Thumbnail: 

The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued proposed International Good Practice Guidance titled Predictive Business Analytics: Forward-Looking Measures to Improve Business Performance. The guidance is designed to help professional accountants working in commerce, industry, financial services, education, and the public and not-for-profit sectors, as well as their organisations, embrace predictive analytics to achieve better forward-looking performance insights.

Predictive business analytics help professional accountants anticipate future events, forecast possible outcomes, and select actions and decisions to improve the performance of their organizations in response to changing market and industry dynamics.

“Today, more than ever, professional accountants in business must be capable of assisting their organisations to implement and utilise predictive business analytics,” says Roger Tabor, chair of the PAIB Committee. “The guiding principles steer an organisation in executing its strategies and facilitating decision making to improve strategy execution and operations throughout the organisation.”

The PAIB Committee undertook this project to help contend with the rising expectations of professional accountants in business. The quality of management information expected by internal business users is expanding, both in terms of the range of data to be considered and the level of required analysis. From strategic issues to routine tasks, all executives, managers, and operational staff expect higher-quality information from professional accountants to support management and organisational decision making.

Professional accountancy organisations and other interested parties are encouraged to respond to the proposed guidance and help improve its applicability to professional accountants in organizations of all sizes.

MORE ARTICLES ON ACCOUNTING AND REGULATIONS

Quote Image: