Reconciling combinations of transactions

• US 7,403,917 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2000
• Issued: 07/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Larsen, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell; James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BADII, BEHRANG
• Application Number:
  US09/534,201
• Time in Patent Office: 3,042 Days
• Field of Search: 705/33
• US Class Current: 705/33
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• 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 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/128 Check-book balancing, updating or printing arrangements

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product provide automated reconciliation of transactions. A transaction in a first list is reconciled with a combination of two or more transactions in a second list. A function, which may be implemented as a recursive function, successively searches for combinations of transactions in the second list in order to obtain a match for a transaction in the first list.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for reconciling a first transaction in a first list with a combination of at least two transactions in a second list, each transaction having a value, the method comprising:

obtaining the first transaction;

obtaining the second list of transactions;

determining whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to a combination of the values of a subset of transactions in the second list; and

responsive to the value of the first transaction corresponding to the combination of values of the subset of transactions, indicating a match between the first transaction and the subset of transactions,

wherein determining whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to a combination of the values of a subset of transactions in the second list comprises performing a recursive submethod using a first input parameter including the value of the first transaction and a second input parameter including the subset of transactions in the second list, and

wherein performing the recursive submethod comprises;

responsive to one value of a transaction in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, returning a transaction list including the transaction having the one value,

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one transaction, returning an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one transaction, performing the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected transaction and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the value of the selected transaction from the first input parameter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each transaction comprises one selected from a group consisting of an investment transaction, a financial transaction, and an accounting transaction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to the combination of the values of the subset of transactions in the second list comprises determining whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to a sum of the values of the subset of transactions in the second list.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of obtaining the first transaction and obtaining the second list comprises downloading transactions from a remote server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of obtaining the first list and obtaining the second list comprises retrieving transactions from a storage device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the recursive submethod further comprises:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the transaction list, adding the selected transaction to the returned transaction list to generate a modified transaction list, and returning the modified transaction list;

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indicator that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indicator that no match was found.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating the obtaining, determining, and indicating steps for a second transaction in the first list.

8. A computer-implemented method for matching a first value with a combination of at least two values in a list of values, the method comprising:

obtaining the first value;

obtaining the list of values;

performing a recursive submethod, using a first input parameter including the first value and a second input parameter including the list of values, to determine whether the first value corresponds to a combination of values from the list of values; and

responsive to the first value corresponding to the combination of values, indicating a match for the first values,

wherein performing the recursive submethod comprises;

responsive to one value in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, returning the list of values including the one value,

responsive to no values in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one value, returning an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to no values in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one value, performing the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected value and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the selected value from the first input parameter.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the recursive submethod further comprises:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the list of values, adding the selected value to the returned list of values to generate a modified value list, and returning the modified value list; and

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indicator that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any values remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no values remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indicator that no match was found.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein each value is associated with a transaction.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the submethod determines whether the first value corresponds to a combination of values from the list of values.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable code embodied therein for reconciling a first transaction in a first list with a combination of at least two transactions in a second list, each transaction having a value, comprising:

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the first transaction;

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the second list of transactions;

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to determine whether a value of the first transaction corresponds to a combination of values of a subset of transactions in the second list; and

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to, responsive to the value of the first transaction corresponding to the combination of values of the subset of transactions, indicate a match between the first transaction and the subset of transactions,

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to perform a recursive submethod using a first input parameter including the value of the first transaction and a second input parameter including the subset of transactions in the second list, comprising;

responsive to one value of a transaction in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, return a transaction list including the transaction having the one value,

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one transaction, return an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to no values of the transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one transaction, perform the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected transaction and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the value of the selected transaction from the first input parameter.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein each transaction comprises one selected from a group consisting of an investment transaction, a financial transaction, and an accounting transaction.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein at least one of the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the first transaction and the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the second list of comprises computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to download transactions from a remote server.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein at least one of the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the first transaction and the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the second list comprises computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to retrieve transactions from a storage device.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to perform the recursive submethod comprise computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the transaction list, adding the selected transaction to the returned transaction list to generate a modified transaction list, and returning the modified transaction list; and

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indictor that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indicator that no match was found.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable code embodied therein for matching a first value with a combination of at least two values in a list of values, the computer program product comprising:

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the first value;

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to obtain the list of values;

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to perform a recursive submethod, using a first input parameter including the first value and a second input parameter including the list of values, to determine whether the first value corresponds to a combination of values from the list of values; and

computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to, responsive to the first value corresponding to the combination of values, indicate a match for the first value,

wherein the recursive submethod comprises;

responsive to one value in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, return the list of values including the one value,

responsive to none of the values in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one value, return an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to none of the values in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one value, perform the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected value and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the selected value from the first input parameter.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to perform the recursive submethod comprise computer-readable code devices configured to cause a computer to:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the list of values, adding the selected value to the returned list of values to generate a modified value list, and returning the modified value list; and

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indicator that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any values remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no values remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indicator that no match was found.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein each value is associated with a transaction.

20. A system for reconciling a first transaction in a first list with a combination of at least two transactions in a second list, each transaction having a value, the system comprising:

a first input device, for obtaining the first transaction;

a second input device, for obtaining the second list of transactions;

coupled to the first and second input devices, a memory for storing the first transaction and the second list;

coupled to the memory, a match determination module for determining whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to a combination of the values of a subset of transactions in the second list; and

coupled to the match determination module, a match indication module for, responsive to the value of the first transaction corresponding to the combination of values of the subset of transactions, indicating a match between the first transaction and the subset of transactions,

wherein the match determination module performs a recursive submethod using a first input parameter including the value of the first transaction and a second input parameter including the subset of transactions in the second list, and

wherein the recursive submethod comprises;

responsive to one value of a transaction in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, returning a transaction list including the transaction having the one value,

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one transaction, returning an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one transaction, performing the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected transaction and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the value of the selected transaction from the first input parameter.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein each transaction comprises one selected from a group consisting of an investment transaction, a personal financial transaction, and an accounting transaction.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the match determination module determines whether the value of the first transaction corresponds to the sum of the values of the subset of transactions in the second list.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the recursive submethod further comprises:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the transaction list, adding the selected transaction to the returned transaction list to generate a modified transaction list, and returning the modified transaction list; and

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indicator that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no transactions remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indictor that no match was found.

24. A system for matching a first value with a combination of at least two values in a list of values, the system comprising;

a first input device, for obtaining the first value;

a second input device, for obtaining the list of values;

coupled to the first input device and the second input device, a memory for storing the first value and the list of values;

coupled to the memory, a recursive function module, for performing a recursive function, using a first input parameter including the first value and a second input parameter including the list of values, to determine whether the first value corresponds to a combination of values from the second list; and

coupled to the recursive function module, a match indicator for, responsive to the first value corresponding to the combination of values, indicating a match for the first value,

wherein the recursive function module;

responsive to one value of a transaction in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter, returns a transaction list including the transaction having the one value,

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing only one transaction, returns an indicator that no match was found, and

responsive to no values of transactions in the second input parameter equaling the first input parameter and the second input parameter containing more than one transaction, performs the recursive submethod using a modified first input parameter and a modified second input parameter, the modified second input parameter omitting a selected value and the modified first input parameter being obtained by subtracting the selected value from the first input parameter.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the recursive function module:

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the transaction list, adding the selected value to the returned transaction list to generate a modified transaction list, and returning the modified transaction list; and

responsive to the recursive submethod returning the indicator that no match was found, performing the steps of;

responsive to any values remaining in the modified second input parameter, repeating the recursive submethod; and

responsive to no values remaining in the modified second input parameter, returning the indicator that no match was found.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein each value is associated with a transaction.