Topic: A global report on analytics in finance and accounting commissioned by CAANZ found that most finance teams still focus largely on past performance with majority of the finance teams surveyed used descriptive analytics and Microsoft Excel to analyse past results, while less than half used forward-looking analytics or visualisation. The report argued that predictive and prescriptive analytics must be embraced by finance departments to ensure they can add value and remain relevant in future. Required Discuss the importance of predictive and prescriptive analytics in business and the role of accounting and finance departments in applying such analytics tools. What are the current limitations in skills and technology experienced by most finance departments when trying to apply predictive analytics and how these can be overcome?
