If I Hate Accounting, CFA Isn't For Me?

CFA Level I
#1

Last time I took accounting was when I was in high school and I remember I hated it. As I study CFA, I do realize every topic is based around analyzing financial statement, which means you have to love accounting like your PS3. I can see that even if I pass Level 1, accounting gets even more focused in Lev 2&3. I’m taking CFA because it will help my career later on and I love commodity trading. But I hate accounting to death. I’m willing to finish Level 1 since I started it, but should I continue after Level 1?

#2

If you’re going to be an analyst of securities, that implies you’ll be looking typically at financial statements, federal laws, prospectuses, and other legal documents. In my experience, reading those kinds of things tends to be more boring than learning fundamental accounting, unless you have an active imagination while doing it. Surely there are examples, though, of people who passed the CFA exam to go on to do non-financial analyst type of works.

#3

You will be glad to know there’s no financial statements analysis in L3, so effectively clear L2 and you are done with accountings. But there are other stuff to challenge you in L3

#4

I don’t have a background in accounting but I scored well in FRA in Dec. Definitely possible!

#5

I hate accounting. Brent Favre, CFA

#6

i think you will enjoy Level II more… half the accounting at level 2 is review of level 1, inventory, leases, long term assets, and then you got a couple of hard readings like pension accounting, currency but you will probably enjoy the rest of material so much it would make up for it now as far as passing the Level II exam while hating accounting, I guess i will let you know next month… i love everything else and would not miss a question, but i study accounting today and two days later i remmber nothing

#7

Im not an accounting person either. However, FRA isn’t as much “accounting” as your typical accounting courses. It is more analysing, reviewing, adjusting. I cannot stand journal entires, and things like preparing financial statements. Luckily, FRA is what its’ name says… FR Analysis. Don’t be discouraged. I mean you will need to learn how the statemetns are prepared, and the thought process, but don’t worry about creating balance sheets!