What are the implications to accountants if their company uses an integrated information

system such as the Big Data ?

Big Data is the term for a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes

difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing

applications.

The implications to accountants if their company uses an integrated information

system such as the Big Data covers 3 areas, which are valuation of data assets, use of big data

in decision making and use big data in management of risk.

Accountants need to develop methods and services for the valuation of data assets and

extend their role in compliance and internal control to the ethical and effective stewardship of

data assets.

Besides, accountants have to use big data to offer more specialised decision making

support which occurs often in real-time and decide when data can most usefully be shared

with internal and external stakeholders or ‘monetised’ as new products.

Moreover, accountants have to use big data and its associated tools not only to

identify risks in real time and improve forensic accounting, but also to evaluate the risks and

rewards of long-term investment in new products and new markets.

Finally, managing big data effectively requires the right people. So, accountants have

to evolve their core skill set of accountancy to harness the wisdom from data for the future

business which will become more challenging.