In this article, I will explain the difference between law and accounting careers. Both careers have major pros and major negatives.
Law and accounting careers are very different. An accounting career is easier to get into, less stressful and accounting offers more job opportunities than law. Accounting is a more versatile skill than law and with a wider range of applicability but can be boring at times.
In this article guide, I will go over the main points of law vs. accounting analysis. I will also point out gaps in official statistics and offer interpretation which many people usually omit and disregard.
Those points are important to consider when deciding whether you should go into a law or accounting career at all.
Lawyer or accountant: What’s the Difference Between Law vs Accounting Profession
Law work is very different from accounting work. The law deals with people and their legal issues while accounting deals with numbers and recording financial transactions.
What Do Lawyers Do in Law Work?
Lawyers, also called counselors or accountants in the US, are professionals licensed by the state who advise the individual or corporate clients on the impact and effect of laws and regulations and represent others in legal affairs.
Lawyers read, analyze, understand, and interpret law daily to ensure that clients act following the law. Lawyers also often must solve legal problems of their clients who accidentally or intentionally break the law.
Law is about advising clients on legal matters. Lawyers also advise on a course of action to take to avoid legal problems. This requires major guesswork by lawyers as the law is often unclear and no situation is identical.
Law requires a heavy amount of hard intellectual legal work. The intellectual aspect of legal work is one of the most cited professional perks by attorneys.
Law requires figuring out solutions to legal problems. The major difference between the law or accounting profession is that lawyers must perform a large amount of essential guesswork when advising clients. They must figure out complicated situations and how the law applies to those.
Law is about the fighting attorney on the opposing side. The attorney who is smarter, more experienced, more competent, and has a better connection often wins.
Preventing legal troubles. Also, the job of an attorney is to ensure that the client does not get into legal trouble in the first place.
What Do Accountants Do in Accounting Work?
Unlike in law, accounting professionals deal mostly with data, numbers, individual or corporate financial situations, and business processes.
Accounting is about recording financial transactions. Accountants note and record in an established special way all financial transactions of individuals or companies.
Accountants prepare financial documents. Then based on recoded transactions prepare such documents as financial and budget reports, forecasts, and financial statements. All those reveal the financial condition of the business or individual for whom reports were prepared.
Accountants read and analyze accounting and financial reports, forecasts, budgets, and financial statements.
There is no adversity in accounting. Unlike in law, accounting does not involve regular fighting with an opposing accountant on behalf of a client. That’s one major difference between law and accounting work.
Accountants research problems. Based on data, accountants must figure out if there is any financial problem with a business.
Accountants give accounting suggestions. They can also suggest a certain course of action to superiors or to managers or owners of the business to improve financial standing.
Accountants may advise their clients on accounting matters. Often accountants who are CPAs go beyond just recording transactions (bookkeeping) and advise their clients on various accounting and financial matters.
CPAs also are often involved in solving financial problems for clients by figuring out necessary steps to improve their financial situation.
A major difference between lawyers and accountants’ work
Therefore, in law vs. accounting difference, attorneys mostly deal with people, their situations, problem-solving, and deciphering the meaning of convoluted legal texts.
Unlike a lawyer, an accountant deals mostly with numbers, calculations, ledgers, and financial reports all day long, as opposing to dealing with people and their problems.
And that is one major difference between law vs. accounting work.
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Law vs. Accounting: A Comparison of Pros and Cons
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Law vs Accounting Career: Salary and Career comparison
Do lawyers make more than accountants?
Do you think that in law vs accounting lawyers always make more money? Of course, you do. The popular opinion is that all lawyers make more money than accountants. But below I will show why this is not true. Because there are many factors which nobody accounts for when evaluating law vs accounting salaries.
Do accountants or lawyers make more money?
Law vs accounting: attorney salaries
Lawyer salary statistics. Allegedly, according to statistics, lawyers’ median salary is just over $122,000 per year. The lowest 25% are making $80,000 per year, and the highest 25% of lawyers are making $186,000 annually. Source 1.
