INTHEBLACK December 2023/January 2024 Special Edition - Flipbook - Page 50
STRUCTURED
THINKING
Designed to work with large and complex databases,
SQL programming language can make it easier for
accountants to analyse data from across the business
to reveal greater insights.
WORDS ADAM TURNER
S
tructured Query Language, or SQL, is a
programming language used to access
and manage structured data stored in
relational databases.
Developed in the 1970s, SQL is well-suited
for use with complex databases, such as those
used by enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems. It is also suitable for working with
larger volumes of data than spreadsheets can
comfortably handle.
Purely used for manipulating data, SQL is a simpler
language than Python which is general-purpose, and
R, which is for statistical programming.
GREATER REACH
One of SQL’s strengths is that it can be connected
directly to multiple live business systems such
as finance, ERP, operations, procurement, sales
and marketing. This is ideal for accountants, says
Dr Richard Busulwa, accounting lecturer at
Swinburne University of Technology.
SQL allows accountants to bring together
up-to-date data from across the business for
analysis. It also allows them to test, clean and
update the data stored in those various business
systems, says Busulwa, who also co-wrote Digital
Transformation in Accounting.
“With appropriate data access authorisation,
SQL allows accountants to reach data in virtually
any part of the business,” he says.
50 INTHEBLACK Dec 2023/Jan 2024 SPECIAL EDITION
“The ability to write back into those databases
means accountants can also fix issues, making
business data more accurate and reliable. This
allows accountants to fulfil their growing roles in
data integrity and assurance.”
While accountants may only work with a business’s
financial data for some tasks, SQL makes it easier
for them to undertake more comprehensive and
rigorous analysis.
For example, they might examine customer and
sales data to identify the specific accounts and
salespeople who are contributing less to reported
gross margins.
“Manually extracting and cross-referencing that
data from different business systems is a slow and
cumbersome process,” Busulwa says.
“SQL is designed exactly for this kind of big,
complex, multi-database and diverse data challenge.
“It means accountants can spend less time
gathering data and more time resolving data integrity
issues, interpreting data and validating insights to
support decision-making.”
DEEPER DATA INSIGHTS
Using SQL for data analysis provides a more secure,
flexible and robust environment than Excel, because
it has enhanced permissions and auditing features.
Direct access to up-to-date data also reduces an
accountant’s reliance on other business members to
facilitate data access, validate data or generate reports.
