Analyzing Data for Accounting: Tools and Techniques

School: Colorado State University, Global Campus - Course: ACT 425 - Subject: Accounting

Dataset Value Colorado State University Global ACT425: Information Systems for Accounting Teacher May 8, 20221

2 Dataset Value At the core of accounting is information. There are vast amounts of information being stored that are meant to enhance customer experience, aid in decision-making, and improve the reliability and relevancy of accounting data, among other reasons. The absolute volume of data collected on the internet leads to questions on utilizing this data better and transforming how data is generated and reported. According to Simkin et al. (2018), nearly 90% of today's data is from within the last two years. With the amount of structured and unstructured data available, it is essential to know how to analyze and present that data to bring value to a company. Analyzing and presenting data can be challenging. Several tools can be utilized, such as Excel, R, or Tableau, to help arrange data into tabular and graphical forms that will aid in presenting the data in a meaningful way.Each program has its benefits and challenges, and it can be difficult to decide which program to use. Microsoft Excel has long been used to create spreadsheets, perform calculations on data, prepare data graphs, and create pivot tables, to name a few functions. Excel may seem outdated to some users, but the ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office components can be an advantage. R is a popular language for statistical modeling and analysis. It is designed around a true computer language that can be run on all operating systems and has applications in machine learning operations (The R Foundation, n.d.). Tableau does not allow users to create datasets, but it will enable users to make creative visualizations of data. Data Set -Chicago The chosen dataset was from Option 1 - the city of Chicago, Illinois. The specific dataset being analyzed is "Current Employee Names, Salaries, and Position Titles" in the Administration

3 and Finance category. This dataset lists all current employees with the City of Chicago, including full names, departments, positions, and annual salaries. The data was last updated on January 21, 2022, and was exported from the data portal into a .csv file and converted to a .xlsx file. The dataset contains a large amount of structured data. According to Segal (2022), structured data consists of information already managed by an organization in either databases or spreadsheets. It is generally tabular with clearly defined attributes arranged in columns and rows. It is also easily scaled if data needs to be added or removed.