With an accounting and finance degree, you 'll learn how how to gather financial information on an individual or organization to assess their financial performance and risk. You'll work with these individuals and organizations and assist in the decision making process for accounting management and tax preparation.

With DegreeTree, you can earn your accounting degree online through one of our accredited online colleges or universities. This page provides you with a general overview of the accounting degree program. When you're ready, fill out the form on the right of this page to be matched with the schools and programs that best meet your needs.

What is Accounting?

Accounting is the art of keeping financial records. Accounting often includes bookkeeping, which is a written record of financial transactions. Bookkeeping includes tasks like documenting revenue, entering purchases, and listing expenditures. Typical tasks you'd undertake with an accounting degree may include:

• Prepare balance sheets
• Prepare profit and loss statements
• Prepare budget forecasts
• Analyze trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations
• Predict future revenues and expenses based on analysis
• Report on an organization's financial status
• Offer guidance on resource utilization, tax strategies, and budgeting

Coursework

With a degree in accounting, you can expect to take a wide variety of business coursework. This will establish a foundation of knowledge about business. In addition, you will take specialized courses in accounting, which will provide you with the financial aspects of running a business, including budgets, auditing, and accounting. Here's a list of some of the courses you may take:

• Accounting
• Finance
• Economics
• Marketing
• Corporate Law
• Management
• Commercial and Banking Math
• Budgeting
• Auditing
• Cost Accounting
• Organizational Behavior

In addition to these courses, you can expect to take your general education requirements, including English, writing, math, humanities and history.

Types of Accounting Careers

Do you wonder what you can do with an accounting degree? These are just a few of the career areas you can pursue with a degree in accounting.

• commercial banking
• corporate finance
• financial planning
• insurance
• investment banking
• real estate

Jobs titles in these areas may include:

• accountant
• financial analyst
• treasury analyst
• budget analyst
• auditor
• payroll supervisor
• loan manager
• real estate appraiser

You may also be interested in reading our guide on how to become an accountant or how to become a cpa.

Salary Information

As with all careers, your salary will vary based on the company you work for, the field your in, your level of education and your number of years experience. Business degrees have a wide range of possible salaries. You can expect to make less money coming straight out of school, and for your salary to increase as you gain relevant work experience in a area of specialization within a particular type of business.

To give you an idea of what kind of salary you can make with an accounting degree, we can look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2010 median salary for accountants and auditors was $61,690 per year. For financial managers, the 2010 median salary was $103,910 per year. And for real estate appraisers and assessors, the 2010 median salary was $48,500 per year. So as you can see, there is a large spread in terms of salaries associated with an accounting degree.

Accounting Degrees Online

In addition to accounting, there are a variety of online business degrees to choose from. Each prepares you to work in a different specialty within the business field. Based on the information you provide, DegreeTree matches you with the right school that offers the program that meets your needs to advance your career. Take a look at some of the online accounting degrees our accredited schools offer.