Introduction

Welcome to Oankem Business Lab where technology meets Business and Finance Education In Ghana and the rest of Africa. The Finance profession has come a long way with many changes in concepts that create value for organizations. Key among such changes is Big Data and its impact on Business models and how such businesses tell their stories through financial reporting.

Big Data in Finance Practice

In our role as Financial Advisors to management of companies and other organizations, an understanding of certain concepts that have become central to the third and fourth industrial revolutions is key and indispensable. For example, there is the continuous drift towards what is called “Prosumption” (combination of production and consumption), and zero marginal cost concepts as a result of development in Technology. All these affect business modelling assumption and hence decision making models of businesses. Finance professionals who are mostly involved in the planning and budgeting functions of businesses need a thorough understanding of such technological changes and their impact on the profession.

In addition, technology has provided tool and techniques that is making the finance function efficient and interesting. For example, tools like r-programming and python and algorithms based on such tools are making it easy for the performance of Accounting function. Auditors are now using such tools to analyze the entirety of information to identify outliers without relying on classical sampling methods which are prone to errors. Financial reporting functions are contemplating the use of XML file formats to ensure adequate disclosures and analysis of financial statements as well as aid in Integrated Reporting.

From the above, I believe it is obvious that having the knowledge in Accounting and Finance is no longer a sufficient condition to be a good practitioner but just a necessary condition. In addition to such knowledge is the ability to use current technology to perform such functions in an efficient and effective manner. By technology here i am not thinking within the use of Accounting software and Enterprise Resource Plannings (ERP) tools but looking to the broader scope of Big Data Analytics (or Business Analytics) in the performance of Accounting and Finance duties.

Why Oankem Business Lab?

It is for the above reasons that Oankem Business Lab was set-up to ensure continuous professional Development for all fields in business especially the Accounting and Finance Function. Courses to be run will include

  1. Financial Modelling
  2. Fraud Analytics
  3. HR Analytics in R, Python
  4. Auditing in a Big Data Environment
  5. Business intelligence and Strategy
  6. Introduction to Ms Excel in Business and Finance
  7. Advance application of Ms Excel in Accounting and Finance
  8. Any other business related program

There will also be seminars and webinar that will aid in your Continuous Professional Development  in

  1. Banking and Finance
  2. Risk management
  3. Accounting and Finance
  4. HR and Administration