Suman Kumar

Data Analytics playing a significant role in the Accounting space According to 2016, State of Analytics and Data Science’s report which was issued by data analytics Company Mu Sigma, 65% of the senior industry leaders surveyed in United States trust that data analytics has optimistically affected their trade. As businesses gradually trying to place themselves to reap profits from data analytic, accountants are moreover poised to play a leading role in handling that transition. Data analytics in accounting As we all know that accounting is one of the few professions that involves great responsibilities and at times turn very challenging. In fact, if you are one of those few accountants that you would well aware of the fact that how difficult it is for you to keep up to date with constantly changing regulations and tax laws. This is not the end; you may also require remaining well informed about the latest technology trends and innovations. Very often, you might come across the practitioners saying that they are concerned about missing out the opportunities or lagging behind as most of the time they are busy on things that go into managing a well-run practice. This is indeed a danger, and today it is essential to take a proper advantage of opportunities and nurture the skills to expand in new domains. That is where Big Data and data analytics comes in to picture. It is the most advanced concept and has the potential to change your accounting practice positively. What is Data Analytics? In simple terms, data analytics is more like an analysis of data or data sets. Moreover, if we combine it with the Big Data, then it is more like a new technology that helps you in reviewing vast sets of data and gain insight. However, relating it to an accounting practice, data analytics can be as useful and handy in looking at information for a small subset of firms and define pricing for fixed-price engagements for a new client. In fact, it could help you in reviewing of reports that outline projects from the previous year and in turn get you a reasonable assumption or predict how many staff people will be needed for the upcoming tax season. Today, data analytics can play a primary role in numerous features of accounting. Here are some methods that data analytics could improve the work that accountants could do: Increase competitiveness.  Projecting analytics methods can help in increasing a company’s effectiveness and profitability through allowing accounting specialists to derive more precise and thorough forecasts. Such predictions can be very beneficial for the company to anticipate and respond more rapidly to market trends that would or else be hard to foresee. In recent times, the character of handling risks in accounting and finance purpose has progressed a lot. Right from being focused on compliance and internal controls, today the profession is demanding for extra skills like evaluating risks. Nowadays, companies are looking accountants with extra technical skills like: Identifying key data trends Data mining and extraction Statistical modeling and data analysis A good understanding of data analytics can help you fill the gap between non-technical skills or soft skills. For example, the methods of data analytics such as continuous auditing and constant checking can help accounting specialists assess and manage appropriate risk levels inside their groups.  Identify deception.  Data analytics methods are compatible with perceiving fraud. Developing skills in this subject could permit an accountant to efficiently sieve through big volumes of trades to identify irregularities in data which could frequently be symbolic of fraudulent activity.   Why could accountant be a data analyst? Undoubtedly it will not be wrong to compare an accountant to a natural-born problem solver. The equation is correctly balanced because unlike problem solver, accountants to jump from descriptive and diagnostic analytics to predictive analytics. Very often you could view that accountant play a decisive role in figuring out how to use the information to make critical business decisions rather than just stacking and sorting data. Accountants could thoroughly analyze and see the broader context and business implications. The real value of data analysis originates only after compilation of data, and right decisions are made solely using insights derived from the data. To uncover these insights, accountant also initially understand the business context. Accountants could very well make use of data analytics to help different businesses discover valuable insights and identify process developments. As per Wendell Gilland, Associate Professor who teaches Data Analytics for Accountants at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School states that in coming days, accountants will be anticipated to advance value to the business decision making within their organizations, and data analytics will play a significant role in the accounting profession. Accountants are at a distinct advantage while executing data analytics as they have ready access to financial data. In fact, they are the one who has an intense understanding of managing the data and analyzes or derive a solution that could further help the company retain a tactical benefit over competitors in the contemporary business atmosphere.