Exam 9: Data Analytics in Accounting

Which of the following areas of financial reporting is most suitable for applying data analytics techniques? A. Evaluation of estimates and valuations. B. Variance reporting. C. Calculating the components of equity. D. Depreciation.

Which of the following is a set of standards created by the AICPA for data files and fields in order to support external audits? A. Extract, Transform & Load (ETL). B. Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). C. Audit Control Language (ACL). D. Audit Data Standards (ADS).

The definition of personally identifying information is important to companies because it helps identify the types of information that need to be protected. It is also important for which of the following reasons? A. It helps identify the associations between data elements required to develop an application's class model. B. It helps identify elements that can be stripped out of datasets in order to reduce data protection requirements. C. It helps identify potential data anomalies. D. It eliminates the need for companies to protect other types of information.

Audit data standards (ADS) are standards for data files and fields typically needed to support an external audit in a given financial business process area.

The use of data analytics will likely result in significant changes to clients' expectations of their auditors. Which of the following is most likely not one of those expected changes? A. More innovative thinking. B. More time spent gathering and testing data. C. Deeper and broader insights. D. Faster and more efficient delivery of audit findings.

At its core, data analytics fits into the information value chain in which of the following ways? A. The process of data analytics aims at transforming raw data into valuable information. B. Data analytics aims to make an organization's conversion process more efficient. C. Data analytics requires organizations to share synced data with upstream and downstream business partners. D. The process of data analytics is geared toward providing additional insight into customer activities and preferences.

Which of the following is not one of the skill sets often associated with data analytics? A. Mining and analyzing data. B. Creating data structures and models. C. Normalizing data structures. D. Acquiring and cleansing data.

Data analytics can provide deep insight into financial data, but is not particularly useful when evaluating non-financial data such as social media.

The Data Accountability and Trust Act of 2009 (DATA) requires data owners to notify which of the following when a data breach has been discovered? A. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). B. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). C. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC). D. The National Security Agency (NSA).

Which of the following is the best definition of the term big data? A. Databases measured in terms of zettabytes. B. Datasets that are too large and complex for businesses' existing systems utilizing traditional capabilities. C. Databases for businesses that generate more than one million electronic transactions per month. D. Datasets generated by social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Tencent QQ, and Instagram.

Which of the following is not one of the Excel tools described as useful for data analytics? A. Calculated Field. B. Tableau. C. Slicers. D. Power Pivot.

Raw data often must be scrubbed to remove extraneous data and other noise in order to become useful. This technique is known as: A. Process, Scrub, and Import. B. Extract, Transform, and Load. C. Evaluate, Depopulate, and Finalize. D. Filter, Coordinate, and Upload.

Datasets that are too large and complex for businesses' existing systems utilizing traditional capabilities are refered to as big data.

Data analytics are likely to play a significant role in future audit activities.

As described in the text, which of the following best defines the term data analytics? A. The ability to analyze data and draw conclusions. B. The science of reducing extremely large datasets down to more manageable databases that can be processed using traditional tools. C. The process of creating meaningful visualizations from extremely large datasets. D. The science of examining raw data, removing excess noise, and organizing it in order to draw conclusions for decision making.

Which of the following is the most likely application of data analytics for accountants to develop expertise in? A. Directed marketing campaigns. B. Scientific research. C. Medical testing. D. Domain knowledge of business functional areas.

Which of the following is not a good example of how accountants might use data analytics to help evaluate estimates used to value financial statement accounts? A. Assess the likelihood and level of expected warranty claims. B. Estimate the collectibility of accounts receivable balances. C. Automate the order entry process for online customers. D. Assess property, plant & equipment values based on current comparable prices.

The insight provided through data analytics can help companies in all of the following ways except: A. Dictate the policies of external business partners. B. Create more directed marketing campaigns. C. Identify future opportunities and risks. D. Affect internal business processes in order to improve productivity, utilization and growth.

The Data Accountability and Trust Act of 2009 (DATA) is designed to standardize the format of files and fields typically used to support an external audit in given financial business processes.

Which of the following best desribes the skill sets used in data analytics? A. Building data warehouses; Populating data structures; Mining the data. B. Acquiring/cleansing data; Creating data structures/models; Mining/analyzing data. C. Developing data structures/models; Acquiring storage capacity; Analyzing the data. D. Creating data; Building data structures; Piloting data studies.