30-minute webinar on Tableau and Tableau Prep beginning data cleaning project this Monday, August 9, 2 pm Eastern

Are you interested in data cleaning and visualization? Have you heard about Tableau and/or Tableau Prep and want to learn more? Want a ready-made project for your class that uses Tableau and Tableau Prep for data cleaning and visualization? We have developed a case that is suitable for introductory accounting that uses Tableau and Tableau Prep – and we provide step-by-step tutorial videos, making it easy to use in your classes.

Join us on Monday, August 9, from 2 – 2:30 pm Eastern, for a webinar on “ETL for introductory accounting: Tableau/Tableau Prep beginner project (KAT Concession Supply).” We will be covering how to request the instructor materials, what the project covers, how you can use it in your own classes, and more!

We will also answer any questions you have. The webinar is from 2 – 2:30 pm Eastern – you can register for this webinar at this link.

To see all the webinars we have scheduled, see our website webinar page at this link.

New! Tableau Prep (ETL) Project: KAT Concession Supply

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Request project at this link

Today we are releasing the data cleaning project for Tableau Prep. This is the fourth of ten projects that focus on data cleaning and analytics. Tableau Prep is a nice option to have available for your students because it runs on both a Mac and Windows operating system.  Keep reading to learn how to request this first beginner level project that uses Tableau Prep for data cleaning and Tableau for data analytics.

A key step in data analytics is getting the data ready for use – in fact, this step can take more time and effort than the analysis of the data. This brand-new Tableau Prep project focuses on the data cleaning aspect of data analytics and is appropriate for introductory accounting – but could be adapted to any accounting class. This Google Sheets case is designed to guide students through data cleaning and data analysis with step-by-step tutorial videos.

KAT Concession Supply is a fictitious company that supplies food, paper products, and other items to fairs, amusement parks, and other organizations. Information in the KAT Concession Supply data sets includes information about its sales over a three-year period. The data from KAT Concession Supply has errors and irregularities in it and it must be cleaned so that an interactive dashboard about its operations can be prepared. This Tableau Prep project is classified as beginner because it takes less than an hour to complete the entire project and the steps are pretty basic.

Complete step-by-step tutorial videos and an instructor guide are available to make project adoption easy and painless in accounting courses. The project is available at no cost for instructors to use in their classes.

Beginner project for Tableau Prep

The ETL and other tasks in the beginner version of the Tableau Prep data cleaning project are:

  1. Input and view the data.
  2. Identify and remove duplicate records.
  3. Remove unwanted spaces and characters from fields.
  4. Convert dates stored as text to fields formatted as dates.
  5. Find and replace text.
  6. Split one field into two fields.
  7. Remove empty columns and rename columns
  8. Create and output file.
  9. Correct spelling errors in the saved output file.
  10. Create a two-visualization interactive dashboard.

Tutorial videos/PDFs

Complete step-by-step instructions are provided for this project. Students have the choice of viewing the tutorial videos or downloading a pdf file of the annotated slides. The tutorials for this project have been split into two parts:

  1. Part 1: Data cleaning tutorial (video | pdf)
  2. Part 2: Dashboard tutorial (video | pdf)

***You can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Concession Supply beginning data cleaning project for Google Sheets by requesting it at this link.*** The instructor guide contains the data set, solutions, and other information.

Give us about 5 – 8 days to respond – but check your Spam folder for the email if you do not see our email within that approximate time frame. (You may want to add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your Safe Senders list. Please don’t email to that email address – that is an email address used solely for distributing the project resources we have developed. Thank you!)

News flash: This data cleaning project is the fourth project in a set of ten data cleaning and visualization projects developed by Tracie Miller-Nobles, Wendy Tietz, and me. We will be releasing new projects approximately twice a month for the remainder of 2022. These projects will be available in three levels: Beginner (five data cleaning techniques plus two-visualization dashboard); Intermediate (beginner steps with seven additional data cleaning techniques plus three-visualization dashboard); and Advanced (intermediate steps with additional data cleaning techniques plus four-visualization dashboard.) In addition, the projects will be available in four software tool combinations: Excel, Google Sheets, Tableau Prep combined with Tableau, and Alteryx combined with Power BI.

A financial statement analysis mini-dashboard for a quick data analytics exercise

dashboard image
Open mini-dashboard at this link

Looking for a quick data analytics exercise for financial statement analysis in an introductory accounting class? You can give your students the link for this financial statement analysis dashboard and then ask a series of questions. There is no software for students to install; the dashboard is hosted on Tableau Public and can be accessed by anyone with the link to the mini-dashboard. There is also a quick video about using mini-dashboards in Tableau Public – that mini-dashboard intro video is available at this link.

