The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants unveiled a
The certificate program offers real-world scenarios to help CPAs and finance pros discover ways to leverage data to inform financial decisions. Those who complete the program will be able to:
- Define the characteristics of an analytical and data-driven mindset;
- Recognize how to establish objectives and desired outcomes of a data analytics project for a business or client;
- Understand how data is described and interpreted;
- Describe different types and categories of data;
- Recognize how data science and data analytics are connected; and,
- Understand characteristics of the technology for data analytics.
Data analytics is increasingly playing an important role in the accounting, finance and audit profession, with the ability to continuously monitor transactions and identify customer behavior patterns informing company strategy more and more. As data sets grow ever larger, it has become more challenging to manage all the information, identify outliers or find meaningful information.
New technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and blockchain are leveraging data analytics to reshape the profession. A
“The digitization of the world, from smart devices to location data tracked by smart phone apps to web cookies, has led to a greater accumulation of data than ever before,” said AICPA vice president of professional development Amy Eubanks in a statement. “That data provides new opportunities to gain valuable insights for their clients and organizations, but CPAs and financial professionals need the right skills to be able to take advantage of this wealth of information.”
The AICPA and has been working with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy to encourage more CPAs to improve their technology skills as part of their
