A Curriculum Study: Accounting Analytics Using Python

TL;DR: The accounting industry is evolving rapidly due to technological advancements. Employers are seeking candidates with technical skills in addition to accounting knowledge. To prepare students for this changing environment, the accounting curriculum must be modified to include data science skills. This study introduces Python-integrated accounting challenges to address this issue.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to highlight the necessity of incorporating AI technology into the accounting sector and to provide a curriculum that allows university students to practice using data science in accounting. As the accounting work environment evolves along with technological advancements, employers, including big accounting firms, are looking for people with technical skills in addition to accounting knowledge. Accounting major students should be prepared for a changing business environment by learning technical skills in combination with accounting knowledge. This necessitates a modification in the accounting curriculum to reflect the dynamic accounting environment driven by technological innovation. However, it doesn't appear that the accounting curriculum has changed much to keep up with these modern changes, and there don't appear to be many case studies that expressly combine accounting and data science. As a part of this endeavor, this paper offers a few concrete examples for the integration of accounting and Python. Python via Anaconda is utilized for the cases in this study, and a creative but beginner-friendly programming is applied to each case. As a result, in this study, a few Python-integrated accounting challenges comprising fundamental financial accounting concepts are addressed. These are only a few examples, but they might aid in introducing data science fundamentals, demonstrating how data science is used in accounting, and encouraging further research and development of deep learning.