Masters In Accounting Data Analytics Online

Based purely on the numbers, a master’s in data analytics is worth it. If you want to be totally sure that you get a big salary bump after earning this degree, choose a data science-focused program that includes core classes in data engineering, machine learning, and other high-tech topics.

Do you want to learn about the latest findings on masters in accounting data analytics? Get ready! Find out all the information you need right here on Collegelearners so you don’t have to go looking again. Find all the specifics you need, such as masters in accounting data analytics.

Accounting Analytics Certificate

Accounting analytics is the application of data analytics and big data technologies to the field of accounting. In addition to helping accountants manage typical tasks, accounting analytics enables financial professionals to answer business questions, shape corporate strategy, forecast financial trends, thwart fraud, and more!

Whether you’re an aspiring CPA or a Big 4 wannabe, “accounting analytics” is going to be your new best friend. But what exactly is it? What kinds of education programs are available? What jobs does it qualify you for? And where can you go to learn more? We’ve got the answers in our comprehensive guide to earning an accounting analytics master’s degree.

Masters in Accounting Data Analytics Schools

Syracuse University

Online Master’s in Applied Data Science Syracuse University’s online Master’s in Applied Data Science can be completed in as few as 18 months.

* No GRE Scores Required

Southern Methodist University

Online Master of Science in Data Science SMU prepares you to manage and analyze large amounts of data and drive strategic change in organizations.

* GRE waivers available.

University of Denver

Online MS in Data Science program. Earn your MS in Data Science online in as few as 18 months. Bridge courses are available.

* GRE waivers are available.

University of California, Berkeley

Online Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS). Earn your Master’s in Data Science online from UC Berkeley in as few as 12 months.

* No GRE Scores Required.

University of Dayton

Master of Business Analytics. Gain in-demand analytics skills with an online master’s in business analytics. Complete in as few as 12 months.

* GMAT waivers are available to professionals with at least three years of business experience.

American University

Online Master of Science in Analytics. Make informed decisions using data analysis in 12 months with a Master’s in Business Analytics online from American University.

* No GMAT/GRE required to apply.

Pepperdine University

Master’s in Business Analytics. Earn your MS in Business Analytics online from Pepperdine University.

* GMAT waivers are available for qualified applicants.

Syracuse University

Online Master of Science in Business Analytics. Looking to become a data-savvy leader? Earn your M.S. in Business Analytics online.

* GMAT waivers available.

What is Accounting Analytics

Definition of Accounting Analytics

Accounting analytics is the application of data analytics and big data technologies to the field of accounting. In addition to helping accountants manage typical tasks, accounting analytics enables financial professionals to answer business questions, shape corporate strategy, forecast financial trends, thwart fraud, and more!

The Current Role of Analytics in Accounting

Budgeting, planning, data management, auditing—accountants are used to dealing with data. In fact, most professionals have already mastered two types of analytics:

Descriptive Analytics: By summarizing and interpreting raw data, accountants find answers to what has happened. For example, analysts frequently use sums, averages, and percent changes to calculate sales results, inventory stock, cost per customer, average dollars spent, year-over-year change in sales, etc. These data are used to generate reports (e.g. operations, finance, and sales).

Diagnostic Analytics: Accountants also deploy data analytics and data mining to discover why something happened. They create variance reports to show differences between budgeted amounts and actual income or expenses. They conduct financial audits to pinpoint fraud or errors. They employ tools and software to look for patterns and problems in large data sets.

These skills are great, but they’re not enough. As automation takes over day-to-day tasks, accountants are increasingly being asked to act as data scientists—to incorporate non-financial data into their analyses, predict financial performance, and advise their company on actions to take.

The Future of Analytics in Accounting

In order for accountants to act as financial counselors, they may have to master two more forms of analytics. Namely:

Predictive Analytics: Accountants predict what will happen by analyzing historical data & patterns. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, point-of-sale (POS) software, credit scores, customer relationship management (CRM) systems—these are just a few of the sources that can be tapped to create financial forecasts, project appraisals, trend analyses, budget predictions, etc.

