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DATA ANALYTICS I. M. Popowits Actg 537 . What is Data Analytics?. Process of systematically applying statistical and logical techniques to describe, summarize and compare data. Used extensively in auditing and fraud examination . Before your can do Data Analytics….
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DATA ANALYTICS I M. Popowits Actg 537
What is Data Analytics? • Process of systematically applying statistical and logical techniques to describe, summarize and compare data. • Used extensively in auditing and fraud examination
Before your can do Data Analytics… • Must access client data – connect to it and query out what you need • Transfer – ODBC, Internet, Disk • Store – Where? Security? Access? • “Massage” – get data into useable form
Massaging Data • Harmonize or convert file formats, units of measure, date formats, table structures…
What is Data Analytics? • Two Basic Types • Exploratory – looks for patterns, differences, matches and anomalies in data • Airline ex. “Are certain geographic locations more prone to lost luggage?” • Confirmatory – confirm or reject whether expected patterns in data exist • Airline ex. – “Are duty free sales on international flights increasing or decreasing on a per passenger basis?”
What software is used in Data Analytics? • Excel & Access • Audit Applications – IDEA & ACL • Computer Forensics – EnCase & Forensic Toolkit • Scripting Languages – write your own programs in VB, Perl
What software is used in Data Analytics? • Excel & Access • Audit Applications – IDEA & ACL • Computer Forensics – EnCase & Forensic Toolkit • Scripting Languages – write your own programs in VB, Perl
MSExcel as Audit Software • Familiar and readily available • Has limitations • Excel 2003 can only handle 65,000 records; Excel 2007 does not have this limitation • Does not document the auditor’s work • Data can be changed in spreadsheet • Cumbersome for some tests: sampling • Can read a limited set of file types
MSAccess as Audit Software • Familiar and readily available • Can handle larger data sets than Excel • Has built-in functions & better querying ability than Excel • Has limitations compared to specialized software • Does not document the auditor’s work • Data can be changed in database • Might be slower • Must build functions that are automatic in IDEA or ACL
Access & Excel • Access • Connects to company database and downloads (imports) data sets • Provides powerful query ability • Excel – further processes data and presents results • Pivot tables • Graphs and Charts – Trends and Histograms
Data Analytics in Access & ExcelThe Basics So now let’s assume the data has already been: • Accessed • Transferred • Stored • “Massaged”
Data Analytics in Access & ExcelThe Basics • Data Import • Data Profiling - Gets Control Totals to reconcile to financial records (IDEA calls these “Field Statistics”) - Stratifies Data - Why to we stratify? - To get subgroups that are more homogeneous than the total population - we may test subgroups differently
Histograms • An excellent charting technique to get an overview of data frequency
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