Finance
Why Pursue Finance?
Financial principles and practices drive the global business economy. The professionals who excel by mastering these practices and principles share essential characteristics. They are guided by ethical behavior. They have razor-sharp analytical skills. They are, at heart, forward-thinking strategists. At Piedmont’s Walker College of Business, we’ll foster those characteristics in you – so that you can succeed at any level of finance.
Business Administration majors with a concentration in finance have a wealth of opportunity in the professional field. Careers are available in commercial and investment banking, corporate finance, investment analysis and management, and financial analysis. And earning your degree from Piedmont gives you an advantage in a competitive marketplace.
How a Piedmont Finance Concentration Helps You
The Piedmont Finance concentration helps graduates drive organizational success in their careers.
- Learn a wide range of skills critical to all types of business success.
- See the whole picture understanding – from global down to local economic models and how they are connected.
- Gain confidence in making critical judgements involving financial responsibilities.
- Get real world experience via internships, case studies, and by visiting professionals.
Career Opportunities
A Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from Piedmont opens doors and a wide range of professional pursuits. For instance, our graduates have gone on to build careers in:
A finance concentration provides in-depth knowledge of financial markets, asset valuation, and portfolio management. It equips you to analyze investment opportunities, assess risk, and make data-driven recommendations.
With strong training in financial statement analysis, ratio interpretation, and forecasting, a finance concentration prepares you to evaluate a company's financial health. It also teaches you how to identify trends and provide insights for strategic decision-making.
A finance concentration develops skills in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and financial modeling—core areas in banking. It also prepares you to advise clients, raise capital, and manage large-scale financial transactions.
In corporate finance, a finance concentration helps you manage a company’s capital structure, budgeting, and long-term financial planning. It also provides tools for maximizing shareholder value through strategic financial decisions.
This concentration equips you to interpret financial data and communicate company performance to shareholders, analysts, and investors. It also strengthens your ability to build trust and transparency through financial reporting and presentations.
A finance concentration gives you the foundation to create comprehensive financial plans covering investments, insurance, retirement, and tax strategies. It also helps you align clients’ financial goals with personalized, data-driven solutions.
Through financial training in budgeting, forecasting, and cost analysis, a finance concentration prepares you to evaluate and manage organizational spending. It enables you to support resource allocation and improve financial efficiency.
A finance concentration supports actuarial work by building quantitative and risk assessment skills, particularly in probability, statistics, and economics. It helps actuaries evaluate financial risks and design strategies for insurance and pension systems.
Although accounting is a distinct field, a finance concentration provides a solid foundation in financial reporting, auditing principles, and regulatory compliance. It enhances your ability to interpret accounting data within broader financial strategies.
With a background in finance, you gain expertise in evaluating creditworthiness through financial ratios, cash flow analysis, and risk assessment. This prepares you to make informed lending decisions and manage credit risk effectively.
More About Finance
Learn more about Finance and the variety of options available to you as a Piedmont student.
As a member of Piedmont’s Walker School of Business, you will be required to complete 142 credit hours to obtain your BS of Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance. Your classwork will feature a well-rounded mix of classes to provide you with critical thinking skills and a flexibility that will serve you throughout your career.
Finance Concentration
| ACCT 3010 | Intermediate Accounting I | 3 |
| ACCT 3020 | Intermediate Accounting II | 3 |
| BUSA 3130 | Financial Institutions and Markets | 3 |
| BUSA 4300 | Small Business Management | 3 |
| BUSA 4310 | Investment Management | 3 |
Students must select a minimum of six semester credit hours of electives from the following list:
| ACCT 3100 | Cost Accounting | 3 |
| ACCT 4200 | Corporate Tax | 3 |
| ACCT 4600 | Auditing | 3 |
| BUSA 3340 | Sports Economics | 3 |
| BUSA 3550 | Organizational Behavior and Leadership Theories | 3 |
| BUSA 4700/ACCT 4700 | Business Internship | 3 |
| MATH 2600 | Linear Algebra | 3 |
| ACCT 4990/BUSA 4990 | Special Topics |
See full course description for Business Administration below.
Employers, particularly in an area where the consequences of every decision are critical to their organizations’ prosperity, look for candidates who can become transformational leaders. Piedmont professors understand this and train their students accordingly.
Our students are taught by professors with notable out-of-class achievements. We teach a “real world view” by integrating our students with internships, case studies, and visiting professionals. Our professors understand global markets, and they bring with them a firm grasp of financial management tools and techniques. On top of that, our students receive an expansive background in the liberal arts, so that they become creative thinkers and great communicators – which only aids in seeking employment and exceling in a professional position.
Our business programs embrace a liberal arts education, which develops nimble minds for a fast-changing workplace. The Finance concentration incorporates adventurous thinking with required skills in statistics, research, data mining, and business model building. At Piedmont, you will learn solid math skills, comfort with technology, and a real business sense – so that you can ask the right questions. Combine those distinctions with a clear-eyed focus on ethics, the most up-to-date curriculum, independent research – and you can see how this degree can transform you into an industry innovator.
Students in Piedmont’s finance concentration always enjoy a low student-to-teacher ratio. This allows our students to forge meaningful relationships with their instructors, classmates, the material, and themselves. Courses are delivered in-person on the Demorest campus – a place where students develop a sense of family and community that aids their academic pursuits.
Related Programs
Intrigued by finance? You might also be interested in one of these programs:
Meet our Faculty
Meet our talented faculty with both academic and professional experience in finance.
Where do I start?
To begin your journey toward earning an accounting degree at Piedmont University, you can start by applying today! Or, schedule a campus visit and meet with admissions and financial aid advisors, as well as faculty members in finance.