Looking for the best laptops for accounting majors?
You’re in luck, we just finished researching on this topic and have come up with a small list of excellent models that are great for accounting students.
You won’t go wrong with most laptops as accounting is not a very demanding profession but why go with a random laptop when you can get the absolute best value for your money.
As an accounting student, you will need to run certain software and do a lot of reading on your laptop. So we had to take these criteria and several other ones we heard from accounting students all over the web to come with this fine list of laptops that are great for accounting.
Without wasting any time, let’s take a look at the best notebooks for accounting in 2020.
Best Laptops for Accounting Majors in 2020
Microsoft Surface Book 2 - Editor's Choice
The Microsoft Surface Book 2 is our choice for the best laptop for accounting majors.
For accounting students, the Microsoft Surface Book offers a seamless experience, thanks to its well-crafted set of features.
The design of this Surface Book 2 is probably one of the best you will ever find and a laptop. The materials used in the construction make the laptop look and feel premium.
Though the laptop is made up of high-end materials, it is not that heavy. The laptop weighs around 3 lbs, which makes it one of the most portable laptops out there. You can easily slide this laptop into your backpack, and take it along with you wherever you move on your campus.
The laptop also brings in a myriad of connectivity features as well. You get a USB type C port and a microSD slot. The laptop also comes with support for Bluetooth connectivity which makes it easier to connect with external devices wirelessly. You can also connect to the Internet without wires, thanks to the inbuilt high-speed Wi-Fi.
The display is one of the best features of the Microsoft Surface Book 2. It comes with a resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels and Microsoft calls it a Pixel Sense display. It is one of the most color-accurate displays you can find on the market.
Though an accounting student does not need this kind of a display, it definitely helps. The text on the screen is sharp and you will not have to squint your eyes to see what is there on the screen. The screen also does not negatively affect your eyes in any way even after long hours.
The display is also perfect for consuming videos and other media. If you enjoy watching Netflix, you will have a great time with this laptop. The speakers on this device are also on point making for a wholesome multimedia experience.
The keyboard gives you a pleasant typing experience despite the fact that it is missing a dedicated number pad. The touchpad is decent and gets the work done without much fuss.
Surface Book 2 is powered by an Intel i5 processor from the eighth generation. This is a quad-core processor from Intel and does well with regards to your everyday activities.
When it comes to accounting students, you will need to handle software is like Sage 50, Peachtree, QuickBooks, and so on. This processor handles all of the software without breaking a sweat so you will get the absolute best experience when using them.
For memory, we have 8 gigs of DDR4 RAM. This memory will play a big role when it comes to multitasking. Most students will be fine with just four gigs of memory but having extra means that you will not have any bottleneck when you have to run several applications side-by-side.
We have a 256GB solid-state drive on the Microsoft Surface Book 2. This is just about enough space for any accounting student. More than space, you will appreciate the speed that solid-state drive brings.
The SSD loads the operating system in a few seconds and manages to open even huge and complex applications in no time. If you are coming from a mechanical hard drive, you will acknowledge the performance enhancements the SSD brings in no time.
The graphics department is taken care of by an integrated Intel UHD graphics card. You will not need a dedicated graphics card as you will be dealing with numbers most of the time. This integrated graphics card does a pretty good job when it comes to handling games just so if you want to play games.
The battery life is one of the best talking points of this laptop. With light usage, you can squeeze out 15 hours out of this laptop which is just crazy. Even if you are crunching numbers all day long, the laptop will last for at least 8 to 10 hours and that is amazing. 
Overall, Microsoft Surface Book 2 is easily the best laptop for accounting students. If you are someone who is about to start accounting school or if you’re working with accounting software, this laptop will serve you very well.
- Gorgeous display
- Solid processor
- Exemplary battery life
- USB type c only
Apple MacBook Air - Best Mac For Accounting Students
If you’re looking for a Mac laptop for your accounting school, then the MacBook Air is probably the best option you have a number of reasons.
The first reason why we call the MacBook Air the best laptop for accounting students is because of the price. Macs are usually very expensive and not affordable for students. But in this case, the MacBook Air is not that expensive and gives you the same Mac experience.
One thing you can’t miss about the MacBook Air is its design. It is ultra-slim and comes with a beautiful, industrial design. You can see this laptop from a mile away and recognize it as a Mac, and that’s mostly due to the design.
The MacBook Air is one of the most portable laptops for the students. The laptop weighs around 2.75 lbs which makes it one oh the most lightweight laptops in this list. If you value portability, then this is the laptop you should go with.
