CA ANZ eyes predictive analytics for accountants

Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ) has entered a partnership with Microsoft and Westpac to develop a predictive analytics offering targeted at SMBs.

The partners have announced the CA Kairos initiative, which will bring together systems and platforms for a single data analytics service.

CA Kairos will consist of a collection of tools, dashboards and predictive models to support various client scenarios. It covers the concepts of the ‘predictive account’ and the ‘connected practice’, as well as an accelerator and incubation hub.

As part of the partnership, the initiative will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and its Power BI suite.

CA ANZ is also developing an analytics curriculum for a graduate diploma to help fill demand for the estimated 30,000 data managers that will be required in Australia and New Zealand by 2018.

CA ANZ CEO Lee White said the initiative is aimed at meeting the anticipated substantial demand for professional advisers who are data savvy enough to use predictive analytics to shape business decisions.

“Chartered accountants are ideally positioned to take advantage of this [demand],” White said.

“We are excited by the concept of the predictive accountant and are delighted to be involved with such a progressive and forward-thinking organisation,” Westpac Head of Innovation Ian Hill added.

Image courtesy of Tracy O under CC