The world of accounting is drastically changing.
In order to ensure you get the most out of your career as a CPA, you must carefully consider the current business environment. You’ll also need to gauge where the profession is heading. Lastly, you should evaluate your career goals when deciding on the best minor in college.
Choosing a good minor as an accounting major can help you explore and develop your interests. Plus, rounding out the resume with a complementary or unique skill-set will be sure to impress potential employers.
In the end, your minor should be in an area of interest while complementing and enhancing the accounting knowledge gained in school. This can set you up to land your dream job.
Background on the accounting profession
Before deciding on what minor best complements your accounting degree, you must first understand the current state of the accounting profession. This can help you make the most educated decision on which minor to pursue.
Like many other professions, the accounting world is constantly re-inventing itself. These changes help us meet the needs of the business community and satisfy regulators. Not only must accountants stay updated on new pronouncements, laws, and tax rulings, we must also understand the macroeconomics impacting our clients and/or business.
A global workforce
Globalization has drastically influenced and impacted professions across the board.
Not only are U.S.-based companies looking for growth in international markets, they are also looking to expand their workforce and use geoarbitrage to increase profitability.
For instance, both the Big 4 Firms (B4) and Fortune 500 companies are constantly looking to increase margins. One way they accomplish this goal is by expanding their employee base to lower cost countries (i.e. India/Malaysia). Clearly, these investments limit the number of new hires needed in the U.S. where employees command higher salaries and benefits.
However, there are also other benefits beyond the financial impact to the company and workforce.
Instead of performing mundane tasks, CPAs employed by these companies are able to focus on more meaningful work. Employees in developing countries are able to enjoy lucrative career prospects for their region. Further, efficiency is drastically improved as work can be performed nearly 24/7 (due to the time zone differences).
For those looking to take advantage of the trend in globalization, a minor or concentration of classes in a foreign language or international business discipline could prove invaluable.
Focused investment in technology
Firms and corporations alike are investing heavily in automation, data analytics, and expanding their new hires beyond traditional accounting backgrounds.
Technology is continuing to play an ever-present role in shaping the future of accounting. Today, CPAs and accountants use fairly complex software to record and analyze company financials. Learning to navigate this software is imperative to progressing in your career.
While you certainly do not need to minor in computer science or management information systems, minors in a technology-related discipline could help you gain access to a lucrative career in Information Technology – Finance.
Learning basic coding principles or specific skills such as SQL or Visual Basics for Excel can help set you apart from the competition and lead to greater opportunities. Plus, this will allow you to avoid those less desirable roles in accounting.
Even if you do not choose to minor in a technology-related discipline, you should 100% take initiative and develop your Excel skills. While you will probably take a few classes in MIS or have a basic understanding of Microsoft Excel, you will need to independently take initiative to develop advanced Excel skills.
Further Reading: 5 Reasons Accountants Should Know Financial Modeling
Advanced Excel skills will help you land those lucrative finance jobs performing financial modeling and valuation or investment analysis.
Choosing a minor largely depends on your long-term career goals
Your education and long-term career goals play the largest part when deciding what minor to pursue.
You may thoroughly enjoy the complexity and “puzzle solving” of your accounting classes. Perhaps, you’ve heard accounting is the “language of business” and have an interest in starting your own company one day. Maybe, you just know the unemployment rate for CPAs is low (<2%), and a long-term career in accounting can be lucrative.
Further Reading: Can You Get Rich in Accounting as a CPA?
However, these reasons alone will probably not help you achieve your maximum potential. After all, your college degree(s) are just tools to help you land a career in a field that interests you and helps provide the lifestyle you desire.
Whatever your rationale for choosing accounting as a major, you must also consider your long-term goals when pursuing a minor.
How will your minor enhance your accounting knowledge or help you land your dream job?
Perhaps, graduate is school is your goal…
To get into a good graduate program, you’ll probably need excellent grades.
If you are interested in pursuing law school or getting accepted into a top-tier MBA program, choose a minor that helps achieve these goals.
Accounting is a notoriously tough discipline. This may mean you’re unable to maintain a perfect GPA in your major. Unfortunately, many top graduate program admission offices focus on students with the best GPAs and entrance exam scores. Even if you are clearly smarter than those applying to graduate school, your 3.5 GPA in Accounting may not be selected over the 4.0 GPA English major.