Prescriptive Analytics: Accountants advise management on what should happen. Using advanced techniques (e.g. machine learning, optimization algorithms, computational modeling, etc.), accountants can analyze the outcomes of “what-if” scenarios, assess the trade-offs, and suggest the best course of action.

Whether you’ll use all of these tactics depends on your job title and your level of seniority. But we can tell you right now that new big data sources (e.g. social media, text, Internet of Things, the Cloud, etc.) are constantly appearing and cool tools & techniques (e.g. data visualization, sentiment analysis, interactive dashboards, etc.) are growing hourly. Accountants will need to keep up.

Accounting Analytics Specializations

Auditing

Gone are the days of sample-based testing. Now accountants are using big data technologies to monitor and audit entire populations (i.e. full data sets) on a continuous basis. Transaction activities, vendor payments, payroll processing, healthcare charges—all of these and more can be analyzed at lightning speed and summed up in financial reports.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. In the Big 4 firms, internal auditors are now crunching data from multiple sources (structured and unstructured) to:

• Generate strategic analyses, enterprise risk assessments, and business insights.
• Develop internal audit plans and suggest quality improvements.
• Create predictions & warnings for CEOs and stakeholders.

Financial Planning

Companies are always trying to find ways to create higher profit margins, become more efficient, and get a “leg up” on the competition. That means they want accounting experts who can not only make sense of their financial data, but also suggest ways to make money in the future.

For example, some businesses have embraced integrated reporting (IR). Creators of IRs use all kinds of financial and non-financial data sets to assess an organization’s “strategy, governance, performance, and prospects” and value created over time. By breaking down silos and incorporating outside data, financial planners hope to create a more comprehensive view of the company’s situation.

The upshot of this work? Better corporate decisions on resource allocation, investments in intellectual capital, energy security measures, competitive strategies, and more.

Forensic Accounting

Forensic accountants are expected to act as experts in financial matters related to disputes or litigation. They often look for fraud and illegal activities (e.g. money laundering, insurance claims and personal injury claims), but they can also be involved in situations like bankruptcy, royalty audits, or insolvency.

As you might expect, data analytics is giving them a whole new set of tools. Speed is the key factor. With the right skills, forensic accountants can quickly identify and track down the source of anomalies in a huge ocean of data. This is no easy feat when there are so many disparate sources to analyze!

But it’s not just about the past. More and more, these data experts are also involved in their organization’s future—creating risk reduction procedures, finding new ways to deter fraud, advising on the safest investment decisions, etc. This kind of role often requires advanced predictive and prescriptive skills.

CFOs & High-Level Decisions

This is where the field of accounting analytics becomes really interesting:

• CFOs may want their staff to be able to predict customer behavior and financial trends.
• They may need detailed risk assessments on everything from supply chains to government regulations.
• They are likely to want to anticipate changes in the market and be able to act instantly to make money or save jobs.

If you’re aspiring to be a CFO, it helps to a) know your analytics stuff and b) be able to explain the rationale for your decisions to a non-technical audience.

Studying Accounting Analytics

What are Accounting Analytics Master’s Degrees?

The term “accounting analytics” is relatively new, so each university will have its own take on the curriculum. For example, some schools have chosen to go with themes of:

• Auditing (e.g. financial reporting, IT auditing, taxation, international accounting, etc.)
• Financial consulting (e.g. investment advising, equity and credit analysis, corporate consulting, etc.)
• Or a combination of the above.

Other schools have made a point of focusing on a certain field (e.g. forensic accounting, fraud, financial advising, etc.). You can decide to keep your options open or specialize early—it’s up to you!

What to Look for in the Curriculum

Whatever choice you make, be sure that the tools and technologies covered in the curriculum match your career goals. For instance:

• If you’re going to be managing data and information systems, you’ll need to know about ERP applications (e.g. SAP and Oracle).
• If you’re going to be involved in business intelligence (BI), you might look for courses in data mining, data visualization, and advanced analytics.
• If you’re interested in predictive and prescriptive roles, you should consider work in areas like machine learning (ML), statistical modeling, and forecasting methods.

