Why Study Accounting and Finance?

Why Study Accounting and Finance?

Accountants record, classify, summarise, interpret and communicate the financial information about a business. However they do more than just prepare financial reports on the activities of an organisation. Experienced accountants work strategically with the executive and management teams by providing expert financial advice on the impacts of management decisions, compliance and governance and the deployment of systems, resources and processes throughout the company. At Macquarie, students learn to apply accounting skills to a range of different managerial, business and problem-solving situations.

According to the Australian Government Australian Careers website, average weekly earnings for accountants are 20% higher than the all occupations average wage* and job prospects are very good. Property and business services industry, finance and insurance companies, and Government Departments were the biggest employers.

Depending on the program selected, accounting also provides training for a wide range of vocations including:

* Auditing
* Merchant banking
* Government accounting
* Public practice
* Investment management
* Service industries
* Manufacturing
* Stockbroking
* Management consulting
* Taxation

Finance concerns the commercial activity of providing funds and capital. It studies the ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over time, and addresses the problems of risk and liquidity inherent in the projects. It is concerned with decision making within financial and capital markets and the financial instruments that are traded in those markets and looks at how these interactions facilitate the flow of funds and the control of risk. Finance deals with financing and investment decisions and considers the the development of risk-hedging strategies so as to minimise the damaging effects of adverse movements in share prices, interest rates, exchange rates, and other uncertainties.

According to the Australian Government Australian Careers website, average weekly earnings for financial managers are 39% higher than the all occupations average wage* and job prospects are very good. Property and business services industry, finance and insurance companies, and Government Departments were the biggest employers.

Depending on the program selected, Finance provides training for a wide range of vocations including:

* financial managers
* bank and insurance managers
* multinational funds managers
* investment analysts
* financial researchers in stockbroking firms, banks and government departments
* corporate financial managers or treasurers
* security and derivatives traders
* portfolio managers for trust funds, superannuation funds and insurance companies
* investment analysts in stock exchange markets
* management consultants
* corporate advisors in merchant banks, public accounting firms, and management consulting firms.

*These figures cannot be used in determining a particular wage rate or as an indication of what a person will earn in that job