The display here is a 13.3-inch retina display and is loaded with pixels. Apple laptops are known for the displays and this one is no different. The screen comes with an excellent contrast ratio and presents accurate colors.
The colors on this display are vibrant and you will enjoy consuming media on your favorite platforms like Netflix, Amazon prime et cetera. One thing that surprised us the most is the speaker. It is very loud and at the same time crystal clear. Without a doubt, this is the best speaker we have seen on a laptop.
An Intel Core i5 processor powers the MacBook Air. This is a dual-core processor and comes with enough power to handle all your everyday tasks without any hiccups. The processor comes with a base clock frequency of 1.6 GHz and a cache memory of 4MB which would come in handy as well.
Most accounting software will work fine on the laptop and thanks to the 8GB memory, you will be able to multitask to your heart’s content. The ram also allows you to run multiple multithreaded applications without breaking a sweat.
For storage, you get 256 gigs of high-speed Apple SSD storage. The reason we love Apple SSD storage is because their SSDs are much faster than the ones in their competitors. You get amazing read and write speeds and the ones on other laptops don’t even come close.
The keyboard on this laptop comes with enough travel and offers the user a nice typing experience. Apple did have some problems with keyboards in previous generations but they seem to have learned the lesson with this one.
The touchpad is probably the best you will ever find a laptop. It has excellent Palm rejection and takes in gestures with the most accuracy. This model also includes the Touch Bar which gives you more flexibility. There is also a touch ID button that allows you to log in with the touch of a finger.
For connectivity, the laptop comes with two thunderbolt ports that are of USB type C type. These are versatile ports and can help with multiple things like charging a laptop, Connectivity, data transfer, and so on. Some might be disappointed that they don’t have other thoughts on this laptop but you will be fine if you can throw in an adapter.
The battery life of this laptop is excellent as it can stay alive for nearly 12 hours with a light load. This is another all-day battery life laptop that is a perfect fit for more students.
Overall, the latest MacBook Air is the best Mac notebook for accounting students. It brings the best of Apple at a price that is affordable by most students. And is highly recommended.
- Brilliant screen
- Solid performance
- Great battery life
- Not many connectivity options
Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop - Best Budget Laptop For Accounting Students
The Acer Aspire 5 slim laptop is a good budget option for accounting majors.
If you can’t afford a Microsoft Surface Book 2, then you should seriously look into this laptop as it offers pretty good performance without breaking your bank.
There is nothing special about the design of the Acer Aspire 5 slim laptop except for the fact that it is a bit leaner than other models in the same series. It weighs around 4 pounds and is one of the lightest laptops in the 15.6-inch laptop category.
The display here is a 15.6-inch display and it comes with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. This resolution is perfect for students as you get sharp text and clear pictures. Thanks to that, this laptop is perfect for all-day use as it doesn’t cause any damage to your eyes.
The display is a good fit for media consumption and for photo editing as it comes with vibrant colors and an impressive contrast ratio. The speaker on this laptop is not as good as the ones in the other two models discussed, but it does a good job considering the price of the laptop.
The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor. This is an eighth-generation processor that comes with four cores and a maximum clock speed of 3.90 GHz. This processor brings in processing power to handle all your student load and can go the extra mile to do some heavy lifting as well.
The memory department comes with a memory of 8 gigs which is more than enough for most accounting students. If you are someone who loves to multitask, then this RAM will treat you well. Another nice touch is that you can upgrade that RAM in the future without any complexities.
The storage is one of the best aspects of this laptop as we get a 512 GB solid-state drive. This is a stupid fast SSD and comes with incredible reading and writing speeds. It boots up the operating system in a few seconds and handles all the applications without any lag.
A surprise here is the inclusion of a dedicated graphics card. The Acer Aspire 5 slim laptop comes with an Nvidia GeForce MX 250 that has a dedicated video memory of two gigs. This GPU is much better than the integrated solution and even allows you to play some high-end games as well.
There are several connectivity options on the laptop. You get one USB 3.1 type C gen 1 port, 2 USB 3.1 gen one ports, one USB 2.0 port, one HDMI port, and SD card slot, and also a headphone jack. One of the USB 3.1 gen 1 ports has power off-charging which is quite handy.
The laptop can last for about 10 hours with a light load. This is very impressive considering that this is a budget laptop and even some high-end laptops don’t get you this much battery life. Even with some heavy load, the laptop will still last for about six hours which is plenty of time to find a power outlet.
The Acer Aspire 5 Slim laptop does not cost you a lot but does give you satisfying computing experience. If you are on a tight budget, this laptop has got your back.