You can get even more specific. For example, an auditing degree could include:

• Audit automation techniques (continuous auditing & continuous monitoring)
• Auditing analytics tools such as IDEA and ACL: GRC
• Computer-assisted audit techniques (CAATs)
• Statistical inference and its usage in auditing
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) approaches

The easiest way to assess a curriculum is to look at dream job descriptions and see what skills you’ll need to acquire. Don’t forget that “soft skills” such as communication, teamwork, and an understanding of ethics & market issues will also have value to employers.

Accounting Analytics Program Checklist

Practical Considerations

• Does the program list job placement statistics, average starting salaries, and typical employers?
• Does the degree help prepare you for accounting certification exams (e.g. CPA)? If so, does the program publish pass rates?
• Can you participate in career workshops, “meet the employer” events, company tours, and/or networking opportunities?
• Is there an internship program? Which companies participate?
• Is there a class profile so you can see who you’ll be working with?

Curriculum

• Does the syllabus include team projects and real-world simulations?
• Do faculty have useful ties to professional firms, corporate partners, and/or public accounting firms? What kinds of big data research projects are they working on?
• Do guest speakers and local experts teach classes or make presentations?

Quality Markers

• Does the program appear in U.S. News & World Report rankings for Accounting and/or Information Systems? Some graduate schools pop up in both.
• Is the Business School accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)? (It’s not mandatory, but it’s a nice bonus.)

Innovative University Programs

KPMG & Multiple Universities

KPMG is one of the “Big 4” accounting firms. To drive more qualified analysts into its ranks, it has developed a master’s degree program with Ohio State University, Villanova, University of Mississippi, University of Southern California and more.

Highlights of the program include:

• KPMG covers full tuition and reasonable living costs (e.g. room & board, books, and technology fees).
• Students work with software tools and data sets that are used by KPMG professionals. There’s a heavy emphasis on all forms of analytics (e.g. descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive).
• Students participate in a spring semester/winter quarter internship and work full-time at KPMG after graduation. High performers have the chance to be promoted to Senior Associate after one year and to Manager after four years.

Rutgers & AICPA

Rutgers’s Accounting Web (RAW) is the university’s center of accounting research. We bring it up because RAW is where you’ll find the Rutgers AICPA Data Analytics Research Initiative (RADAR), a joint project with the AICPA to integrate data analytics into the audit process. RADAR’s research has help to inform the AICPA Audit Data Analytics Guide.

On RAW, you’ll also find info on recent accounting research in data analytics & text analytics, links to big data development articles in AAA’s Accounting Horizons, and info on upcoming auditing conferences.

Getting a Job in Accounting Analytics

Major Employers

Inside Public Accounting (IPA) publishes annual rankings of the 100, 200, and 300 largest accounting firms in the United States. You can also look for jobs at:

• Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, or Pricewaterhouse Cooper—these are known as the “Big 4” accounting firms
• Global accounting firms who offer accounting, tax, audit & consulting services
• Local or national CPA firms who deal with tax services, estate planning, accounting, auditing & consulting
• Specialist accounting firms
• Corporate accounting departments of large companies
• Government auditing departments
• Tax consultants
• Investment consultants
• Banking & financial institutions

Sample Job Titles

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Management accountant
• Data analyst
• Financial analyst
• Financial consultant
• Investment advisor
• Equity or credit analyst
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Accounting Analytics Resources