This is because many law and business schools are largely ranked by the average GPAs and test scores of their entering classes. Obviously, you’d make a better tax lawyer than your English-major counterpart. However, you may need to settle for a different law school to achieve your goal.
However, by choosing a minor that helps boost your GPA, you can enhance the odds of getting into the graduate school of your choice. Further, your minor should help develop skills needed in your graduate program.
Law School
Getting into a top-tier law school is notoriously difficult.
You will need excellent grades and dominate the LSAT. An LSAT prep course will go a long ways in helping you achieve the score necessary to getting into the best law school possible.
However, the combination of a CPA license and law degree can open up lucrative career opportunities. If this is your end goal, consider what minor best takes you down the path to achieving this goal.
For instance, if you’re interested law school, consider minoring in English or political science. These disciplines may help increase your GPA while helping you learn the intricacies of writing and research. After all, law school will largely consist of research and legal studies. You will write hundreds of papers and prepare oral arguments.
A minor in English or political science can help you prepare for your career as an attorney and CPA.
Business School
Perhaps, you’re interested in pursuing your Master’s in Business Administration.
An MBA will help you prepare for the world of business. Post-MBA graduates work in lucrative careers in finance, consulting, or for corporations.
However, to get into a great MBA program, you will need to dominate the GMAT. In order to score the best to your potential, you should take a GMAT prep course.
Further, most MBA programs allow you to specialize in certain disciplines. For instance, you could do an MBA with a concentration in Finance. Perhaps, you want to concentrate in accounting and work towards the 150 credit hours your state board may require.
There are MBA programs that will help you accomplish this goal.
If your goal is to get an MBA and work in finance, consider minoring in a finance discipline or economics. This combination can help you land in banking, asset management, or consulting.
Other minors to consider
Even if graduate school isn’t in your future, you can still choose a minor that supplements your accounting degree.
Consider minoring in a discipline that is in high demand in the area you want to work. For instance, maybe you want to work in healthcare. Find a minor that focuses on healthcare administration. Maybe, even minor in biology or chemistry!
If you want to work in oil and gas, find a program that has specific classes geared towards those in the energy sector. Minoring in an engineering discipline could help you land your dream job in this sector.
Again, your minor should be an area that both entertains your interests while allowing you to take classes that specialize in specific areas you’d like to work.
What if you are still unsure of what you want to do post-graduation?
That’s certainly OK!
Most students have very little idea of what they want to do. Your career path is never set in stone. After a couple of years working in the “real world,” your career trajectory could drastically change.
The great thing about accounting is that it’s an extremely flexible path. Sure, you could make a career in public accounting, work in a corporate function, or tax department where you perform “stereotypical” accounting work.
However, with a few years experience, accounting backgrounds are in high demand outside of these roles.
Coupled with an accounting degree, your minor can start the conversation and open up doors outside of the accounting world.
Ask the question: If an accounting (or business) degree was off the table completely, what would I major in instead?
This can help narrow down the choices.
If you’re majoring in accounting, odds are that you have an analytical mind. You enjoy the challenge. Accounting is more of a process and way of thinking and generally doesn’t entail complex formulas. However, you are probably known for being good at math.
What other careers can you think of that require structure processes, an analytical mind, math, and other skills similar to accounting?
Similar personality types that may be drawn to accounting may choose to major in finance or economics. You could consider these as potential minors.
Students who want a heavier dose of math may major in a STEM discipline – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Often, these careers can be more lucrative than an accounting concentration. Consider what minors your university offers in this area to complement your accounting degree.
The bottom line…
The minor you choose should accomplish 3 primary goals:
- Your minor should be in an area of interest to you
- It should supplement your accounting degree
- Your minor should help you achieve your longer-term career aspirations
When picking a minor, consider what major you would choose if accounting wasn’t an option. Ask: What do I want to learn more about if given the opportunity?
Your minor should supplement your accounting degree.
Ask: Will my minor help me pass the CPA exam? Will it allow me to develop acumen and expertise outside of my core accounting skills?
Finally, your minor should help you achieve your long-term goals.
Ask: Does this minor help increase the odds of getting into graduate school, landing the job with my dream company, or get my foot in the door of the industry I want to work?
Clearly, you will need to decide the area of study you wish to minor. However, asking these 3 questions can help start the discussion to help lead you to the best minor to complement your accounting degree.