Law salary statistic is misleading. This would make an impression that lawyers always make more money than accountants. But official salary statistics do not include law school graduates who failed the bar exam, never became attorneys, and got low-paying jobs just to make ends meet.
Finally, official sources usually provide salary levels based on statistics received from large law firms. I suspect these numbers ignore attorney salaries in small firms and public interest organizations. And small firms pay less money and employ the largest number of attorneys in the country.
The tough job market for lawyers. The job market for new lawyers is extremely tough. Many young attorneys simply do not find jobs. They either try to start solo law practice or simply change their profession. Those lawyers are also not included in statistics.
Just by having more job opportunities accountants technically make more money than young attorneys. At least, they are better off with jobs.
Big money in top law firms. Top law firms in the country pay high money to attorneys. But attorneys must graduate from high-ranking law schools and be at the top of their class to get employed by those big law firms. Said that the best paying states for attorneys in big law are California, DC, and New York.
Law requires experience. Another major omission is that statistics do not account for the experience required to make high-income money. Lawyers usually must have at least 5-7 years of work experience to start making over $100,000 annually.
Only a few lawyers make millions. Another major factor influencing statistics is that the top few percent of lawyers are making millions of dollars each year.
Those include partners in major law firms or lawyers with their own successful established law practice. And those high money numbers for a few mathematically inflate salary statistics for the whole profession.
Misconceptions and misleading statistics make law vs accounting career salary comparison pretty much incorrectly favoring lawyers. But if you research attorney salaries you will see that even in California many attorney positions offer a mere $39,000-$69,000 annual salary.
Many lawyers make little money. There are many attorneys in the public sect making $35,00-$55,000 annually. And that often even with work experience. On average, the bottom 10% of attorneys make around $54,000 annually. Source 2.
Frankly, you can make that amount in accounting with much less hustle and stress.
I wrote a whole article about whether attorneys are rich. You can read it on this blog here. I will not even discuss salaries for paralegals or legal assistants because they are simply laughable.
Attorneys can make big money, but they must work tremendously hard to get there and to even survive in the profession.
Accounting vs. Law: accountants’ salaries.
Accounting salary statistics. The same source says that median accountants’ salary is $71,500, and the bottom 25% of accountants are making around $42,000-$44,000 per year. https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/accountant/salary
Statistics is more accurate for accounting than law. My online search that the low money number for accounting is close to reality. Many accountant positions start with a $40,000-$41,000 annual salary. And the average annual income is $55,000 according to data by Indeed.com. Source 3.
Few accountants make big money. Some highly paid accountants make $80,000-$150,000, according to actual job postings. Granted, they also need good experience to make such good money.
The best paying states for accountants are California, Washington state, New York, and…Alaska. Alaska generally pays accountants the highest in the nation. But with the internet, an accountant can work from anywhere.
Bookkeeper, as a type of accountant, has an average salary of $40,000 annually. Independent bookkeepers can get their clients and make way more than that.
Accounting is a more stable profession than law. And in continuance of law vs accounting debate, accounting does not see as much dropout of profession after graduation like law. And there are more accounting jobs than jobs in law.
As you can see, the more we dig into law vs. accounting salaries and wages, the more nuances we uncover. Tell me now, do accountants or lawyers make more money at large?
A lawyer may potentially make more money than most accountants. Said that successful and top lawyers on average can make more money than successful and top accountants, even CPAs. Partners in law firms may make millions of dollars if they have the astute business ability.
Partners in CPA firms usually make less but still can make seven figures or even literally millions of dollars per year. But these high-paid professionals are rare exceptions in both law and accounting sectors. The highest official pay in Big 4 auditing firms is around 1.1-1.2 million dollars, I believe.
Besides money, there are other very important differences between law and accounting.
Law vs. Accounting Career Money Conclusion:
Accounting income is more stable (with one major caveat I explain at the end of this article). Lawyers’ job security is generally less stable on average and thus potential income and money are a tradeoff. And then, it’s just high-income potential. Not about the rule on average.
