Computer-implemented systems and methods for reducing cost flow models

• US 20080065435A1
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SAS Institute Incorporated
• Inventors: Ratzloff, John Phillip
• Granted Patent: US 7,813,948 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods and systems for use in analyzing costs associated with cost flow models having components of relationships and entities. Reduction criteria is received for use in reducing number of components that are in a first cost flow model. The reduction criteria is used to generate a reduced cost flow model. The reduced cost flow model has less components than the number of components that are in the received first cost flow model.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for use in analyzing costs associated with cost flow models having components of relationships and entities, said method comprising:

receiving data associated with a first cost flow model that identifies the costs associated with the relationships among the entities;

receiving reduction criteria for use in reducing number of components that are in the first cost flow model;

using the reduction criteria to generate a reduced cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model has fewer components than the number of components that are in the received first cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in analyzing costs associated with the entities in the reduced cost flow model.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and reduced cost flow models are activity-based costing flow graphs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the entities include resources, activities and cost objects;

wherein the first cost model is a multi-dimensional directed graph for depicting how money flows in an enterprise;

wherein nodes of the graph represent accounts associated with the resources, activities, or cost objects;

wherein an edge of the graph is associated with a percentage, which defines how much money flows from a source account to a destination account;

wherein a multi-dimensional database (MDDB) has dimensions;

wherein each dimension contains one or more members;

wherein an account exists at an intersection of a plurality of dimension members.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first cost model depicts how money flows in the enterprise, starting from the resources to the activities, and finally, to the cost objects.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the resources represent accounts in a general ledger;

wherein the cost objects represent products or services provided by the enterprise.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a cost object account exists at an intersection of a product or service dimension and an customer dimension.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the graph includes over 100,000 accounts and over 1,000,000 edges;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is a multi-dimensional directed graph that contains less than 100,000 accounts and less than 1,000,000 edges.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the reduced cost flow model includes a first account and a second account;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in analyzing how much money the first account contributed to the second account.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the cost flows in the first cost flow model are preserved in the reduced cost flow model.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the preserving of the cost flows for the entities in the reduced cost flow model indicates that the starting cost of the reduced cost flow model is the same cost that is at the end of the flow for the reduced cost flow model, and indicates that when removing or merging accounts, the cost for the outgoing accounts of the reduced cost flow model does not change.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduction criteria includes criteria related to which of the entities to remove from the first cost flow model when generating the reduced cost flow model.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduction criteria includes criteria related to which of the entities from the first cost flow model to merge when generating the reduced cost flow model.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein computation processing and storage requirements associated with processing and storing the reduced cost flow model is less than computation processing and storage requirements associated with processing and storing the first cost flow model.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the storing of the reduced cost flow model includes storing the reduced cost flow model in a relational database management system (RDBMS) or an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) database;

wherein each cost flow path in the reduced cost flow model is stored in a data record row in the relational database management system (RDBMS) or the OLAP database.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the entities comprise accounts associated with service departments.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the service departments comprises a human resources department, an information technology department, a maintenance department, or an administrative department.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in determining allocation of costs for the entities in the reduced cost flow model, thereby allowing a user to establish a cost associated with operating each of the entities in the reduced cost flow model.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the allocation of costs comprises at least one of budgeting, allocating expenses, allocating revenues, allocating profits, assigning capital, and combinations thereof.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the entities comprise cost pools.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the cost pools include at least one of the group consisting of organizational cost pools, activity-based cost pools, or process-based cost pools, other logical groupings of money, and combinations thereof.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the reducing the number of components that are in the first cost flow model includes reducing the number of entities that are in the first cost flow model.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the reducing the number of components that are in the first cost flow model includes reducing the number of entities and relationships that are in the first cost flow model.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the reducing the number of components that are in the first cost flow model includes reducing the number of relationships that are in the first cost flow model.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing the reduced cost flow model in a relational database management system (RDBMS) or a multi-dimensional database (MDDB).

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the multi-dimensional database is an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) database.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing of the reduced cost flow model includes storing the reduced cost flow model in a relational database management system (RDBMS) or an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) database;

wherein reducing the first cost flow model to generate the reduced cost flow model results in each cost flow path of the reduced cost flow model having one or no nodes per stage;

wherein each cost flow path in the reduced cost flow model is stored in a data record row in a table in the relational database management system (RDBMS) or the OLAP database;

wherein the table contains one column for each stage.

27. Computer software stored on one or more computer readable mediums, the computer software comprising program code for carrying out a method for use in analyzing costs associated with cost flow models having components of relationships and entities, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving data associated with a first cost flow model that identifies the costs associated with the relationships among the entities;

receiving reduction criteria for use in reducing number of components that are in the first cost flow model;

using the reduction criteria to generate a reduced cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model has fewer components than the number of components that are in the received first cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in analyzing costs associated with the entities in the reduced cost flow model.

28. A computer-implemented system for use in analyzing costs associated with cost flow models having components of relationships and entities, comprising:

a data store to store data associated with a first cost flow model that identifies the costs associated with the relationships among the entities;

software instructions to use reduction criteria to generate a reduced cost flow model;

wherein the reduction criteria is for use in reducing number of components that are in the first cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model has fewer components than the number of components that are in the received first cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in analyzing costs associated with the entities in the reduced cost flow model.

29. A memory for storing data representative of a reduced cost flow model, wherein the reduced cost flow model was generated by a method for use in analyzing costs associated with cost flow models having components of relationships and entities, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving data associated with a first cost flow model that identifies the costs associated with the relationships among the entities;

receiving reduction criteria for use in reducing number of components that are in the first cost flow model;

using the reduction criteria to generate the reduced cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model has fewer components than the number of components that are in the received first cost flow model;

wherein the reduced cost flow model is for use in analyzing costs associated with the entities in the reduced cost flow model.