Key Information
About the content
Accounting Analytics explores how financial statement data and non-financial metrics can be linked to financial performance. In this course, taught by Wharton’s acclaimed accounting professors, you’ll learn how data is used to assess what drives financial performance and to forecast future financial scenarios. While many accounting and financial organizations deliver data, accounting analytics deploys that data to deliver insight, and this course will explore the many areas in which accounting data provides insight into other business areas including consumer behavior predictions, corporate strategy, risk management, optimization, and more. By the end of this course, you’ll understand how financial data and non-financial data interact to forecast events, optimize operations, and determine strategy. This course has been designed to help you make better business decisions about the emerging roles of accounting analytics, so that you can apply what you’ve learned to make your own business decisions and create strategy using financial data.
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Ratios and Forecasting
The topic for this week is ratio analysis and forecasting. Since ratio analysis involves financial statement numbers, I’ve included two optional videos that review financial statements and sources of financial data, in case you need a review. We will do a rati... - Week 2 - Earnings Management
This week we are going to examine "earnings management", which is the practice of trying to intentionally bias financial statements to look better than they really should look. Beginning with an overview of earnings management, we’ll cover means, motive, and o... - Week 3 - Big Data and Prediction Models
This week, we’ll use big data approaches to try to detect earnings management. Specifically, we're going to use prediction models to try to predict how the financial statements would look if there were no manipulation by the manager. First, we’ll look at Discr... - Week 4 - Linking Non-financial Metrics to Financial Performance
Linking non-financial metrics to financial performance is one of the most important things we do as managers, and also one of the most difficult. We need to forecast future financial performance, but we have to take non-financial actions to influence it. And w...
Instructors
Brian J Bushee
The Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor
Accounting
Christopher D. Ittner
EY Professor of Accounting
Accounting
Content Designer
Platform
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I think it is a very useful course to get a better understanding of accounting analytics. Week 1,2 and 3 provides a good understanding of how ratios can be used to understand financial performance and detect frauds and week 4 provides a good insights on linkages between the non-financial measures and financial performance
I think it is a very useful course to get a better understanding of accounting analytics. Week 1,2 and 3 provides a good understanding of how ratios can be used to understand financial performance and detect frauds and week 4 provides a good insights on linkages between the non-financial measures and financial performance
As a Financial Reporting professional with 10 years experience I found this class very insightful. I really enjoyed both of the lecturers and the information presented.
The first two weeks were not interesting for me (and that made it hard to get through them). The third was already a bit better and the fourth was the most interesting week. It was because in my position I don't compare companies, I work in one company and I'm trying to implement the best accounting analytics for that company. I'm not trying to identify whether my company is conducting fraud.
"Dogs cannot play traditional video games due to their lack of opposable thumbs." Is this really content from The Wharton School? I actually had to stop a video in the middle to take a moment and come review this course. While the content is "okay," the presentation is quite terrible. I mean no offense, but the professor needs to step away from GoAnimate and streamline his slides for better consumption. The inclusion of a video clip from a young child (the professor's daughter?) took the cake. I am embarrassed to watch these in any public place where anyone might see my screen. All of this contributes to a somewhat convoluted presentation of the material that I find particularly frustrating and difficult to follow. I suspect I would do better simply reviewing the slides (versus watching the videos).
The first 3 weeks really tell you something technical, and that's exactly what I want to learn about. The last week is more of a general methodology.
