Big Data Information Governance by Accountants

Abstract

Big Data has become increasingly important to multiple facets of the accounting profession, but accountants have little understanding of the steps necessary to convert Big Data into useful information. This limited understanding creates a gap between what accountants can do and what accountants should do to assist in Big Data information governance. We attempt to bridge this gap in two ways. First, we introduce a model of the Big Data life cycle to explain the process of converting Big Data into information. Knowledge of this life cycle is a first step toward enabling accountants to engage in Big Data information governance. Second, we highlight informational and control risks inherent to this life cycle, and we identify information governance activities and agents that can minimize these risks. Because accountants have a strong ability to identify the informational and control needs of internal and external decision makers, they should play a significant role in Big Data information governance. Our model of the Big Data life cycle and information governance provides a first attempt to formalize knowledge that accountants need in a new field of the accounting profession.

Keywords: Information life cycle, Big Data, Information governance

JEL Classification: M4, D83, L21, M15, O32