Data is providing powerful solutions for industries of all shapes and sizes, and the world of accounting is no different. Especially with more and more companies doing business online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eCommerce is becoming an important component of many businesses’ retail ecosystems. That being said, eCommerce accounting is a bit different than traditional accounting, and can be trickier depending on how your inventory is managed—both physically and digitally. As such, you may need to approach eCommerce accounting from a different perspective, both when it comes to the people you hire to handle your accounting and the software you use to gain deeper insights.
Prescriptive analytics can offer a path forward.
While you may already be familiar with the concept of predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics may be a bit more foreign to you. Within the world of analytics, there are a few different ways that data can provide you insights, depending on the type of algorithm behind the analytics. For example, descriptive analytics report on what has already occurred, whereas diagnostic analysis is focused on figuring out why something happened. When using predictive analytics, historical data is used to predict or forecast what may happen in the future. Prescriptive analytics tools take this one step further, offering insights into what route you should take. With prescriptive analytics software, you can automate different decisions or decide to weigh your options with a human element after looking at what prescriptive analytics suggests you should do.
Obviously, prescriptive analytics has a lot of powerful implications for businesses, especially when it comes to the world of e-commerce. It can be hard to know how much inventory to maintain or how to best blend your brick-and-mortar business process with your e-commerce business decisions. That being said, thanks to prescriptive analytics software and advanced algorithms, you can start to figure out how to better optimize your sales to certain vendors or cash flow with the help of prescriptive analytics. By minimizing your risks and optimizing your business decisions, you’re less likely to wind up with overstocked inventory, bottlenecked supply chain, or tight budgets. Machine learning won’t be able to make every decision for you, but by offering a path forward, prescriptive analytics can help you better determine the best course of action.
Put experienced employees behind your data software.
While it’s important to have the right prescriptive analytics platform, there are some limits to what artificial intelligence and simulations can accomplish. This is why it’s critical to have human expertise powering your data and accounting tasks. The human element can provide valuable insights into your accounting system and ensure that things are done up to code. Especially with tax law changing every so often, it’s important that you have a team that understands best practices within the world of accounting to stay on top of regulatory compliance. It’s true that data can help automate some components of your back-office operations; however, there are plenty of times that it makes sense to hire out a team in order to make sure the job is done properly. Bringing in experienced eCommerce accountants can thus be a major benefit to your business, allowing you to boost your eCommerce accounting tasks with minimal oversight or effort.
By bringing on accountants who have a deep understanding of eCommerce best practices and cash flow strategies, you can really make the most out of your investment and set your eCommerce business up for success for years to come. You can definitely gain a lot of important insights using business analytics software; however, if you truly want to make the most of your big data, having experienced accounting business users will be the cherry on top.
