Decentralization of data analytics tools has created a new digital environment in the finance and accounting world. With users performing their own analysis on data sets, there are important governance techniques to maintain process control in the new environment. While much has been written about data analytics capabilities, the treatments tend to either introduce and train users on used in data analytics. Prominent data analytics tools and capabilities for finance and accounting will be introduced. The authors will provide much-needed context to show where key tools can be deployed. Most important, managers must be equipped to structure the inevitable chaos that can result from putting tools into the hands of end-users. This book is meant to fill this gap and provide the reader with deployment and governance frameworks to promote data analytics capabilities on a large scale. In addition, the authors will clarify the capabilities of analytics tools in the accounting and finance world (based on real world scenarios).

This book will focus on how finance, accounting, and operations teams need to adapt to the new digital environment.  Readers will be presented with chapters building tool familiarity, matching tools with common use cases, and managing tool deployment in a way that ensures control and stability and ultimately high-quality digital outputs. Significant focus will be dedicated to establishing process governance standards as self-service digital tooling makes its way throughout an organization and teams.

Gregory Kogan, CPA (New York, NY), is Assistant Professor of Practice - Accounting at Long Island University where he teaches accounting, and accounting data analytics courses at the undergraduate, MBA & PharmD/MBA, and the executive MBA Programs in partnership with New York Presbyterian Hospital, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and University of Salzburg (off-campus satellite programs). He is a former Instructor of Professional Practice--Accounting at Rutgers University. Prior to Rutgers, he was Controller of Tyrian investments where he oversaw the accounting, trade support, compliance and operations of domestic and off-shore long/short equity hedge funds with exposure to equity securities, fixed income, swaps, futures and forwards across U.S, European, Latin American and Asian markets. And Senior Assurance Analyst at Ernst & Young.

Nathan E. Myers, CPA (Rockville Centre, NY) is Global Robotics Process Automation Lead and Securities Operations--Global Lead for Data Quality Management at JP Morgan. He is a seasoned accounting and global change management professional who drives well-governed and thoughtful change strategy and execution. Prior to joining JP Morgan, he was Director - Global Head of Prime Services Change (Finance) at UBS Investment Bank; Vice President – Prime Services Product Controller and Americas Head of Change at Credit Suisse; and Associate Director, FX and Prime Services Business Unit Controller, Business Process Integrity Manager at UBS Investment Bank. He is a CPA, Registered Representative (FINRA – Series 7, Series 63, Series 99), and Six Sigma Black Belt Certified.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

About the Authors xv

Introduction 1

CHAPTER 1 Setting the Stage 9

CHAPTER 2 Emerging AI and Data Analytics Tooling and Disciplines 25

CHAPTER 3 Why Governance Is Essential and the Self-Service Data Analytics Governance Gap 51

CHAPTER 4 Self-Service Data Analytics Project Governance 89

CHAPTER 5 Self-Service Data Analytics Risk Governance 139

CHAPTER 6 Self-Service Data Analytics Capabilities in Action with Alteryx 179

CHAPTER 7 Process Discovery: Identify Opportunities, Evaluate Feasibility, and Prioritize 221

CHAPTER 8 Opportunity Capture and Heatmaps 269

Glossary 307

Index 317