Comprehensive Data Analytics Project Using Excel and Tableau for the Sales and Purchases Cycles

Using materials from PwC's data analytics case study using a fictitious company, Pixystems Toy Company, Inc. (PwC 2017), the authors developed a comprehensive, multi-part data analytics project that is applicable for a variety of accounting courses. The project follows the common data analytics framework (ask the right questions, extract, transform, and load [ETL] the data, perform appropriate analyses, and present the results). Students apply this framework to the sales and purchases cycles. For each, students develop relevant questions, build a data model, and perform other ETL procedures, perform analytics, and prepare a presentation to convey insights and recommendations. For the sales cycle, Microsoft Excel is the analytics tool; for the purchases cycle, Tableau is used. This project provides an opportunity for students to gain experience with two analytics tools, understand the process of building a data model, and wrestle with how to convey the results of their analysis.