That data analytics is changing business is not in doubt, but what role will professional accountants play in its evolution? That is the question at the centre of a new ACCA and CA ANZ report, Analytics in finance and accountancy, which examines how analytics affects finance teams within organisations.
The message emerging from the report is the pressing need for finance and accountancy professionals to be at the forefront of the analytics revolution – and a warning that too many are still looking in the rear-view mirror rather than embracing the predictive potential of data analytics.
ACCA and CA ANZ chief executives Helen Brand and Ainslie van Onselen agree that the Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of responsive organisations.
‘The agile and nimble have exploited their data assets and developed responses that can be implemented readily and used to support business survival,’ they say in the report. ‘There has never been a greater need to invest in forward-looking analytics that help decision-makers avoid pitfalls and explore opportunities for the future,’ says Charlotte Evett, New Zealand government and Pacific relations leader at CA ANZ.
Data-driven evolution
The report – which draws on a survey of 1,150 ACCA and CA ANZ members, and detailed interviews with finance leaders, financial analysts and data specialists from around the world – points out that data analytics is a major driving force behind the transformation of the finance team from data-keepers to a function informing significant business decisions across an organisation.
Those interviewed expressed a desire to achieve better and faster decision-making for their organisation – and 51% saw this as the biggest opportunity – but the report suggests that an unwillingness to fully embrace the potential of analytics could be holding teams back.
It argues that while finance teams have long used descriptive analytics – for example, in presenting information as dashboards – ‘even today, it is rare to find extensive use of predictive and prescriptive analytics’.
Most of the CFOs interviewed did not have predictive models in operation; the report argues that their use must ‘grow dramatically’ if finance is to play a significant role in enabling decisions across organisations.
A number of barriers were identified. The biggest concern (mentioned by 40%) was a lack of knowledge around existing technologies and solutions, while poor formatting of data was another (39%), along with difficulty in acquiring data from other teams and departments (34%); 37% found it difficult to access the right skills for analysing data.