Major Organizations & Certifications

• American Accounting Association (AAA): AAA publishes Accounting Horizons, runs an accounting big data conference (see below), and produces webinars that occasionally focus on analytics. The two critical sections for aspiring accounting analysts are Accounting Information Systems (AIS), which gives out awards and provides info on meetings, and Strategic and Emerging Technologies (SET), which works on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence methods & techniques in accounting.
• The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA): AICPA is the largest member association representing the accounting profession. It administers the famous Uniform CPA exam and offers specialty credentials in areas like forensic accounting. Some of AICPA’s Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses & programs deal specifically with big data (e.g. Analytics and Big Data for Accountants, Big Data, information strategy, etc.) and both the AICPA Research section and Interest Areas have useful resources for analysts. In the Audit Data Analytics section of the Financial Reporting Center, you’ll find info on audit data standards, the AICPA Audit Data Analytics Guide, and the Assurance Services Executive Committee’s (ASEC) Emerging Assurance Technologies Task Force.
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA): CIMA is the world’s leading professional body of management accountants. In 2011, it partnered with AICPA to offer the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) certification. CIMA has various master courses in big data and business analytics and the Research & Insight section often contains articles on accounting analytics and new technologies.
• Institute of Management Accountants (IMA): IMA is a global association of accountants and financial professionals that offers the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) credential. Its work on Insights & Trends has a section on Technology Enablement with links to relevant big data research reports and articles.
• International Computer Auditing Education Association (ICAEA): ICAEA is a non-profit organization that offers the International Certified CAATs Practitioner (ICCP) certification. This credential signifies that you have mastered CAATs (Computer Assisted Audit Techniques). CAATs include basic productivity software (e.g. spreadsheets), advanced software packages that use stats analysis and business intelligence tools, and other areas of advanced data analytics. Similar CAATs certifications include ACL™ Certified Data Analyst (ACDA), Certified IDEA Data Analyst (CIDA), and Jacksoft Certified CAATs Practitioner (JCCP).

Research Groups & Journals

1. International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB): IAASB’s Data Analytics Working Group (DAWG) is actively interested in data analytics projects. DAWG’s goals are to explore emerging technology developments in the field of auditing and respond to changes with new or revised International Standards on Auditing and/or general guidance (e.g. staff publications).
2. Journal of Accountancy: Visit the Journal’s section on technology to find articles on business intelligence, data & information security, information management, and the like.
3. Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting (JETA): JETA is the academic journal of AAA’s Strategic and Emerging Technologies section.
4. Journal of Information Systems (JIS): JIS is the academic journal of AAA’s Accounting Information Systems section.
5. Special Interest Group on Accounting Information System (SIG-ASYS): SIG-ASYS is a special interest group of the Association for Information Systems (AIS). It has dedicated itself to research on accounting information systems and runs the popular Pre-ICIS Workshop at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).

Big Four Resources

• Deloitte Global Topics: Big Data : Deloitte’s section on big data features a variety of interesting articles and case studies.
• EY Insights: Analytics and Big Data: EY Insights publish reports & case studies and posts links to useful journal & blog articles.
• KPMG Strategy: Data & Analytics: KPMG Strategy has links to analytics research reports, whitepapers, and resources. Additional reading can be found in the company’s Insights section.
• PwC Issues: Data and Analytics: PwC Issues may have a lot about the company’s services, but you will also find links to its latest analytics publications and case studies.

Accounting Analytics Conferences

• Accounting Is Big Data Conference: This is the one to stick on your calendar! Run by the American Accounting Association (AAA), this autumn conference tracks the latest developments in accounting analytics and big data. It includes workshops, expert panels, and networking opportunities.
• AIS-SET Midyear Meeting: AIS-SET is the combined midyear meeting of the AAA’s Accounting Information Systems and Strategic and Emerging Technologies Sections. It’s a three-day event that usually takes place in January.
• Journal of Information Systems (JIS) Research Conference: Also known as JISRC, JISC aims to bring together academics and professionals to talk about—you guessed it—Accounting Information Systems (AIS). In 2018, the overall topic was Cloud Computing. In 2017, the focus was on big data & data analytics.
• Pre-ICIS SIG-ASYS Workshop: The SIG-ASYS workshop is held in conjunction with the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS). It’s a chance for folks to discuss the intersection of accounting & information systems and to present original analytics research.

School Listings

We found 8 universities in our directory offering Accounting Analytics programs.

If you represent a university and would like to contact us about editing any of our listings, or adding new programs, please send an email to info@mastersindatascience.org.