To get you started on the kinds of questions you can ask with this financial statement analysis mini-dashboard, here are some ideas:

  1. What is the current ratio for <insert company name here> for <insert year here>?
  2. What is the quick ratio for <insert company name here> for <insert year here>?
  3. What is the debt ratio for <insert company name here> for <insert year here>?
  4. What is the times-interest-earned ratio for <insert company name here> for <insert year here>?
  5. What is your overall assessment of the financial condition of <insert company name here> based on the ratios given here?

We have made several of these mini-dashboards and have found that they are a quick and easy way to insert some data analysis into an introductory accounting course. More of these mini-dashboards are coming soon. We hope you find them useful.

Wendy

A job cost mini-dashboard for a quick data analytics exercise

Looking for a quick data analytics exercise for introductory managerial accounting? You can give your students the link for this job cost analysis dashboard and then ask a series of questions. There is no software for students to install; the dashboard is hosted on Tableau Public and can be accessed by anyone with the link to the mini-dashboard. We also have a quick video about using mini-dashboards in Tableau Public – that mini-dashboard intro video is available at this link.

To get you started on the kinds of questions you can ask with this job cost mini-dashboard, here are some ideas:

  1. What is the gross profit generated by the <insert product type here> product group in all plants?
  2. What is the total sales revenue generated by <insert product ID here> in the <insert plant location here> plant?
  3. How many <insert product ID here> models were sold by the <insert plant location here> location?
  4. What is the gross profit of the <insert product type here> product group in the <insert plant location here> plant?

Anyways, we have made several of these mini-dashboards and have found that they are a quick and easy way to insert some data analysis into an introductory accounting course. We will be sharing some of these mini-dashboards from time to time. We hope you find them useful.

Wendy

Financial statement analysis for Jubilee Company using Tableau

In this case, students use data from a company’s financial statements to calculate and display various ratios in Tableau, including the current ratio, debt ratio, and gross margin percentage. All work is performed in Tableau. This case is suitable for assignment after the basic ratios have been covered. You can view this case at this link (this is the same link that you will use to assign to your students.)

Map of US in Tableau. Mainly decorative.

To assign the case to your students, give them this link. All student instructions are included at that link – as are links for tutorial videos for Tableau skills needed and accounting concept skills needed.

How to obtain case materials

***You can obtain the solution for the Jubilee Company Financial Statement Analysis Tableau case by requesting it at this link.***

You will need to fill out a brief form and then we will verify your instructor status prior to sending you the instructor materials. We generally send the Instructor Guide within a week after the request; we will contact you if we need additional information to verify your instructor status.

Be sure to add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your contacts. Check your spam folder if you have not received the materials from us within a week.

We hope you find this Tableau case interesting and useful. Please send any feedback to us. Have a great day!

KAT Insurance: Data analytics case for introductory managerial accounting

In addition to the data analytics case we posted last week for introductory financial accounting, we have also developed a case, using the same KAT Insurance Company data set, for introductory managerial accounting. The three of us who teach introductory accounting (Wendy Tietz, Jennifer Cainas, and Tracie Miller-Nobles) developed a KAT Insurance case to introduce data analytics in the introductory managerial accounting course. This case uses real-life insurance company data that has been anonymized and simplified. The case itself is a one-page case and is designed to be able to be completed in 30 – 40 minutes with each software tool (Excel, Power BI, and Tableau.)

This case teaches students how to drill-down into a company’s sales data, gaining a deeper understanding of the company’s sales, variable costs, and contribution margin, and how this information can be used for decision-making. Students will use Excel, Power BI, and/or Tableau to analyze the sales transactions for an insurance company. Students will first have to find and correct errors in the data set. Students then will use various techniques to analyze the case. Step-by-step tutorial videos will guide students through the Excel, Power BI, and Tableau portions of the case analysis. This case will introduce the student to data analytics topics including data cleansing, data dictionaries, and data visualizations.

***You can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Managerial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.***

Give us about 5 – 8 days to respond – but check your Spam folder for the email if you do not see our email within that approximate time frame.

Give us about 5 – 8 days to respond – but check your Spam folder for the email if you do not see our email within that approximate time frame. (You may want to add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your Safe Senders list. Please don’t email to that email address – that is an email address used solely for distributing the KAT Insurance resources. Thank you!)

Several resources have been developed for this case to make it easy to integrate into introductory managerial accounting courses. Read on for the resources that have been developed and for information on how to request the case and related resources.

