As businesses go digital, accounting takes on a new meaning

Traditionally, accounting systems have focused on the rear-view mirror, capturing information about economic transactions that have occurred. Now, however, digital data can point to future economic exchanges. Al Bhimani writes that, if accountants are to retain their usefulness, rather than recording retrospective insights, they must report on predictive insights based on data analysis that is much wider than what accounting information systems have been set up to do.