Technology is always changing. Not only in our everyday lives but also in the business world. We can control our washers and dryers remotely from our cell phones, adjust the thermostat before we get home from work, and deposit checks into our bank accounts with just the snap of a camera. As technology advances, those in the accounting and finance industry must also keep up with the growing demands of technology in order to remain competitive in the market.

Big data and analytics can provide significant benefits to the accounting industry by utilizing computer power to sort and analyze crucial data, automate and eliminate mundane tasks, better assess risk management, and base decisions on evidence and facts, rather than guesswork and assumptions. According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal, the exponential growth in data and the availability of inexpensive new technologies to generate business insights and value make this an opportune time for internal auditors to deliver more value to their organizations. (White, 2018). Drilling down and applying analytical procedures to large amounts of data can provide significant changes to how audits are conducted and provide a level of assurance to the quality of the information extracted and analyzed. Additionally, the use of data analytics can help predict market trends that drive company strategies, discover unusual items that may warrant further investigation, and detect fraud.

Automation is only a tool, so it is not practical to assume it would replace the value of an accountants role in financial planning, business strategy, and sustainability. In fact, the use of automation and data analytics does just the opposite by empowering accountants to perform their roles more efficiently and effectively by eliminating everyday routine tasks, such as manual entries and transactional processing. An accountants position then becomes much more valuable to a client and to the industry itself. Removing manual work and time-consuming duties will allow accountants to be more efficient and productive in a high-speed and rapidly changing technological environment. Data analysis, risk management, and cash flow projections are much more effective and reliable with the application of data analytics and automation.