Post bacc accounting

[saul8559]

Hi guys,

I earned a bachelors degree in business administration (BBA) back in 2013, from Florida atlantic university. I majored in general business. Now I have developed an interest for accounting.

In order for me to earn a degree in accounting I'd only have to take 6 additional classes, but many universities that I spoke with do not grant second business degrees. The best they can do, is offer me a post baccalaureate certificate in accounting.
I'm interested in the accounting certificate at TESC.

I have a few questions for you guys.
1. How do you believe employers would view a person with a bachelors in accounting vs a person with a bachelors in business administration (with a post baccalaurate certificate in accounting, granted the post bacc certificate offers all the classes that an accounting major would take)?

2. I have not had any luck finding a school that allows someone with a business degree to earn a second business degree in accounting. Do you know of any school that allows this?

I know that this post was long. Thank you in advance.

[mednat]

Hi guys,

I earned a bachelors degree in business administration (BBA) back in 2013, from Florida atlantic university. I majored in general business. Now I have developed an interest for accounting.

In order for me to earn a degree in accounting I'd only have to take 6 additional classes, but many universities that I spoke with do not grant second business degrees. The best they can do, is offer me a post baccalaureate certificate in accounting.
I'm interested in the accounting certificate at TESC.

I have a few questions for you guys.
1. How do you believe employers would view a person with a bachelors in accounting vs a person with a bachelors in business administration (with a post baccalaurate certificate in accounting, granted the post bacc certificate offers all the classes that an accounting major would take)?

2. I have not had any luck finding a school that allows someone with a business degree to earn a second business degree in accounting. Do you know of any school that allows this?

I know that this post was long. Thank you in advance.

Do you have any intentions on obtaining your CPA? This is the gold standard in accounting. The CFO's I've spoken with don't seem to care much about the school attended, so much as they are concerned with if an applicant has obtained a CPA. This is fairly common in occupations with tough licensure exams. The line of thinking that is followed is, if they can pass the exam -- they are good enough for me.

This is not to say some schools don't have additional value, just to say that it has not been as important in this field from the CFO's I interact with.

[saul8559]

Do you have any intentions on obtaining your CPA? This is the gold standard in accounting. The CFO's I've spoken with don't seem to care much about the school attended, so much as they are concerned with if an applicant has obtained a CPA. This is fairly common in occupations with tough licensure exams. The line of thinking that is followed is, if they can pass the exam -- they are good enough for me.

This is not to say some schools don't have additional value, just to say that it has not been as important in this field from the CFO's I interact with.

Thanks for the quick reply. I honestly don't plan on taking the CPA exam. I'm just concerned that employers will view someone with a bachelors degree in business (with a post bacc in accounting) as having less accounting knowledge as someone with a business degree in accounting. Do you believe that would be the case?

[cptdilbert]

Do you have any intentions on obtaining your CPA?

This question, along with asking yourself why you want a degree in accounting, will most likely answer the question.

If you are past entry-level work in your field, the bachelor degree just checks a box on your resume. Employers and interviewers will focus on your experience. When I am hiring for my team, participating in interviews for others, or discussing a candidate their bachelor degree almost never comes up. I would also add nine times out of ten, if we bring it up it is discussing it as a negative. For example, if someone earned a degree within the last five years in public administration and they are applying for a non-relevant job at a private company it raises questions that we will ask. When we hire, our priority is on culture, fit, and long term development. A degree almost never adds to the argument that they are a fit, but it can detract. When someone who interviews well for a position, a bachelor degree can reinforce that they are able to learn to perform the tasks of the position when they have no appropriate work experience. Occasionally a degree comes up as a tipping point, but that is generally the limit of value.

For those reasons, I'd highly recommend asking yourself why you want a second bachelor degree.

