combine business management and accounting coursework, supporting career paths like the certified management accountant (CMA) and chartered global management accountant (CGMA) pathways.

Undergraduate programs — including certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees — make good foundations for learners seeking career entry. Bachelor’s degrees can lead to roles with advancement potential, while certificates and associate degrees offer efficient options for students looking to enter the job market quickly, though the careers they can qualify for are usually more limited.

Graduate certificates and master’s degrees can be a good fit if you want a specialized financial accounting degree, need additional credits to qualify for CPA licensure, or want to optimize your advancement potential. Both of these options can also be useful if you want to build accounting knowledge after majoring in a related field as an undergraduate.

As a final option, consider the value of earning both undergraduate and graduate financial accounting degrees. Stacking these credentials can help you build the deep, comprehensive knowledge you need to pass licensing and certification exams for roles like CPA and CMA.

To summarize: