Cash flow forecasting
First Claim
1. A method for estimating a budget item based upon at least one prior transaction, for use in predicting a cash flow forecast, comprising the steps of:
- (a) summing all prior transactions occurring over a specified range of time to produce a sum;
(b) determining a total number of prior transactions occurring during said specified range of time;
(c) determining a date span between a first transaction and a last transaction within the specified range of time;
(d) determining a budget item frequency as a function of the total number of prior transactions, and the date span;
(e) determining an average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span;
(f) determining a budget item amount by scaling the average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span, by the budget item frequency; and
(g) using the budget item amount and the budget item frequency for predicting a cash flow forecast.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for automatically estimating budget items based on past transactions and generating a cash flow forecast for one or more accounts. A budget item is determined for each of a plurality of categories of transactions. A frequency and amount of each budget item is determined as a function of an actual transaction count, a date span of actual transactions, and a sum of actual transaction amounts—all of the transactions occurring in the past. For each budget item, a cash flow transaction is determined as a function of a posting date criterion and a selected forecast period. A running balance of the cash flow transactions is determined and displayed. Through the display, a user is enabled to modify individual cash flow transactions to generate a new cash flow forecast, or generate an alternate cash flow forecast that can be compared to the original cash flow forecast.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for estimating a budget item based upon at least one prior transaction, for use in predicting a cash flow forecast, comprising the steps of:
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(a) summing all prior transactions occurring over a specified range of time to produce a sum;
(b) determining a total number of prior transactions occurring during said specified range of time;
(c) determining a date span between a first transaction and a last transaction within the specified range of time;
(d) determining a budget item frequency as a function of the total number of prior transactions, and the date span;
(e) determining an average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span;
(f) determining a budget item amount by scaling the average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span, by the budget item frequency; and
(g) using the budget item amount and the budget item frequency for predicting a cash flow forecast. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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14. A system for estimating a budget item, for use in predicting a cash flow forecast, comprising:
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(a) a processor;
(b) a memory in communication with the processor, said memory storing machine instructions and data; and
(c) said machine instructions comprising an application program that when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a plurality of functions, including;
(i) summing all prior transactions occurring over a specified range of time;
(ii) determining a total number of prior transactions occurring during said specified range of time;
(iii) determining a date span between a first transaction and a last transaction within the specified range of time;
(iv) determining a budget item frequency as a function of the total number of prior transactions, and the date span;
(v) determining an average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span;
(vi) determining a budget item amount by scaling the average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span, by the budget item frequency; and
(vii) using the budget item amount and the budget item frequency to predict the cash flow forecast.
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17. A method for automatically generating a cash flow forecast over a selectable forecast period, comprising the steps of:
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(a) generating an autobudget that includes at least one budget item, said autobudget being generated as a function of a budget item frequency and a budget item amount that are based upon at least one prior transaction; and
(b) creating at least one cash flow transaction as a function of the at least one budget item, and the selected forecast period, at least a portion of which extends into the future, said at least one cash flow transaction defining said cash flow forecast.
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34. A system for generating a cash flow forecast, comprising
(a) a processor; -
(b) a display coupled to the processor;
(c) a user input device coupled to the processor; and
(d) a memory in communication with the processor, said memory storing machine instructions and data, said machine instructions comprising an application program that when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a plurality of functions, including;
(i) generating an autobudget that includes at least one budget item, said autobudget being generated as a function of a budget item frequency and a budget item amount that are based upon at least one prior transaction; and
(ii) creating at least one cash flow transaction as a function of the at least one budget item, and the selected forecast period, at least a portion of which extends into the future, said at least one cash flow transaction defining said cash flow forecast.
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Specification