What Can You Do With an MBA in Accounting or Finance?

Accounting and finance concentrations for Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs can significantly open your career path up to higher-level roles and salaries. They provide crucial financial management skills that are easily transferable between different markets and industries, giving you autonomy over where your career takes you.

This post explores the benefits of an MBA in accounting or finance, the top careers you can pursue with a graduate degree and the average MBA in accounting salary.

Why Pursue an MBA in Accounting or Finance?

MBA accounting and finance programs offer advanced technical, leadership and interpersonal skills to elevate your business career.¹ These skills can help you stand out in an increasingly competitive job market, especially when applying for advanced or management-level roles. They can also give you much-needed versatility across industries, letting you easily adapt to different markets and roles throughout your career.

Furthermore, higher education and additional job qualifications can yield higher salaries. In 2024, professionals with graduate degrees had the lowest unemployment rates and highest earnings across the job market.²

Top Careers With an MBA in Accounting

You can be an accountant with an MBA—and you can make good money, too.³ An MBA in accounting can help you qualify for higher-level and higher-paying accounting positions. While some of these positions don’t always require a master’s or graduate degree, an MBA in accounting can help your resume stand out and potentially support higher earnings.

The top MBA accounting careers include:

• Senior accountant: These higher-level accountants manage day-to-day financial operations. They must analyze financial data, maintain compliance with all regulations and develop complex financial reports and statements³
• Accounting manager: These managers oversee accounting departments by managing budgets, reports, financial records and task delegation. Beyond working with the accounting team, accounting managers must also be able to collaborate and communicate effectively with other departments and leaders⁴
• Financial controller: These senior accounting managers serve similar roles to senior accountants, overseeing daily operations, payroll and budgets, but often with greater responsibility. Controllers often report directly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)⁵
• Chief Financial Officer: The CFO is an organization’s top financial executive who is in charge of cash flow, financial planning and risk management⁶
• Internal auditor or audit manager: These professionals plan and manage audit processes to maintain compliance, mitigate risks and assess financial health⁷

Top Careers with an MBA in Finance

An MBA in finance can likewise open your career up to higher-paying jobs and responsibilities you didn’t previously qualify for.

The top MBA finance careers include:

• Financial analyst or senior analyst: These finance experts analyze financial data, market conditions, stock movements and industry trends to develop data-driven insights for business decisions. They often leverage internal financial models and analytics tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI)⁸
• Financial manager: These managers handle businesses’ financial health with strategic budgets, financial reports, investment opportunities and effective cash flow management⁹
• Corporate finance manager: This type of financial manager oversees financial health for larger companies and corporations, managing significantly larger pools of financial data
• Investment banker: These financial advisors help organizations raise capital via stocks, bonds, investments, underwriting, mergers, acquisitions and other complex processes and opportunities¹⁰
• Risk manager: These managers detect, analyze and resolve all potential financial threats, using proactive strategies to mitigate risks before they become costly¹¹

Cross-Functional Roles Accessible with Either Specialization

The skills you’ll gain from an MBA in accounting or finance are often transferable between different aspects of business, with quite a bit of overlap between both MBA concentrations. This means that pursuing an MBA in accounting can still qualify you for a handful of jobs in finance–and vice versa.

Cross-functional careers accessible with either an MBA in finance or accounting include:

• Business consultant: These consultants provide leadership with objective financial advice to support financial health, budgeting and long-term profits¹²
• Operations manager: These managers oversee organizations’ daily operations to maintain efficiency, improve practices and align everything with the organization’s mission and compliance requirements¹³
• Strategic planning manager: These managers create, implement and continuously improve long-term goals for organizations and businesses. They leverage market trends, internal data, team insights and advanced tools to forecast the organization’s future needs and opportunities for financial growth¹⁴
• Compliance and regulatory consultant: Compliance officers and consultants help organizations understand and align with all applicable laws, standards, rules and regulations. They’re often responsible for establishing compliant practices and training relevant staff¹⁵

Salary and Job Outlook

Many careers in finance and accounting have higher job outlooks than most other industries. For example, financial managers have a positive job outlook of 15% between 2024 and 2034, with an average of over 74,000 job openings expected each year.⁹ However, median MBA accounting job salaries vary between roles, industries and organizations.

Explore a few MBA in accounting and finance salaries and stats by role:

• Financial managers: On average, financial managers earned $161,700 per year in 2024, with the highest 10% earning over $239,000. The highest-earning financial managers worked in professional, scientific and technical services, finance, insurance and company and enterprise management¹⁶
• Senior accountants and auditors: The top 10% of accountants in 2024 earned salaries over $141,420, significantly higher than the average annual accountant salary of $81,680. Finance, insurance and company and enterprise management comprised the top-paying markets for these roles¹⁷
• Financial and investment analysts: These specialized roles pay an average salary of $99,000, with the top 10% earning about $176,000 or more. Securities, commodity contracts and financial investments remain the top markets for financial analysts, with an annual average salary of nearly $140,000¹⁸
• Risk managers and specialists: Financial risk managers earn a median salary of around $160,000, ranging from $184,000 for the top 10%. Risk management pays particularly well in markets such as banking, publishing and investment¹¹

Plan for Long-Term Career Advancement With an MBA in Accounting or Finance

An MBA in Accounting or Finance from William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business can help you build the dynamic mindset and skill set to succeed across the business world. Find your niche in the business world with an advanced qualification from one of the original Public Ivies.

Want to learn how an MBA in accounting or finance can support your long-term career advancement? Review our admission requirements and schedule a call with an admissions outreach advisor today.