Pursuing a specific education field or career is usually a matter of personal interest in case of most individuals. But other factors, market dynamics, and scope of the subject should also be given weightage when choosing the subject for pursuing a university degree.
If you’re choosing a subject that is very close to your personality and choice but doesn’t have a market value, you would have to find another way to make an earning.
On the other hand, aligning your personal interest with a competitive degree can save you from the hustle of finding other ways to make a living.
But how is it possible?
You can land the best decision if you do complete research on every possible subject that aligns with your personal interests and capabilities.
Accounting and Computer science are two of the most talked-about subjects high school students consider for their university degrees. Accounting comes under the umbrella of business management and management science.
On the other hand, computer science is purely a science subject related to technology, computers, and innovations. One subject is all about numbers whereas the second one is great about computers, software, and technology.
Many students get confused about which major to go for during their bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Therefore, we have compared accounting and computer science and which subject you should study. So let’s get into it.
What Is Accounting?
Accounting is the science of measuring, processing, and communicating the financial information of any entity. Accounting or accountancy is also defined as the maintenance, audit, and reporting of financial transactions undertaken by any entity.
We can explain accounting as the financial recording and reporting of transactions made by a business, corporation, or individual.
Accounting is often categorized into different types that can be pursued by the students in the advanced degrees. However, when you go for accounting at the B.S. level, every type of accounting is covered to the extent of basics.
There are nine types of accounting: Financial accounting, cost accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, accounting information systems, tax accounting, public accounting, forensic accounting, and governmental accounting.
Basic accounting can be handled by a bookkeeper of a company. However, for the advanced interpretation of the financial data and transactions, a Certified Public Accountant or Certified Management Accountant is hired in the USA. Or you can try ACCA from the UK.
What Is Computer Science?
Computer science can be simply described as the study of computers and their application. More comprehensively, it can be defined as,
“The study of computers and computing as well as their theoretical and practical applications. It is the study of computation, automation, and information. ”
Computer science is a subject having diverse exposure to subjects like mathematics, algorithms, software and hardware development, artificial intelligence, etc. computer scientists are different from electrical and computer engineers as the work scope of the former includes theory, design, development, and application.
The discipline of computer science looks like a very specific field. However, the discipline has over 15 distinct categories that can be pursued by the students for higher education. The most popular fields within computer science are:
- Algorithms and complexity
- Graphics and visual computing
- Computational science
- Intelligent systems
- Information systems
- Software engineering
- Architecture and organization
- Security and information assurance
- Programming language
- Operating system
- Parallel and distributed computing
- Platform-based development
- Human-computer interaction
And more
Depending on the distinct fields and specialization, computer scientists can be experts in one or more sub-categories of the computer science discipline.
Accounting Vs. Computer Science
Degree
Since the article’s main purpose is to guide which degree to pursue, we will start with the study field or degree. Accounting and marketing both are degrees related to management sciences or business studies, and the difficulty of each degree can’t be directly compared, but the utility of both subjects can be differentiated.
Accounting is the subject that focuses on the management, measurement, maintenance, and reporting of financial data and transactions undertaken by an individual or an entity.
Interest and expertise in arithmetic, mathematics, and economics are necessary if you want to pursue the accounting or finance majors in your bachelor’s degree or master’s degree.
The most common subjects studied in the accounting field are financial accounting, international accounting, forensic accounting, auditing, management accounting, cost accounting, financial management, financial reporting, etc.
On the other hand, computer science is a discipline that focuses on programming language, human-computer interaction, system analytics, cyber security, networking, algorithms, and programming paradigms.
A university degree in computer science doesn’t guarantee that the students will be experts in all the aspects and distinct sub-categories of computer science, but the basics are covered.
The degree in computer science is for anyone interested in tech, programming, algorithms, and computers who wants a challenging environment to work & learn.
Career Orientation
Career orientation and market competitiveness is the second factor that is most important when choosing a field of study. In the case of accounting and marketing, students pursuing either of the subjects can be assured of many growth opportunities and a decent career.
However, the dynamics of job requirement and field attitude is different for both subjects. We will compare the differences between people in each field.
An accountant is supposed to manage the company’s accounts, transactions, financial data, etc. It’s a common belief that most introverted people tend to pursue an accounting degree and career as there is less human interaction.
Most of the work to be done in an accounting job is table work, not fieldwork. The accountants enjoy the perks of staying in the office, but it doesn’t mean that the nature of the job is not challenging or hard enough.
From the employer’s perspective, accounting professionals are expected to possess related in-demand skills like GAAP, account reconciliation and general ledger rules, financial reporting, etc.
A computer scientist’s job is highly specific to the title of the job. For instance, a mobile app developer will be expected to work on apps in Android and iOS environments.
However, in general, the computer sciences graduate is expected to do work on code writing, creating software programs, information systems solutions, and data management.
When hiring computer scientists, employers usually look for a candidate possessing industry skills like JAVA, CSS, SQL, Oracle, LINUX, JavaScript, etc.
Computer science graduates have an absolute advantage over accountants as they can pursue an independent career as a freelancer in programming, web development, app development, etc.
Which One Pays More?
Another important thing to consider when choosing a subject is the market scope and competitiveness of the degree. It implies what the job in the future is going to pay you.
When we talk about accountants and auditors, the median annual wage is lower than that of computer programmers and other computer occupations. According to the U.S Bureau of Statistics, the median annual wage of accountants and auditors was $82,430 for 2021.
The data for computer science-related jobs as per the U.S Bureau of Statistics for the median annual wage shows an average of $99,530 in 2021. The computer network architects have an annual median wage of $121,280. Whereas computer programmers have annual packages of around $99,260.
Accounting Vs. Computer Science: Which One Is Harder
Although the difficulty of a subject is not a concrete standard to pursue or drop a degree program. However, we will tell which subject is harder based on our analysis.
If we talk about the degree, the general perception prevails that computer science is harder than accounting as in-depth studies of statistical algorithms, programming languages, and computer programming are required.
Final Verdict: Which One Should I Study?
You can choose which subject to study based on your personal interests. We have discussed all the aspects of accounting as well as computer science to help you decide which subject to go for.
We have talked about the difficulty level of a degree, subjects covered, and areas addressed in a degree.
On the career side, computer scientists are more in demand, have a more technical job to do, and are also paid higher than accountants and auditors.
We can conclude that the difficulty of a subject depends on the personal interest in a field. However, you can decide which one to pursue based on the analysis.