I would recommend following the advice of asking yourself if you are planning on working towards a CPA. If that does end up being your goal, then I would look into a Master of Science in Accounting. You are most likely significantly short on the education requirements for the CPA, so graduate education focused on accounting would help check that box. Additionally a graduate degree would be worth significantly more than a second bachelor degree. Even a graduate certificate would be better than a second bachelor degree. If you go for the graduate certificate, make sure 100% of the courses would transfer into a full graduate program so you leave that option open and save yourself time potentially down the road.

Edit to add:

I'm just concerned that employers will view someone with a bachelors degree in business (with a post bacc in accounting) as having less accounting knowledge as someone with a business degree in accounting. Do you believe that would be the case?

No one cares what your bachelor degree is in once you have your graduate degree. If you can earn your graduate degree in the field, the assumption is that you would have been able to earn a bachelor degree in the same field.

[mednat]

Thanks for the quick reply. I honestly don't plan on taking the CPA exam. I'm just concerned that employers will view someone with a bachelors degree in business (with a post bacc in accounting) as having less accounting knowledge as someone with a business degree in accounting. Do you believe that would be the case?

I can't really say for sure. If you have no experience, I would think it would be beneficial to have some external validation that you have knowledge of the basics of accounting (a certificate would be fine for this). Most people hired for entry level accounting positions are placed in the simplest roles (usually AR or AP). For these jobs a degree is not typically required at all, so in this case a business degree would be above and beyond and an accounting certificate would be a cherry on top.

The minimum requirements for an undergrad certificate in accounting at TESC is to take 3 classes at TESC. The other requirements can be obtained quickly and easily at Straigherline or Pen foster (if you just want to get it done with). If you handle self study well, and don't mind TECEPs here is the path I would follow myself to quickly knock this out (this depends on what you alrready have):

TECEP (Fullfills Residency Requirement):

ACC-101-TE (Principles of Financial Accounting)
ACC-102-TE (Principles of Managerial Accounting)
ACC-421-TE (Federal Income Taxation)

Penn Foster:
Intermediate Accounting (ACC201)
Intermediate Accounting 2 (ACC202)
Cost Accounting (ACC303)

What type of role are you looking for?

[Prloko]

Hi guys,

I earned a bachelors degree in business administration (BBA) back in 2013, from Florida atlantic university. I majored in general business. Now I have developed an interest for accounting.

In order for me to earn a degree in accounting I'd only have to take 6 additional classes, but many universities that I spoke with do not grant second business degrees. The best they can do, is offer me a post baccalaureate certificate in accounting.
I'm interested in the accounting certificate at TESC.

I have a few questions for you guys.
1. How do you believe employers would view a person with a bachelors in accounting vs a person with a bachelors in business administration (with a post baccalaurate certificate in accounting, granted the post bacc certificate offers all the classes that an accounting major would take)?

2. I have not had any luck finding a school that allows someone with a business degree to earn a second business degree in accounting. Do you know of any school that allows this?

I know that this post was long. Thank you in advance.

I know I have seen several 1-year Master in Accounting programs. Your time may be better spent in one of those programs, it will serve three purposes. 1) Gets you your needed accounting credits 2) gets you a master's degree 3) gets you to the 150 credits to qualify for the CPA exam {depending on your state}. I know there was a good online (albeit expensive) one year MAC at UNC which apparently also has a great recruitment program. They claim 98% employment and claim $100k within 3 years.

[LaterBloomer]

You might want to begin by talking with folks in your neck of the woods who are also in the field. (First step of networking!) Then, you might look into this University of North Alabama Professional Accounting Prep Program - Wiley CPAexcel. It may be that with your degree, and additional courses from UNA, you can get jobs in your field of interest. Folks in this forum have discussed UNA, but I don't know if anyone has taken their courses.

Good luck.

[cptdilbert]

You might want to begin by talking with folks in your neck of the woods who are also in the field. (First step of networking!)

Also considering networking with folks in finance. At my work there are plenty of finance people, even a CPA or two, who fled the field of accounting. While the two sound similar, they are very different fields. Learn as much as you can before focusing on the education.