Competence required. Lawyers really must be entrepreneurs and constantly seeking work. They must be very competent to have worked continuously coming in. Accountants have it easier and more stable in terms of income and money. It is harder to become a competent attorney than a competent accountant.
Law vs Accounting degree: Cost and Difficulty Comparison
Difference between law school or accounting program
Lawyers Must Study Law. Note, that in the USA, as in many other countries, unlike some accountants like bookkeepers, lawyers must obtain specific legal education in institutions like law school.
Then they should pass the bar exam to obtain an attorney license. The license allows an attorney to practice law (advise and represent clients) in the state where they are licensed.
Law Degree is Harder to Obtain Than Accounting Degree. I will tell right away that law school in the USA is a way more difficult and stressful experience than accounting undergraduate or masters in accounting.
There are many reasons why a law degree is much harder to obtain than an accounting degree. I wrote about it all over on this blog.
The reasons for law vs. accounting degree difficulty. It has to do with the fact that the legal profession is way more saturated than accounting. The law profession makes it intentionally hard to get into law school and obtain a law degree.
The accounting profession does not put such hard obstacles for candidates seeking an accounting degree.
Law school degree is harder to obtain because unprepared law students must read and understand tons and tons of very complicated and convoluted law material.
They have one single exam for each class at the end of the semester and are graded on a curve. That means only roughly 5%-10% o the class can get very good grades, even if 90% of the class are very bright people.
Reading in law school is made intentionally unmanageable. Exam grading is subjective. Law is vague, unclear, and convoluted topic.
An accounting degree is easier because accounting itself is more straightforward. Accounting is about numbers. Numbers do not lie and are not susceptible to any whims of professors like in law school.
Grading in an accounting program is more objective because the numbers and curve grading are uncommon. There are more resources for accounting students than for law students and at a lower cost.
In short, law school is just plain crazy and the accounting program is a reasonable experience. I did not say accounting is easy. I said that an accounting degree is easier to obtain than a law degree. And accounting program is more manageable than law school, even on master’s level.
An accounting degree costs less. The national average for accounting tuition in colleges is about $7,200-$7,500 per year for in-state residents.
But, for example, at California State University Northridge you can study accounting (undergrad) for $5,500-$6,500 per year. CSUN’s Master of Accounting program will cost about $22,000 in total.
Rutgers University MACC (Master of Accounting) Is about $14,000 per year and lasts about two years. That is not much at all compared to potential income.
The majority of accounting programs in colleges charge $10,000-$20,000 annual tuition. Private universities may change $20,00-$35,000 but you do not have to go there to get started in accounting.
Average law school in-state resident tuition is $26,400, and average private law school charges $44,000 annually. Law school is a three-year program, so this comes up to a total of $79,000 for in-state, and $132,000 for private law school tuition, respectively.
Even low-ranking law schools often charge lots of money for law school. You can find low-ranking cheap law schools around the country. But do not expect any job offers after those.
Pre-law undergrad has no practical value and does not help to get into good law school. I would opt for accounting undergrad instead. You can go to law school with an accounting bachelor’s degree without any problem whatsoever.
An accounting degree leads to better employment. You can get an accounting degree at a local state or even community college and get employed. Accounting program in even low-ranking college is likely to land entry-level accounting job.
You can also see on job sites that entry-level accounting positions often require as little as six months of general accounting clerk experience.
A Law school degree is worthless. On the opposite, most graduates from lower-ranking law schools never find employment as attorneys. Even graduates from higher ranking (below top 14) law schools quite often face the same problem.
Then they have a hard time trying to find jobs in other industries and nobody wants to hire them for many reasons.
It is knowing law that helps any person. You should learn it because law governs every aspect of your life. But not necessarily in the law school
You will find on job sites that most attorney positions require at least 2-3 years or more of specific legal niche experience.
An accounting degree still has a better return on investment than a law degree. An accounting degree can be obtained at a lower cost and leads to stable employment as an accountant.
