Populating the Accounting Data Warehouse

Abstract

The value of an Accounting Data Warehouse to an enterprise is obvious to most business managers. A central place for decision support where the numbers tie to the books of the company is a great boon to the analysts in the enterprise. However, what are not obvious are the complexities and challenges that must be overcome to actually populate the Accounting Data Warehouse with useful information. This chapter reviews the common challenges that will be encountered in the creation of the so-called Extract Transform Load (ETL) process; the software plumbing that carries data from the source systems to the Accounting Data Warehouse. An overview of the basic components of an Accounting Data Warehouse is first presented to provide necessary background for the discussion. The common challenges encountered in extracting data, transforming it and then loading it into the final warehouse data structures are then described. All discussion is presented in conceptual terms without falling to low-level technical-speak. At the conclusion of the chapter, the reader will have a solid understanding of the relationship between the capability or usefulness of the Accounting Data Warehouse and the complexity and associated cost of the ETL process required to deliver that capability.