Arizona

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

TEMPE, ARIZONA

Master of Accountancy – Data and Analytics Track

California

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA

Master of Professional Accountancy – Audit Data Analytics Specialization

Students with an accounting background who enter the Master of Professional Accountancy program at the University of California Davis can choose the Audit Data Analytics specialization, which uses big data techniques in auditing financial statements. Full-time students can finish the degree in nine months, and part-time students can earn their degree in 21 months. Prerequisites for the audit data analytics track include introductory courses in financial accounting and managerial accounting, business law, and two semesters of upper-division financial accounting classes. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and must submit GMAT or GRE scores, resume, personal statement, transcripts, and two recommendations. The average undergrad GPA of admitted students is over 3.3. Students enter the program in the fall, and no classes are offered over the summer.

Delaware

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

NEWARK, DELAWARE

PhD in Financial Services Analytics

The Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware offers a Ph.D. in Financial Services Analytics, which it says is the first program of its kind. Candidates must complete 45 to 54 course credits, pass a qualifying exam covering core curriculum, and prepare a dissertation. Corporate partners offer internships to give students real-world experience. A cohort enters the program once every two years, in the fall of even-numbered years. Applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The undergrad degree can be in any discipline, but substantial coursework in a quantitative subject and hands-on experience in software development are prerequisites. Applicants must submit GRE or GMAT scores, essay, and three recommendations.

Illinois

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS

Master of Accounting Science – Data Analytics in Accountancy

HOW TO APPLY CURRICULUM COST OFFERED BY: College of BusinessDELIVERY: CampusLENGTH: 1 Year

New York

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Masters of Science in Accounting and Fundamental Analysis

Columbia Business School has a Master of Science in Accounting and Fundamental Analysis that is designed for students who want the skills needed for a career in investment advisory, equity and credit analysis, or consulting. This is a full-time, 12-month program that requires students to complete 10 courses and a master’s thesis. Students who decide to perform an industry internship may be granted extra time to complete the requirements. Applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree and be prepared to take Ph.D. level classes. Accepted students typically have a background in accounting, finance, business, math, economics, or engineering. Application requirements include GRE or GMAT scores, two recommendations, resume, and essay. Students may only enter the program in the fall semester.

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Master of Science in Computational Finance

Pennsylvania

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

Master of Science in Accounting and Information Analysis

Students with an undergraduate degree in accounting can complete Lehigh University’s Master of Science in Accounting and Information Analysis in a year. Students who need to take foundational courses in accounting and business can generally finish the master’s program in two years. Prerequisites include intermediate accounting, cost accounting, fundamentals of auditing, accounting information systems, and fundamentals of federal income taxation. The curriculum includes 15 credits in core courses and 15 credits in electives, which students can use to specialize in an area of study if they choose to. Applicants must submit GMAT scores, two recommendations, official transcripts, and an essay. Students enter the program in the fall. Graduates of the program have met the educational requirements for licensure as a CPA.

Virginia

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Master of Accountancy

Virginia Commonwealth University offers a Master of Accountancy that is open to full-time and part-time students. Courses are scheduled on weekday evenings, and classes meet either once or twice a week. The curriculum includes five core courses in accounting, four courses in the information systems and analytics concentration, and a business elective. Applicants whose undergraduate degree is in a field other than accounting will need to take prerequisite courses, which can be completed by earning VCU’s Post-Baccalaureate Undergraduate Certificate in Accounting. Applicants must have an undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or higher. GRE scores are required from applicants with a GPA under 3.25. Students may enter in the fall, spring, or summer term.

Preparing for a Data Science Career in Accounting with a Master’s Degrees in Accounting with an Analytics Focus

Since both accounting and analytics deal primarily with logic and numbers, it’s only natural that higher education eventually developed a graduate level focus that combines the two fields. A master’s degree in accounting with an analytics focus offers the best combination when it comes to understanding the principles of accountancy, and learning how to attack accounting problems with the tools and capabilities found in data science.