A comprehensive vocational, college, or online course can lead to a bookkeeping career. And you do not need to go through a full accounting program to become a bookkeeper. A good bookkeeping course in a local college or even online is often enough to get you started.
Law vs. accounting: Is law or accounting harder
Law is a harder career for many reasons I laid out above. Law is hard to practice, too competitive, too vague, involves lots of guesswork and uncertainties. Law is an inherently unpredictable and complicated profession compared to accounting.
And there is just a huge number of laws on the books. Too much for anyone to learn everything. Not a single lawyer can be a specialist in more than 2-3 areas of law.
Accounting is generally an easier profession. Because accounting is based on the set of the same single principles all over the world. Principles like T ledgers, debit, and credit entries.
I have seen accountants who were specialists in many areas of accounting. Most accountants perform essentially the same well-established tasks in all industries.
Accounting is based on numbers and is designed to be predictable and understandable. It is easier to do accounting because an accountant’s job is not to confuse the opposing side, not to win over it, but to make things orderly and clear.
I would say the law is harder and accounting is easier because, unlike law, accounting is a more straightforward type of work.
Law is extremely convoluted, vague, and heavily depends on subjective interpretation. But numbers make accounting straightforward and objective, although maybe a boring profession.
Accounting is less stressful. Lack of that stress makes accounting an easier career.
Not much guesswork in accounting. An accountant does not have to do as much guesswork and interpretation of convoluted laws as an attorney. Accountants do straightforward calculations and recording transactions based on presented hard numbers and data.
Sometimes accountants or bookkeepers need to do some guesswork to figure out the missing pieces of data in the financial or accounting process. Both lawyers and accountants make mistakes. But it is much easier to make mistakes for a lawyer than an accountant.
Law vs. accounting: Is accounting or law more boring?
Accounting is often boring. Allegedly, accounting is one of the most boring professions.
I can believe that, especially, for those who went into accounting without liking number-crunching. Yes, the relative easiness and stability of the accounting profession come with the price of boredom.
Said that I have met plenty of accountants totally happy. A stable paycheck cures many issues.
Law is sometimes very boring. On the other hand, the law is often less boring because it is unpredictable. Dealing with people, issues and problems is stressful, and usually, something always happens.
Fires need to be put out. New events, new people, new facts, new problems require continuous self-improvement and coming up with new ways of solving them.
But grueling legal research can be extremely boring sometimes. And paralegal and young attorneys perform it in the law sector. Many attorneys think it is incredibly boring and hate that part.
Working for years with the same types of documents can also be boring. I have met few happy attorneys. Many attorneys enjoy practicing law but are not necessarily happy doing it. Still, some attorneys are happy.
Therefore, accounting may be more boring than law. One advantage and disadvantage of accounting over the law are that accounting tasks will be similar or practically the same, no matter where the accountant works.
Law tasks will be vastly different depending on where the lawyer works. There are very different areas of law and geographical differences can be quite drastic.
Law vs. Accounting: Is law or Accounting Better?
In short, it is easier to become an accountant than a lawyer. Accounting is less stressful than law. Despite some decline, generally, there are more jobs in accounting vs law.
Lawyers often hate being lawyers. Average law profession dropout rate. Law schools have up to a 35% dropout rate. About 30%-70% of lawyers want to leave the profession because it is too stressful and not rewarding.
About 50% of young lawyers want to leave their current employer and about only 18% of young associates in large firms remain there. Being an attorney is incredibly stressful and 1 out of every 5 attorneys has a substance abuse problem.
In law 50–60-hour work-weeks are a common occurrence. Plus, work on weekends often. Law case stakes are high and opposing lawyers make each other’s lives miserable.
Few Other Advantages of Accounting over Law
Accounting is a versatile skill needed by pretty much any company and in any setting. An individual with accounting skills is far likely to find even unrelated job and transfer into another industry than a lawyer. Employers just love employees with accounting skills.
There is no geographical limitation on practice like in law. Lawyers must practice within their states unless they do federal law. Accountants usually can freely move around the country and the world.
