Assessing Excel Skills towards Implementation of BI Solutions in Corporate Institutions: The Case of Accountants in Malawi

Effective use of Excel as a BI technology requires advanced skills. The observation is that accountants use Excel is the most common analytical tool. However, they lack advanced skills to utilise Excel for Business Intelligence. Hence, the question is: What are the specific skills for accountants to use Excel as BI tool? The study adopted the qualitative case study approach using two companies (private company and statutory corporation) in which data was collected through participant observations, artefact examination and semi-structured interviews. Findings in this study indicate that accountants in corporate institutions in Malawi perform business intelligence using Vanilla Excel. However, they lack skills particularly in integration of Excel files, advanced formulas and functions, and power tools. To address these Excel skill gaps, corporate institutions need to provide adequate and relevant user-oriented trainings.