USER INTERFACE FOR DEFINING ACCOUNT DIMENSION COMBINATIONS

• US 20110112939A1
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Honeyman, Kevin M., Nelson, Kimberly A., Lannoye, David J., Gilson, Crystal, Frandsen, William L., Mullenberg, Karen D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,671,036 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A user interface is provided enabling users to build and modify account structures with various account-dimension combinations and rules for those combinations. The user interface provides context for the account structure and controls for creation and modification of the account configurations.

Claims

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for providing an account configuration user interface in a financial system, the method comprising:

receiving a user request for editing an account structure;

enabling the user to edit the account structure in a graphical user interface by presenting accounts and dimension combinations associated with the accounts in a tree structure through a display device;

validating user edited accounts and dimension combinations against predefined account rules;

notifying the user about validation results; and

enabling the user to activate the account structure such that it is available for use by other users of the financial system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the dimension combinations are displayed as rows with dimensions of same type being aligned in a column.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a plurality of dimension combinations associated with an account is displayed employing a graphical scheme such that a parent-child relationship between the account and the associated plurality of dimension combinations is visually presented to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a plurality of account structures in one of;

separate windows and separate tab views displayed within the account configuration user interface.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

presenting a plurality of graphical and textual controls for editing presented account structures in the account configuration user interface.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

presenting a plurality of graphical and textual controls for editing presented account structures in one of;

the individual windows and the individual tab views.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling the user to edit predefined account rules; and

enabling the user to validate the edited account structure based on the edited account rules.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing at least one from a set of;

a color scheme, a shading scheme, and a textual style scheme to indicate an element of the account structure currently being focused on by the user.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

modifying a presentation of controls for editing account structure elements based on the element of the account structure currently being focused on by the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the account structure is placed in an inactive mode during editing by the user preventing other users of the financial system from entering new data to the accounting structure.

11. A computing device for providing an account configuration user interface in a financial system, the computing device comprising:

a display device;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing a financial application configured to;

in response to receiving a user request for editing an account structure, display the account configuration user interface presenting accounts and dimension combinations associated with the accounts in a tree structure and matrix combination format;

enable the user to edit the account structure through graphical and textual controls presented through the account configuration user interface;

validate user edited accounts and dimension combinations against predefined account rules;

notify the user about validation results; and

enable the user to activate the account structure such that it is available for use by other users of the financial system.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the financial application is further configured to:

display additional information associated with the edited accounts and dimension combinations through at least one of textual means and graphical means.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the additional information includes at least one of:

an active date range for each dimension combination and a validation violation alert.

14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein different dimension types are displayed in distinct columns employing a graphical scheme and a dimension combination currently being focused on by the user is highlighted through another graphical scheme such that the user is provided visual affordance into possible configurations of the account structure.

15. The computing device claim 11, wherein at least a portion of the controls are repositioned based on an account structure element currently being focused on by the user.

16. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the financial application is further configured to:

enable the user to preview an edited account structure in active mode through one of the controls.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for providing an account configuration user interface in a financial system, the instructions comprising:

displaying the account configuration user interface presenting accounts and dimension combinations associated with the accounts in a tree structure and matrix combination format in response to receiving a user request for editing an account structure;

enabling the user to edit the account structure through graphical and textual controls presented through the account configuration user interface, wherein textual and graphical schemes are employed to present elements of the account structure in a visually coherent manner;

displaying additional information associated with edited account structure elements;

validating user edited accounts and dimension combinations against predefined account rules based on one of;

a user request and an automatic validation rule;

notifying the user about validation results; and

enabling the user to activate the account structure such that it is available for use by other users of the financial system.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further comprise:

presenting a dialog box for defining parameters associated with the edited accounts to the user in response to an edit request.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the dialog box is for defining at least one of:

allowed values for a selected dimension and an active date range for a dimension combination.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further comprise:

enabling the user to set permissions for at least one other user to be able to edit at least a portion of the account structure based on credentials of the at least one other user.