Because accounting standards are pretty much the same, unlike laws. Even CPAs licensed in one state can obtain clients from other states.
Law or Accounting: Major Downsides of the Law Profession
As you can see, high stress, bad job market, uncertainty, and vagueness of law practice, all contribute to a very stressful environment for lawyers. Nothing is guaranteed in law and there is no stability.
Plus, you have all the hurdles of becoming a lawyer from getting into law school to going through law school, getting good grades, passing the bar exam, and then limiting yourself to practicing certain areas of law only within certain states or states.
All that is stress. But some lawyers still somehow find their way and are happy with their careers.
The most important disadvantage of the accounting profession is threat of decline and automation.
Replacement by technology. The accounting profession may suffer some level of decline due to technology and automation. According to some studies I have seen, accountants and bookkeepers are a 90%-98% of chance of being replaced by AI in the coming decades.
I have already seen some accounting decline due to technology. Improvements in the software also help to reduce the number of accounting positions. And US Berate of Labor Statistics predicts the accounting sector will decline 3% by 2029-2030 because of outsourcing and automation.
At the same time, the most recent BLS report now states that accounting will grow as average as other industries – about 7%.
Go figure these statistics, right? Well, it is low-level accounting clerks that are more likely to be replaced than competent accountants. The other trend is that CPA firms started hiring many non-accountants with digital skills. Note this.
Accountants are still needed. Despite the said decline, there will be about 170,000 new openings for accountants and bookkeepers EACH YEAR in the coming decades. With about 200,000-210,000 graduates each year.
Despite the declining job outlook for accounting looks better than for law. By the way, billions of dollars are invested into technologies that can replace legal assistants and paralegals, and lawyers too. We will see how that works out.
I still see people needing bookkeepers, especially with the growth of online retails, shops, YouTubers, and blogs. It is hard to predict what will happen but there is such risk of decline in accounting jobs and law jobs too, for that matter.
I wrote large blog post explaining why threat of accounting is not going to die off even with automation.
Study Law or Accounting: Conclusion.
Major points to remember:
- Accounting work is more boring but more straightforward. Accounting is easier to get into than law.
- But to become a full-range accountant eventually, you may need to take the CPA exam.
- The CPA exam is not mandatory.
- Accounting sometimes requires only an accounting degree or vocational school or bookkeeping course.
- Law requires law school and the mandatory passing bar exam.
- Accounting requires less experience for entry-level than law.
- There are more accounting positions than law jobs.
- There is no huge difference in salary between law and accounting in the early career.
- In the long run, lawyers can potentially make more money than accountants, including CPAs.
- But a minority of lawyers get to that point.
- Accounting skills are more transferable across industries than law skills.
- Accountants can more easily travel around the country for jobs than lawyers.
- Lawyers are more respected and feared than accountants.
- Law is an intellectually more rewarding job than accounting.
- Lawyers more deal with people and their issues.
- Accountants deal more with numbers and financials
- Lawyers do not need much math.
- Accountants must know basic math well
- Lawyers must be able to read a lot of complex legal materials and write very well.
- Accountants do not need to write much and require a normal level of reading skills.
- Accountants must understand how to read financial reports, forecasts, statements.
- Law practice is much more stressful than accounting work.
- Many lawyers want to leave law professions.
- Accounting work is generally more boring than law.
- But many accountants are comfortable with their work.
- An accounting career is more stable than a law career
- But accounting may be automated faster than law
Overall, more people can become accountants than lawyers. Accounting is generally easier and more stable career than law, albeit with less income than law in the long run.
I am not talking much about CPAs. The CPA exam is very hard, but unlike law students, accountants take the CPA exam after few years of an accounting career, not before they even start it. Lack of CPA does not preclude accountants from having a decently paying job.
Accounting wins except for the automation aspect. If not for that, I would always recommend accounting instead of and over law at any time.
Take one of the major career aptitude tests. They are VERY helpful in making decisions. Do that before investing huge money into education.
Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5, Source 6, Source 7, Source 8, Source 9, Source 10