In the 21st century, ledgers and journal entries are passé in the accounting industry. But with the rise of AI, even Excel and QuickBooks are sounding so last decade.

Thanks to data analysis software, such as that developed by Irvine-based Alteryx and New York City’s UiPath, the accountants of tomorrow will have a much closer integration with information systems than ever before.

Cal State Fullerton’s School of Accountancy is at the cutting-edge of the high-tech, AI-driven future of accounting. In 2019, it became the first higher-education entity in the United States to partner with UiPath.

More than two years later, Titan accounting students are positioning themselves for careers incorporating both IT and accounting. Courses such as ACCT 404 – Emerging Technologies in Accounting – are providing a holistic introduction to tomorrow’s industry.

“Everyone in the job market today, whether they know it or not, is being viewed as a ‘knowledge’ worker,” explains April Morris ’75, an accounting lecturer and co-director of the CSUF Center for Corporate Reporting and Governance. “This is especially true in the world of accounting and finance, where companies are faced with huge amounts of data that need automation to capture and structure the data [in order to] make blending and analyzing easy and efficient.”

Alteryx is a platform for cleaning and blending data in a “no code” environment, and UiPath’s platform scrapes and gathers data, a process known as procurement. Both are transforming the accounting field and the world of business overall.

Students Helping Students Navigate the World of Advanced Technologies Through the Analytics Academy Lab

CSUF’s School of Accountancy is preparing students for the world of automation through the Analytics Academy Lab. It’s where students work together, under the direction of faculty – both in person and via Zoom – to assist their peers in learning and deploying new technologies.

On the lab’s first day in fall 2021, there was a line of students waiting to be helped, indicative of the demand and need for this service.

One of several new mentors in the program for spring 2022 is Dang Tran ’22 (accounting and information systems), who recently completed the Emerging Technologies in Accounting course and is currently prepping for Alteryx certification. Dang Tran is one of three students recently named as an Alteryx Scholar, a new prestigious partnership between the College of Business and Economics and Alteryx SparkED, their no-cost data analytics learning program. The honor recognizes student expertise in utilizing the Alteryx Designer platform and provides them with exclusive opportunities for professional development.

“Students will bring questions and platform issues to Dang and the other mentors, and the mentors will provide direction for the students’ problems. It’s a win-win for all,” explains Morris.

For Tran, data analytics became a second interest to an earlier hobby as a graphic designer. “I discovered that software has powerful tools that can help you master your craft. It’s true with design, and it’s also true with data analytics and accounting.”

From the World of Spreadsheets to the World of Advanced Technologies

Thanks to his accounting coursework, Dang discovered the impact of Alteryx on companies across many industries. Take McLaren Formula One racing, which is an Alteryx client.

“We had a guest speaker in my course, Libby Duane Adams, one of the co-founders of Alteryx, who spoke about how McLaren uses data analytics generated by the Alteryx platform. McLaren research collects racing data to analyze and maximize performance on race cars. Working alongside their design team, they can streamline vehicle aerodynamics. Alteryx makes it possible to get everything onto one single space for the engineers to look at,” says Tran.

McLaren is among the many companies and organizations turning to data analytics and AI tools such as those from Alteryx, recognizing the power and efficiency of this software.

“Getting the data; ensuring the data is formatted correctly, such as the conventions for dates, numbers and names; and blending and visualizing the data would be painful without the use of tools such as UiPath, Alteryx, Tableau and PowerBI,” says Morris. “Each of these tools can be used to create automated workflows that can be used again and again. Students graduating from CSUF are way ahead of the curve if they have taken classes such as Emerging Technologies in Accounting. Listing a degree of proficiency with these platforms sets résumés apart from everyone else. These skills are sought after.”

The CSUF Accounting Difference

Integrating analytics throughout the curriculum, Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics is making innovative education available, accessible, affordable and attainable to Southern California’s next generation of professionals. Efforts include seamless transfer agreements with area community colleges, partnerships and guest speakers from Alteryx and UiPath, and attracting and retaining the brightest innovators as teaching and research faculty. These are all signs that the School of Accountancy is poised to become the accounting education hub of the West Coast.

Discover how the School of Accountancy led the way during the COVID-19 pandemic in the latest edition of The Analytic Accountant, the school’s annual report. Read more of our articles about the CSUF accounting program.

Alteryx SparkED is the no-cost higher education data analytics program, providing free education licenses for educators and learners, teaching tools, and optional instructor training for faculty, and customized learning pathways for students.