Posts

Showing posts from April, 2017

AI in Financial Reporting

-
It has been a while since I posted, but I have been getting a lot of questions lately from clients and from my accounting students about the same topic:  Where does AI actually belong in the financial reporting process?  Everyone wants to know if they should be using it, and the honest answer is that it depends a lot on which part of the process you are talking about. I have been working with several clients on this over the last few months, plus I have an upcoming speaking session on AI in reporting, so I thought I would put some of these thoughts together here. For each point, I am also going to push back on myself a little, because I think that is a more useful way to think through this than just picking a side. Where AI is actually helping right now The clearest win I have seen is variance analysis. AI tools are good at scanning through a large number of GL lines and flagging the ones that look different from what history would predict. Think of a vendor payment that...
Post a Comment
Read more

I finally took a close look at Power BI

-
Image
I have been working in the Business Intelligence space for the past several years.  During this time, I have watched the rise of Microsoft Power BI from a distance.  They were a competitor, so while I kept an eye on them, but I did not really spend that much time in the tool.  I knew the software I was selling and supporting must be better.  We have been around longer and we actually sell our software.  You can get started with Power BI for free or upgrade to Power BI Pro for only $9.99 a month.  How good can it be at that price point? Well with some recent employment changes, I have now had more time to actually dig deeper into Power BI, and while it is far from perfect, I have to admit I am beginning to understand what all of hype is about.  Power BI is a serious player in the Business Intelligence space. Probably one of the best features of Power BI is the community.  There are a lot of people using it and because of this there are a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome

-
Welcome to my new blog.  I have been working with data in one form or another for over 25 years.  The data has taken on my forms, from audit work papers, ledger sheets and inventory cards to SQL databases, Excel spreadsheets, on-line information and much more.  Understanding this data often brought many challenges and that is what led me to start working with different Business Intelligence solutions.  When I first started I didn't even know what Business Intelligence was.  I just needed some reports.  I used tools like Excel or Crystal Reports or other report writers, but I quickly learned the data needed more than just a report.  Fast forward to today and Business Intelligence solutions seem to be everywhere.   The industry is changing very quickly and there is a lot of information available.  I do a lot of research and work for clients, so I have decided to keep that information in a central location.  That is why I have created thi...
Post a Comment
Read more