What’s included

The following resources are available for this case and are included or linked in the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Managerial Accounting case:

  1. Case (one-page Word handout)
  2. Student guide (Word)
  3. General learning objectives for the overall case
  4. Specific learning objectives (related to specifically to Excel, Power BI, and Tableau)
  5. Data sets containing 65,000+ records (4 versions: A, B, C, and D)
  6. 24-record tutorial data set
  7. Step-by-step tutorial video (close captioned)
  8. Scripted tutorial video slides (pdf)
  9. Editable grading rubric (Word document in Appendix A)
  10. Multiple-choice questions with solutions for each of the four data sets Excel solution files
  11. Optional video assignment instructions

How to obtain case materials

***You can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Managerial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.***

You will need to fill out a brief form and then we will verify your instructor status prior to sending you the Instructor Guide. We generally send the Instructor Guide within a week after the request; we will contact you if we need additional information to verify your instructor status.

Be sure to add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your contacts. Check your spam folder if you have not received the materials from us within a week.

The Instructor Guide contains links to all the resources listed above. We do ask that you not share the Instructor Guide with students. Please do not post the solutions to the case on Blackboard, Canvas, or any other Learning Management System. Also, please do not post the Instructor Guide or the solutions on any web site. (Thank you in advance for helping to maintain the academic useful life of the materials.)

Again, you can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Managerial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.

We hope you and your students find value in this data analytics case for introductory managerial accounting. Please share any feedback with us about your experiences in using the case. Enjoy! Also, remember that we also have KAT Insurance case for introductory financial accounting (see link.)

Sincerely,

Wendy M. Tietz, PhD, CPA, CMA, CSCA

Jennifer M. Cainas, DBA, MAcc, CPA

Tracie L. Miller-Nobles, CPA

KAT Insurance: Data analytics case for introductory financial accounting

The demand for business graduates with data analytics skills has exploded, while the tools and techniques are continuing to evolve and change at a rapid pace. Three of us who teach introductory accounting (Wendy Tietz, Jennifer Cainas, and Tracie Miller-Nobles) have joined forces to develop a case to introduce data analytics in the introductory financial accounting course. This case uses real-life insurance company data that has been anonymized and simplified. The name of the fictitious company analyzed in the case is “KAT Insurance Company.” The case itself is a one-page case and is designed to be able to be completed in 30 – 40 minutes with each software tool (Excel, Power BI, and Tableau.)

This case teaches students how to drill-down into a company’s sales data, gaining a deeper understanding of the company’s sales and how this information can be used for decision-making. Students will use Excel, Power BI, and/or Tableau to analyze the sales transactions for an insurance company. Students will first have to find and correct errors in the data set. Students then will use various techniques to analyze the case. Step-by-step tutorial videos will guide students through the Excel, Power BI, and Tableau portions of the case analysis. This case will introduce the student to data analytics topics including data cleansing, data dictionaries, and data visualizations.

***You can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Financial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.***

Give us about 5 – 8 days to respond – but check your Spam folder for the email if you do not see our email within that approximate time frame. (You may want to add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your Safe Senders list. Please don’t email to that email address – that is an email address used solely for distributing the KAT Insurance resources. Thank you!)

Several resources have been developed for this case to make it easy to integrate into introductory financial accounting courses. Read on for the resources that have been developed and for information on how to request the case and related resources.

What’s included

The following resources are available for this case and are included or linked in the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Financial Accounting case:

  1. Case (one-page Word handout)
  2. Student guide (Word)
  3. General learning objectives for the overall case
  4. Specific learning objectives (related to specifically to Excel, Power BI, and Tableau)
  5. Data sets containing 65,000+ records (4 versions: A, B, C, and D)
  6. 24-record tutorial data set
  7. Step-by-step tutorial video (close captioned)
  8. Scripted tutorial video slides (pdf)
  9. Editable grading rubric (Word document in Appendix A)
  10. Multiple-choice questions with solutions for each of the four data sets Excel solution files
  11. Optional video assignment instructions

How to obtain case materials

***You can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Financial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.***

You will need to fill out a brief form and then we will verify your instructor status prior to sending you the Instructor Guide. We generally send the Instructor Guide within a week after the request; we will contact you if we need additional information to verify your instructor status.

Please add drwendytietz@gmail.com to your contacts so that our email to you does not go to your Spam folder. (Check your spam folder if you do not hear from us within a week of making your request.)

The Instructor Guide contains links to all the resources listed above. We do ask that you not share the Instructor Guide with students. Please do not post the solutions to the case on Blackboard, Canvas, or any other Learning Management System. Also, please do not post the Instructor Guide or the solutions on any web site. (Thank you in advance for helping to maintain the academic useful life of the materials.)

We hope you find value in this data analytics case for introductory financial accounting. Please share any feedback with us about your experiences in using the case. Enjoy! Also, watch for our upcoming KAT Insurance Managerial Accounting case….

Again, you can obtain the Instructor Guide for the KAT Insurance Financial Accounting case by requesting it at this link.

Sincerely,

Wendy M. Tietz, PhD, CPA, CMA, CSCA

Jennifer M. Cainas, DBA, MAcc, CPA

Tracie L. Miller-Nobles, CPA