Business Intelligence Techniques

Book excerpt: Modern businesses generate huge volumes of accounting data on a daily basis. The recent advancements in information technology have given organizations the ability to capture and store data in an efficient and effective manner. However, there is a widening gap between this data storage and usage of the data. Business intelligence techniques can help an organization obtain and process relevant accounting data quickly and cost efficiently. Such techniques include: query and reporting tools, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, text mining, data mining, and visualization. Business Intelligence Techniques is a compilation of chapters written by experts in the various areas. While these chapters stand on their own, taken together they provide a comprehensive overview of how to exploit accounting data in the business environment.