- Affordable
- Full HD display
- Excellent battery life
- None at this price
Dell XPS 13 9370
Dell has made some amazing laptops in the past and this Dell XPS 13 followed the same route.
When it comes to students, Dell offers solid laptops. The Dell XPS 13 is tailored towards students as it has both the power and also the affordability a student needs.
This is one of Dell’s finest designed laptops. Being a 13.3-inch laptop, this one is among the most portable laptops for sure. The laptop weighs around 2.5lbs which is super light. You can just slide this into your bag and move as if nothing happened.
The display we have here is a 13.3 inch 4K Ultra HD InfinityEdge touch display. We know that’s a mouthful but I truly what it is. The resolution of 4K might be overkill for a 13.3-inch display but we can’t say that it doesn’t have its advantages.
The bezels around the screen are almost non-existent which makes this one of the best laptops when it comes to screen to body ratio. The InfinityEdge display is amazing for media consumption and is backed up by excellent speakers that deliver studio-quality sound.
The screen also doubles up as a touchscreen which is nice to have. Though the touch screen brings in a lot of possibilities, it wobbles a bit so writing on it might not be as intuitive as one would imagine.
One might argue that having a 4K display is a battery killer. We had the same doubts but Dell proved us wrong as the laptop has a battery life of around eight hours with regular use. If you’re going to do something processor-intensive, then you can expect around 5 to 6 hours which is still a decent battery life.
The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor. This processor is from the eighth generation of Intel chips, and as a quad-core chip, it clocks to a maximum of 4 GHz. The processor comes with a cache memory of 8MB which is excellent when dealing with applications like QuickBooks, Peachtree, and so on.
There are eight gigs of DDR3 RAM in the memory department and they do an excellent job when it comes to multitasking. The fact that you will be able to upgrade your memory later in the future gives you additional assurance. Students will not utilize this memory but if you’re someone who deals with huge databases, then you will find this handy.
We have ample storage in the form of 256GB SSD. This may not be a lot of space but it surely does it help when it comes to performance. Dell has excellent SSDs and there is no way you get the same advantage even with a hybrid drive.
The keyboard on the laptop is pretty good and gives you a decent typing experience. It is a backlit keyboard so you can use this laptop even in places where there is not a lot of light, even in pitch black lighting. You also get a fingerprint reader that makes logging into Windows a piece of cake. The touchpad is also pretty good as it supports Windows gestures without missing any user input.
There is no dedicated graphics card in the Dell XPS 13. The laptop utilizes the integrated Intel HD graphics card for dealing with its graphics processing. Most accounting students will not need a dedicated GPU for their everyday needs. But if you are an exception, be assured that this Intel UHD graphics card will handle it in most cases.
To conclude, the Dell XPS 13 is a solid laptop that doesn’t cost you a lot. It comes with excellent hardware that might be a bit overkill for accounting students but doesn’t hurt. Recommended.
- Gorgeous UHD display
- Excellent performance
- Fingerprint scanner
- None at this price
ASUS ZenBook
The Asus Zenbook 13 ultra-thin laptop is the last one on our list of best laptops for accounting students.
This is another reasonably priced laptop that is a bit more affordable for students. It comes with an impressive array of specs that gives you seamless user experience.
The Asus Zenbook 13 inches is one of the latest laptops you can find. It weighs at only 2.5 lbs and you can easily carry this thing with you wherever you go. The main reason for this small weight is because ASUS could reduce the footprint of the laptop considerably.
The display we have here is a full HD display and comes with super thin bezels on the sides. The specials are the reasons why a source could reduce the footprint of the laptop. The colors on the screen are vibrant and come with an excellent contrast ratio. If you are a fan of watching movies on the go, then this laptop will be your companion during long trips.
The laptop is not only portable but also comes with excellent battery life. With regular use, he will be able to squeeze out around 15 hours of battery life. This allows you to work on your assignments, projects, and other staff while you are at the gym, bus, library, and many other places.
The laptop comes equipped with an i5 processor from Intel. This i5 8265U processor is a low power processor that comes with adequate processing power. The processor can clock to a maximum of 3.90 GHz which is a lot of power for an accounting major. Most accounting software is run smoothly on this laptop without any hiccups.
The memory here is an 8GB DDR3 RAM which is a generation old. But it really doesn’t matter as you can still multitask without having to worry about any performance issues whatsoever. Even when running multithreaded applications, this RAM does a solid job.
We have a 512 GB solid-state drive that comes with decent reading and writing speeds. While this SSD can’t compare with that of Apple and Microsoft, it’s still is faster than your traditional hard drive discs. The operating system boots up in a few seconds and you can see the SSD advantage whenever you try to move huge files around.
The ASUS Zenbook comes with an Intel UHD graphics card which is the integrated graphics card. The lack of a discrete GPU does not affect the laptop’s performance in any way. Unless you’re a gamer, you should not be concerned with the situation as most accounting software is running fine without the need for a discrete GPU.
How good is the typing experience on the Asus Zen book? We have to say that the typing experience pretty good as the keys come with decent travel and feedback. The lack of a dedicated number pad might be a bit bothering but it can be fixed with the help of an external numerical paid. The touchpad is bigger and comes with better accuracy.
The laptop comes with all connectivity options you would expect in the model laptop. You get all the popular ports and there is also support for wireless standards like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
If you are looking for something that is not mainstream and won’t cost you a lot of money, then the Asus Zenbook is a solid option. With an impressive array of hardware, this ASUS Zenbook is easily one of the best notebooks for accounting measures.
- Affordable
- Excellent display
- Incredible battery life
- Only DDR3 RAM
What To Look For in the Best Laptops For Accounting Students?
Like we mentioned above, accounting is one of those disciplines that aren’t very demanding. You probably have to get good at doing a few things but you need a device that’ll make you a master at that.
More than power, you need a laptop that can give you the best user experience for your accounting software. The laptop has to move smoothly without bringing any friction to your workflow.
If you’re not willing to go with any of the recommended models, then here are some factors you should consider before you get a laptop for your accounting studies.
Processing Power
There is no need for a high-end processor in a laptop when it comes to accounting.
In fact, having a beast of a processor might actually do more harm than good in this case.
When picking a CPU for your laptop, go with an Intel Core i3 or an Intel Core i5 processor.
Some might feel like the i3 is a little less powerful for their needs. If that’s how you feel, then feel free to go with an i5 chip from Intel. Be sure to get one from the latest generations.
Avoid Some CPUs
There are some processors you might want to avoid to get a better user experience on your laptop.
Intel Celeron, Atom, and Pentium – These are entry-level processors and come with very little power to play with. They are made with home users and school students in mind and not a good choice for those who want to work on accounts.
5th Gen Intel CPU and below – We are now currently sitting on the 10th generation of Intel chips (at the time of writing). Ideally, you don’t want to go with anything that is older than 7th gen, at worst.
But if you’re in a tight budget and want to get an older laptop, then keep this in mind.
Intel i7 CPUs and H Series CPUs – Both these processor series are high-end. The problem with these high-end processors is that they give high performance by consuming more power.
As a result, your battery will take a hit. For accounting students, we recommend laptops that last for the whole day. With these chips in place, that’s going to be a challenge.
Memory
The memory you need is totally dependent on the software you’ll be working on.
When it comes to accounting, the most common software that people use are Microsoft Excel, Peachtree, Lotus, Sage 50, and Quattro Pro.
You should get along nicely with these applications with 4 gigs of DDR4 RAM. But if you’re going to working long hours or working on big projects, then your memory will be pushing its limits giving you some hiccups here and there.
So, it’s always better to go with 8 gigs of DDR4 memory. This memory will allow you to work with your preferred software and also have some background apps running fine without bringing the performance down.
Having 8GB RAM should be the minimum if you’re going to work with big databases and other demanding workflows.
We’d say avoid getting 16GB RAM as it is clearly too much and waste of money in a notebook for accounting students.
Graphics
There is absolutely no need for you to get a laptop with a dedicated graphics card.
If you’re going with a recent generation Intel or AMD processor, then the built-in integrated GPU will be more than enough for most students.
The only scenario where you’d want a discrete GPU is when you are a gamer and you want to play the latest and the greatest games.
Input Devices
When it comes to accounting, the keyboard is by far the most used element in a laptop.
You’re going to be entering numbers left and right, and for that, you need a concrete keyboard that gives you a pleasant typing experience.
If you’re going for a 15″ laptop, then chances are you’re going to get a dedicated number pad with it. Having a dedicated number pad is super important as it gives you more flexibility when working with numbers.
If you value portability more and want a 13″ laptop, then you’re not going to get a dedicated number pad in this case.
There are two ways to deal with this situation. One, you can get used to the lack of the number pad and improve your muscle memory to manage with the top number row.
Or, you can get yourself an external number pad. This number pad can be plugged into the USB port of your laptop and you can start using it without any problems. It all depends on how badly you want this on your laptop which in turn is decided by how much numbers you work on.
The touchpad on the laptop also has to be equally good. It has to be responsive and should take your inputs without missing them. Most laptops these days come with support for Windows gestures which is what most users need.
