Predictive analytics

Predlctive Analytics What you will soon learn from studying this book, and hopefully through reading professional accounting Journals, is that the accounting profession is constantly changing To be successful as an accounting professional, you Will need to stay abreast of these changes, or better yet get out in front of some of the expected trends in the profession. One of these trends that we want to alert you to is the rapidly growing opportunities in the field of predictive analytics, which is the result of the tremendous amount of data that is now available within organizations (e.g., data warehouses, which offer opportunities for data mining). In the future, this is the most likely area where you can add value—by being able to analyze that data and make useful business predictions for your clients. You might be surprised to learn that a number of accounting jobs already require this type of skill set—for example, jobs such as client service analyst, quantitative analyst, risk analyst, and financial planner and analyst (responSible for preparing the annual plan and long—range or 5-year plan for a company and usually reports to the CFOJE So what exactly is predictive analytics, and what does this type of professional do? The predictive analytics professional uses a variety of skills and abilities, ranging from statistical analysis, data modeling, and data mining used by management to make predictions about the future. This might require a mind shift for some accounting majors Rather than seeking an MBA degree or an MS in accounting, consider an MS degree in analytics or business analytics There are now over 100 such degree programs in the United States, oflering fulletime, partitin'ie, and online delivery. So that you can appreciate the strong demand for this new type of credential, the first MS in Analytics program was available in 2007, and around 25% of these programs just started since ZGlSE If you go to the website at footnote 6, you can find the universities that offer these programs, the length of each program, the cost, and the curriculum. You might also be interested in the 2016 median starting salary of $37,?00 with no experience (see Institute for Advanced Analytics, MSA Info-graphic, analyticsncsuedu, accessed March 201?).