Data analytics in accounting is a specialized subset of the work involved in business analytics. At the end of the day, accounting data analysts work with financial information found in corporate data stores to produce reports, charts, and other visual interpretations of data designed to inform and support business decisions.Sponsored SchoolFeatured Programs:

• SMU – Master of Science in Data Science – Bachelor’s Degree Required.
• Syracuse University – M.S. in Applied Data Science: GRE Waivers available
• UC Berkeley – Master of Information and Data Science Online – Bachelor’s Degree Required.
• Syracuse University – Master of Information Management Online

Accountants with analytics expertise are also changing the field when it comes to fraud detection and auditing. Big data stores have resulted in big headaches for auditors, who have been challenged with the task of conducting audits of organizations with complex, computer-driven financials. But machine learning and data mining techniques combined with professional accounting knowledge is helping to automate those processes and balance the books.

None of it would be possible without data scientists with some expertise in accounting… which is where accounting master’s degree with an analytics focus come into the picture.

Accountants With Analytics Skills Make the Numbers Add Up

The fact that big data is becoming more and more critical to accounting operations was reflected in the 2014 Pathways Commission report commissioned by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Accounting Association. Designed to evaluate and make recommendations for higher education for future accounting professionals, the commission helped usher in the development of new accounting degree programs to provide an emphasis on technologies used to gather, transform, and analyze accounting data.

The commission was originally focused on general education for accounting professionals, but as data science has emerged as having an important role to play in almost all areas of accounting, new specialized degree programs in accounting analytics were developed as an inevitable progression of both fields.

Data Science Skills Build On Accounting Expertise

The difference between conventional accountants and those with advanced data science skills is the degree with which they can dive into or collect data to base their analysis on. Every accountant can wield Excel like a switchblade in a street fight, but data scientists have bigger guns they can bring to bear on financial questions:

• Programming languages like R and Python
• Advanced visualization tools such as Tableau and Chart.js
• Deep data mining techniques using machine learning
• Advanced financial modeling skills

Compliance is a large part of working in the accounting world, and as financial data structures become more and more deep and complex, that compliance work gets more and more complicated. Accountants with analytics skills are the ones businesses count on to ensure they are compliant with federal, state, and local accounting, auditing and reporting standards:

• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Sales and income tax reporting
• Sarbanes-Oxley and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations
• Federal Accounting Regulation (FAR) compliance for federal contractors

If you find yourself in this enviable and lucrative position, you will likely serve as a general resource for other analysts in the accounting department who will be tapping you on the shoulder for help creating manageable data sets from scattered and unorganized data for the projects they’re working on. You might find yourself designing new data stores, creating new data models for company financial records, or creating unique OLAP cubes for further analysis.

What to Look For in a Master’s Degree in Accounting with an Analytics Focus

Just like every other area where data science skills are now in demand, the accounting field has struggled to find qualified professionals with advanced degrees to fill positions in the industry.

Recently, one of the so-called Big Four auditing firms has taken matters into its own hands by partnering with a number of schools to sponsor master’s programs focused on data and analytics in accounting.

Netherlands-based international accounting firm KPMG began collaborating with Villanova and The Ohio State University in 2016 to build a data and analytics focus for their existing accounting master’s programs. As of January, 2018 the program has expanded to all of these universities:

• The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business
• Villanova School of Business
• Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business
• Baylor University’s School of Business
• The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business
• The University of Mississippi’s Patterson School of Accountancy
• The University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business
• The University of Southern California, Leventhal School of Accounting
• Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business

In addition to offering scholarships at these schools, the company offers internship opportunities to provide students with real-world experience at one of the busiest accounting services firms in the world. The scholarships are generous, covering full tuition and living costs, but you don’t have to be a scholarship recipient to take advantage of the curriculum changes, which reflect real-world challenges that KPMG has decided to address by taking an active role in putting a big data spin on traditional accounting programs.

Not all these schools explicitly label their programs as having a data and analytics focus, and not all of them approach teaching the technical aspects of data analysis with similar rigor, so you’ll want to look into the individual curriculums for comparison. Nonetheless, the partnership ensures that you will find coursework that melds accounting with big data analytics:

• Auditing through Information Systems
• Data Analysis and Visualization
• Probability, Uncertainty, and Statistical Decision Making
• Data Mining for Business Intelligence

Key Technologies and Platforms For Accounting Data Science Degrees

Most of the work in analytic accounting will concentrate on recovering and analyzing data from large corporate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. SAP, Netsuite, and SAGE are all major platform players in the ERP segment, so finding master’s programs that provide at least some familiarity with these database systems is important.