Storage
When it comes to accounting students, the storage on their laptops is only a matter of personal preference.
You can manage with pretty much any amount of storage.
But there’s a catch here. You have two options to choose from: an HDD or an SSD.
The hard drive disks are the mechanical ones and come at an inexpensive price with generous storage options. But the problem here is that they’re terribly slow and do not work well with modern needs.
The SSDs, on the other hand, come with an excellent speed that is great for modern-day machines. But they are a bit expensive but totally worth it.
We recommend going with solid-state drives, as it is great for students. They do not come with any performance issues and in fact, they help the performance of the laptop.
SSDs boot the operating system in a few seconds and open even complex applications real quick. If you plan to deal with huge databases, then getting a solid-state drive is the way to go.
As a minimum, go for a 256GB SSD as it gives you enough storage to play with. You also have the option of a 128GB SSD, but that’s won’t be enough for most as the OS and the software you use would take up a good chunk of that space.
Another important thing to note for students is to have a backup storage solution in place.
For backup, we recommend going with a cloud solution as it makes it available to be accessible from any place. You will do fine with most free plans as they are spacious enough for students.
Display
Having a sharp display should be a priority for accounting students as you will be looking at the screen crunching numbers.
By sharp, we mean the resolution of the display. We recommend going with a 1080p display as it gives you the best images without any issues. When the content on the screen is clear enough, your eyes will thank you for it.
You can also go with higher resolution displays, but that is going to increase the cost of the laptop which we feel is a bit unnecessary. However, some of our recommendations come with a much higher resolution than what we’ve recommended here.
Deciding the size of the laptop display is also important.
Ideally, you’d be fine with the biggest display you can get your hands on. But having a 17.3″ display (biggest on a laptop) would affect your portability in a big way.
Even if you want the most portable laptop, we suggest not going below 13.3″ as it is the minimum screen size you can get without negatively impacting your viewing experience.
Make sure you also get a good viewing angle on your laptop screen. Most cheap laptops come with a TN panel which does not fare well when it comes to viewing angles. If you need good viewing angles for making presentations, then get an IPS display.
Portability
Getting a portable laptop is a key factor for most accounting majors.
As a student, you will be on the move more than you think. With a heavy laptop, you’re going to make things heavier than it should be for yourself.
Also, you may not take a heavy laptop with you all the time which means it will be gathering dust when you’re out there working on mastering your accounting skills.
Always go for a lightweight laptop that doesn’t compromise on the performance.
For the best portability, you should go for a 13.3″ laptop. Both the Surface Book Pro and the MacBook Air are in this size range and weigh about 2 lbs at best. These are good examples of portable laptops.
Battery Life
Battery life is another crucial metric for any student laptop.
It doesn’t matter if tick all the boxes when getting a laptop if you have poor battery life, you’re not going to have a good experience as a student.
In an ideal case, you want your laptop to last from morning until you wind up at school. Lasting an entire day would mean you don’t have to go on a hunt for power sockets.
Power outlets will be super busy in schools, so you’re not going to get lucky in recharging your laptop.
Also, having a good battery life allows you to work on the go. You can take your laptop and work on your assignments, projects, and other stuff while you’re on the bus, library, gym or anywhere else.
All our recommendations come with excellent battery life so you’ll be good with any of these laptops.
Operating System
Most accounting software work great with the Windows operating system.
If you don’t have a preference, then we’d recommend going with Windows.
Windows 10 is fast and can handle your workload, thanks to the universal support and compatibility from applications in the accounting domain.
Microsoft Excel is one application that every accounting major is going to use and it is best experienced in the Windows operating system.
If you’re not a fan of Windows, then you can go with the macOS.
One drawback here is the lack of compatibility of most accounting apps with macOS. You can deal with this by installing Windows either using Bootcamp or through Parallels.
As time goes, more software is now getting made for macOS which means you may not need Windows to this extent in the future.
Connectivity
As a student, you need a laptop with a lot of connectivity options.
You’re going to need USB ports for both data transfer and connectivity.
Remember the external numerical pads we were talking about? Most of them work with USB ports only and to use them, you need a compatible USB port available.
You will also need an HDMI port if you plan to connect your laptop to external monitors. You will have to do this when you’re giving presentations or if you simply want to look at a bigger screen.
You also want your laptop to have support for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well.
If you want to take notes during lectures, then we recommend going for convertible laptops as they can fold into a tablet with stylus support.
We hope we helped you in getting the best laptop for your accounting needs.
If you have any queries or doubts, feel free to ask us in the comment section below. If you want to ask something private, you can also email us.
Do visit Consumer Tech Central for more useful guides.