Overview
This course provides the fundamentals, covers the data analytic phases of importing data, preparing data, analyzing data and reporting results. It also covers basic scripting showing how to automate analytic routines with ACL Analytics. This course will also prepare you for level 4 of the ACL Certified Data Analyst (ACDA) exam.
Learning Options
Below are the available learning options for this course:
Enterprise Solutions
Tailored Experience
Bring this course to your organization at your convenience. ACI Learning can deliver this instructor-led course for your team at a chosen location or virtually. Alternatively, choose the topic(s) you need and ACI will craft a training solution to keep your team future-proof.
Customize Your TrainingNASBA Certified CPE
Auditing
Why you should take this course
You should attend because ACL is a versatile, powerful, and widely-used data extraction and analysis software used for audits, fraud detection, identifying anomalies in data, and risk management. It enhances auditors’ testing capabilities.
Who should take this course
New and beginner users. This is a very thorough introduction, so it is the best way to get started with using ACL. Self-taught users often attend the course to learn what self-study cannot accomplish.
What You'll learn
This course provides the fundamentals, covers the data analytic phases of importing data, preparing data, analyzing data and reporting results. It also covers basic scripting showing how to automate analytic routines with ACL Analytics.
Basics:
- Data concepts
- ACL Analytics – environment and user interface
- Best practices
- Phases of data analysis
Expressions:
- Expression overview
- Filters
- Word searches
- Computed fields–unconditional and conditional
- Function overview
Importing Data:
- Locating and acquiring data
- Importing fixed width files
- Importing delimited files
- Importing excel files
- Importing print image report files
- Importing pdf files
- Importing via ODBC
- Re-using prior import statements
Preparing Data:
- Understanding integrity
- Testing for validity (corrupt data and correct field definitions)
- Testing for controls
- Testing for date and character bounds
- Testing for quality and completeness
- Testing for missing items
- Testing for duplicates
- Testing for reasonableness
- Testing for calculation errors
Analyzing Data:
- Grouping data (identifying category totals and trends)
- Reordering (sorting) records
- Isolating data (creating data file sub-sets to improve efficiency and track results)
- Combining data (stacking common files on top of each other and linking files on one or more common key fields)
Reporting:
- Creating documentation reports for working papers
- Printing reports
- Exporting to other file types, such as Excel
- How to access ACL’s GRC results lite module where exceptions can be tracked, distributed and monitored
- Visualizing results in graphs
Scripts:
- Introduction to automating analytic routines with scripts
- Working with variables to allow scripts to run against future data
- Scripting interactions that prompt for user input when a script is run
Learning Options
Below are the available learning options for this course:
Enterprise Solutions
Tailored Experience
Bring this course to your organization at your convenience. ACI Learning can deliver this instructor-led course for your team at a chosen location or virtually. Alternatively, choose the topic(s) you need and ACI will craft a training solution to keep your team future-proof.
Customize Your TrainingACI Learning is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.