PACE Academic IG

Introduction

One may wonder why I am using the term “data applications” in the title of this article.  The reason is the name of a course I taught for 3 semesters, Data Applications in Business (DAB).  Even though my teaching is in accounting, I have taught courses outside of accounting, and DAB is one of them.  The course gave me an opportunity to use my experience in private industry, private practice, and education to help students understand how the course can help them in their educational as well as professional journeys.  It is the professional journey that I want to address in this article for accounting majors who can find a fulfilling and rewarding career in management accounting.

Organization

DAB is divided into 3 primary topics:

1.     Computer Science     

2.     Data Analytics

3.     Statistics

Computer Science

The applications taught within the computer science topic are, in alphabetical order, ChatGPT, Excel, Python, and Tableau.

ChatGPT provides students with a great opportunity to not only use but also think about using AI.  The thinking applies to working with two students on their course project.  They had a great idea for their presentation, but they were having difficulty obtaining the data.  By asking ChatGPT the right question, the data was provided in an Excel spreadsheet.  Working with ChatGPT, however, requires an ability on how to ask a question.  They were looking for additional data, but ChatGPT was unable to provide what was being asked.  It was because of how the question was structured, something that I emphasize to students when working with ChatGPT.

Excel continues to be an important part of an accounting major’s education.  In DAB, I taught students, among other elements, how to obtain descriptive statistics, how to create pivot tables, how to calculate correlations, and how to create predictive analytics models through regression.  The teaching of Excel was connected to my work in private practice.  Accounting majors must know what lies ahead, and Excel is an important part of an accounting major’s future.  It is one thing to use Excel, it is another thing to understand the contents in the files, an understanding that applies to the second primary topic of the course, data analytics.

In comparison to Excel and Tableau, Python was not a dominant element of the course, but opportunities arose for students to obtain a basic understanding of its use because the course dealt with basic understanding. 

For students, Tableau was the most exciting of the applications because students showed their skills in creating visualizations that will be an important part of an accounting major’s career.  Several chart types were discussed, and students were able to create charts that were easily understood as well as providing opportunities to ask questions about the data in the visualizations.  I shared with students a story about a recent engagement where I should have created a dashboard for a budget presentation because the client’s CEO could not understand the presentation in a spreadsheet.  For accounting majors, being able to communicate beyond financial statements is extremely important, and Tableau provides an opportunity to provide more meaningful communication.  More meaningful communication is one way for an accounting major to have a fulfilling and rewarding career in management accounting.

Data Analytics

For me, the data analytics portion of the course was about developing a system.  The system was centered around the 4 types of analytics: Descriptive, Diagnostic, Predictive, and Prescriptive.  The development of the system was based on the questions asked in each step, for example,

· Descriptive – what happened?

· Diagnostic – why did it happen?

· Predictive – what do we think will happen?

· Prescriptive – what should we do?

In the course, data analytics was a bridge between computer science and statistics.  Computer science provided students with an opportunity to learn how to organize data, and statistics allowed students to begin their interpretation of data.  Because the course was introductory in nature, fundamentals were the priority.  If students mastered the fundamentals, they were ready for bigger and better things.  Accounting majors will have careers in management accounting that are bigger and better, i.e., fulfilling and rewarding, when one sees the relationship between accounting and data analytics; in fact, many students I have had are pursuing majors in accounting and minors in business analytics.

Statistics

I am partial toward statistics because I did very well in statistics courses, which helped me in not only private industry but also private practice.  Accounting software applications from QuickBooks to SAP are rich in data.  Statistics is the study of data, which is a study that provides accounting majors with opportunities for fulfilling and rewarding careers in management accounting.

In teaching DAB, I put descriptive statistics front and center.  The relationships among mean, median, standard deviation, range, maximum, and minimum provide accounting majors with opportunities to connect these relationships to transactions, which is what accounting is about, the study of transactions.  I also put a significant emphasis on visualization, especially the use of histograms to understand data distribution.  Because an economic event is one definition of a transaction, understanding a histogram can connect transactions to economic life.  This understanding can be extended to advanced courses in ways that can help prepare accounting majors for fulfilling and rewarding careers in management accounting.

When connecting statistics to computer science and data analytics, I want students to see that DAB is only a beginning.  Because the course is an introductory course, accounting majors will have a foundation that will help them become experts in business analytics.  By presenting the connection in an exciting manner, I want students to see the future that exists.  That future is one of great opportunities, especially for accounting majors.  The opportunities will begin with a career management accounting and continue wherever life takes the management accountant.

Conclusion

I ask accounting majors to see their choice of major as a tree with many branches.  One branch that is very strong is DAB.  The combination of computer science, data analytics, and statistics provides accounting majors with more flexibility in their career choices.  Public accounting is not the only career path for accounting majors.  By becoming management accountants, accounting majors will have opportunities for fulfilling and rewarding careers.  The fulfillment and reward will be due in part from the importance of a data applications education.