Data analytics is changing the accounting profession.  The Big 4 accounting firms have provided specific accounting curriculum recommendations intended to help strengthen students’ technical expertise in anticipation of a career in accounting.  Drawing heavily from the suggestions of these employers, this course seeks to provide students with the skills and technical knowledge they need.  Content includes a framework for evaluating and answering business questions; experience extracting and manipulating data; an understanding of modeling and evaluation techniques, and techniques for effective communication.  The course provides students the opportunity to utilize a subset of the applications used within the profession, including: Excel, SAS, Stata, Python, and Tableau.

Students are expected to have a laptop with the Microsoft Office Suite.  Students will also be required to download Excel, SAS, STATA, Python, and Tableau.  Instructions for accessing these programs will be made available at the appropriate time. 

There is no required textbook associated with this course. Course materials will be from a variety of sources, including: the instructor, various texts and journals, public accounting firms, peer universities, and publicly available databases.  The sources of all materials will be cited as appropriate.