The degree to which these systems expose and ease access to data flowing within them varies, although all are subject to intense data mining efforts today. A deep understanding of the databases that support them, and how to use ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) connectors and structured query languages (SQL) to interrogate them is critical.

KPMG isn’t the only accounting firm out there and you can find other master’s programs with equally prestigious partnerships. The University of California, Davis Master’s of Professional Accountancy, for example, has an audit data analytics specialization and boasts of relationships with more than 20 accounting firms.

Evaluating faculty is slightly different than with other data science programs. It’s always a good idea to look for programs that use instructors with actual big data experience and up-to-date technical credentials, keep in mind that the accounting profession is still fundamentally rooted in generally accepted standards, business practices and legal compliance. This means that when exploring your degree options, you don’t want to turn your nose up at programs at prestigious schools in the business and accounting field, like the Wharton School, Stanford, or the University of Chicago.

Online Master of Accountancy: Accounting Analytics Concentration

In the wake of big data, and advances in information processing, there is a growing need for accountants with technical and analytical skills to help collect and study an increasing amount of available data. According to Ernst and Young—one of the Big 4 accounting firms—the benefits of accounting analysis include:¹

• Greater confidence in financial reporting
• Deeper understanding of business trends
• Better utilization of accounting systems
• Saved time and effort

The University of Scranton’s Online Master of Accountancy: Accounting Analytics concentration offers the specialized skills needed to advance your career through an understanding of financial and managerial accounting, ethics and communications, followed by a capstone applied-research course in accounting data analytics and visualization.
You’ll have the option to purchase the premier, Big 4 Firms–endorsed Wiley CPAexcel^® at a deep discount in order to prepare for the CPA exam when you graduate.
Graduate prepared to:

• Sit for the CPA exam
• Take on advanced careers in accounting analysis (see our MAcc career outlook page)
• Employ the latest computing technology to analyze accounting data
• Communicate your findings and develop action plans based on your calculations

“Data Analysts will help leaders make informed, data-driven decisions to drive a company forward, improve efficiency, increase profits, and achieve organizational goals.” – American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)²

Curriculum: Data-Driven Accounting Expertise

Earning your MAcc will prepare you with core accountancy competencies, such as managerial accounting, communication, ethics and research. With the Accounting Analytics concentration, you’ll gain additional skills to:

• Use the R programming language to analyze business issues
• Apply business forecasting models
• Simulate business situations in order to develop insights
• Manage vital business databases
• Uncover business intelligence to gain a competitive edge

Learn more about the online MAcc curriculum.

The Knowledge You’ll Gain

Upon completion of the program, you’ll be prepared to provide the professional world of business with the insights needed to inform strategic direction through analysis, evaluation and visualization. These valuable skills will offer you increased expertise, a higher earning potential, and greater self-confidence.

The University of Scranton’s AACSB-accredited online MAcc program is designed for full-time accounting professionals who need to learn on a flexible schedule. The curriculum is frequently updated by The University of Scranton’s Accounting Department Partnership Council (ADPC), a group of practicing CPAs who provide consulting, student mentorship and alumni networking. In addition to the Accounting Analytics concentration, the program offers a Forensics Accounting concentration. Both concentrations can be completed within the 30 total credits required to earn the Master of Accountancy degree, and do not require any additional time to finish the program.

Earn an MAcc With Top Accreditation and Jesuit Values

One of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, The University of Scranton cultivates an educational environment shaped by Jesuit values of ethics and social responsibility. We are committed to providing an exceptional education that prepares our students to meet the challenges and opportunities of today’s society.

The University’s Kania School of Management is among a small number of institutions accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). AACSB accreditation signals the highest standard of achievement for business schools around the world. The University of Scranton is one of the few educational institutions worldwide that offers business degrees with this distinction, resulting in an outstanding academic rank for the school.

Learn more about leveraging your career with the convenience and flexibility of an online MAcc with an Accounting Analytics concentration from The University of Scranton. Request more information or call us at 866-373-9547.