This case series focuses on data normalization and writing SQL queries of a relational database to answer accounting questions. The real-world data represents travel expenses of Canadian government workers. These cases can each be assigned independently, or they can be sequenced to provide an overview of relational databases and introduce SQL queries.
Case 1: Data normalization-This case has students start with a flat file of data and then apply the principle of data normalization. The students will get hands-on experience understanding how data normalization removes three potential anomalies: insert, delete and update anomalies. Once the students normalize the data, they will then be required to build the flat table again. This helps students understand normalization in both deconstructing and constructing data sets.
The analytics solutions for Case 1 are offered in Alteryx.
Suitable courses: Accounting information systems; Auditing (external or internal); Data analytics; Fraud; Managerial