CONSTRUCTION PAYMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH BUDGET RECONCILIATION FEATURES

• US 20100268643A1
• Filed: 06/04/2010
• Published: 10/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Textura LLC (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Textura LLC (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Eichhorn, William H., Allin, Patrick J., Niden, Howard L., Cherry, Charles C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,099,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/08 Construction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of reconciling a primary budget for a construction project. One embodiment of the invention includes generating a primary budget for the construction project and assigning a first primary budget line item from the primary budget to a participant. A secondary budget is then generated for the primary budget line item. Invoice amounts corresponding to secondary budget line items are stored. Before administering a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant, the system ensures that the total sum of a current invoiced amount and all previously invoiced amounts corresponding to secondary budget line items is less than or equal to the budget amount of the primary budget line item.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of managing a construction project payment process, the method comprising the acts of:

electronically generating a primary budget for a construction project including a plurality of primary budget line items, wherein a first participant is able to make changes to the primary budget;

electronically assigning a first primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to a second participant of the construction project, the first primary budget line item including a budget amount;

electronically generating a secondary budget for the first primary budget line item, the secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the second participant is able to make changes to the secondary budget;

storing invoice amounts for one or more payments made to the second participant that correspond to the one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget; and

electronically administering a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments and the invoice amount for the new payment is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

electronically receiving a change order request from the second participant requesting a change to the budget amount for the first primary budget line item;

electronically sending a change order request notification to the first participant;

electronically receiving an approval of the change order request from the first participant; and

changing the budget amount of the first primary budget line item after receiving approval from the first participant.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

electronically assigning a second primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to a third participant of the construction project, the second primary budget line item including a budget amount;

electronically generating a second secondary budget for the second primary budget line item, the second secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the third participant is able to make changes to the second secondary budget;

storing invoice amounts for one or more payments made to the third participant that correspond to the one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget; and

electronically administering a draw that includes a new payment to the third participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the third participant and the invoice amount for the new payment to the third participant is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

electronically assigning a second primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to the second participant of the construction project, the second primary budget line item including a budget amount;

electronically generating a second secondary budget for the second primary budget line item, the second secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the second participant is able to make changes to the second secondary budget;

storing invoice amounts for one or more payments made to the second participant that correspond to the one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget; and

electronically administering a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget and the invoice amount for the new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of electronically administering a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget further includes electronically administering a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when

the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget and the invoice amount for the new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item and

the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget and the invoice amount for the new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an invoice requesting the new payment only when the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments and the invoice amount for the new payment is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary budget includes at least one of hard costs and soft costs and wherein the secondary budget includes only hard costs.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of electronically generating a primary budget includes importing the primary budget created using an external software program.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising electronically administering the draw that includes the new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget only when a total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items of the secondary budget is consistent with the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of electronically administering the draw further includes electronically administering the draw only when the total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items of the secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising electronically generating an invoice requesting a payment to the second participant only when the total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items is consistent with the budget amount of the first primary budget line item, wherein the invoice includes the invoice amount that corresponds to one or more of the secondary budget line items.

12. A construction payment management system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the construction payment management system to

generate a primary budget for a construction project based on inputs received from a first participant, the primary budget including a plurality of primary budget line items, wherein the first participant is able to make changes to the primary budget,

assign a first primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to a second participant of the construction project, the first primary budget line item including a budget amount,

generate a secondary budget for the first primary budget line item based on inputs received from the second participant, the secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the second participant is able to make changes to the secondary budget,

store invoice amounts to the computer-readable memory for one or more payments made to the second participant that correspond to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget, and

administer a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments and the invoice amount for the new payment is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

13. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to

receive a change order request from the second participant requesting a change to the budget amount for the first primary budget line item,

send a change order request notification to the first participant,

receive an approval of the change order request from the first participant, and

change the budget amount of the first primary budget line item after receiving approval from the first participant.

14. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to

assign a second primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to a third participant of the construction project, the second primary budget line item including a budget amount,

generate a second secondary budget for the second primary budget line item based on inputs received from the third participant, the second secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the third participant is able to make changes to the second secondary budget,

store invoice amounts to the computer-readable memory for one or more payments made to the third participant that correspond to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget, and

administer a draw that includes a new payment to the third participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the third participant and the invoice amount for the new payment to the third participant is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item.

15. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to

assign a second primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to the second participant of the construction project, the second primary budget line item including a budget amount,

generate a second secondary budget for the second primary budget line item based on inputs received from the second participant, the second secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the second participant is able to make changes to the second secondary budget,

store invoice amounts to the computer-readable memory for one or more payments made to the second participant that correspond to the one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget, and

administer a draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget and the invoice amount for then new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item.

16. The construction payment management system of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the construction payment management system to administer the draw that includes a new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget only when

the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget and the invoice amount for the new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the second secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the second primary budget line item and

the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments made to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget and the invoice amount for the new payment to the second participant corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

17. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to generate an invoice requesting the new payment only when the total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments and the invoice amount for the new payment is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

18. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the primary budget includes at least one or hard costs and soft costs and wherein the secondary budget includes only hard costs.

19. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the construction payment management system to generate the primary budget by importing the primary budget created using an external software program.

20. The construction payment management system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the construction payment management system to administer the draw that includes the new payment to the second participant for an invoiced amount corresponding to one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget only when a total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items of the secondary budget is consistent with the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

21. The construction payment management system of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to administer the draw only when the total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items of the secondary budget is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item.

22. The construction payment management system of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the construction payment management system to generate an invoice request a payment to the second participant only when the total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items is consistent with the budget amount of the first primary budget line item, wherein the invoice includes the invoice amount that corresponds to one or more of the secondary budget line items.

23. A computer-implemented method of managing a construction project payment process, the method comprising the acts of:

electronically generating a primary budget for a construction project based on inputs received from a first participant, the primary budget including a plurality of primary budget line items, wherein the first participant is able to make changes to the primary budget;

electronically assigning a first primary budget line item of the plurality of primary budget line items to a second participant of the construction project, the first primary budget line item including a budget amount;

electronically generating a secondary budget for the first primary budget line item based on inputs received from the second participant, the secondary budget including a plurality of secondary budget line items each including a budget amount, and wherein the second participant is able to make changes to the secondary budget;

storing invoice amounts for one or more payments made to the second participant that correspond to the one or more secondary budget line items from the secondary budget;

generating an invoice requesting a new payment to the second participant for an invoice amount corresponding to one ore more of the secondary budget line items only when

a total sum of the invoice amounts for the one or more payments and the invoice amount for the new payment is less than or equal to the budget amount of the first primary budget line item and

a total sum of the budget amounts for the secondary budget line items is less than or equal to the budget amount of the primary budget line item; and

initiating the new payment after generating the invoice.