Business analysis tool

• US 7,822,654 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2002
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: 3D Business Tools
• Original Assignee: 3D Business Tools
• Inventors: Block, David, Block, Robert S., Block, Debbie, Lau, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel; Vanel
• Application Number:
  US10/091,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20030172013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,156 Days
• Field of Search: 705/30, 705/32, 705/33, 705/34, 707/7, 707/526, 707/517
• US Class Current: 705/33
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a single automated accounting and business analysis system is employed to acquire, organize, record, analyze and plan all the relevant financial and non-financial business metrics required by a company'"'"'s management, suppliers, creditors, shareholders, regulators, etc. This includes all the internally generated metrics and external metrics such as data related to the economy, a particular industry, weather conditions, etc.

Claims

1. A method for organizing multiple accounts, comprising:

assigning labels to each of multiple accounts from among labels included in a label set, one or more of the labels being one or more attributes;

receiving data matched with labels from the label set;

posting, in a computer processing device, the received data to the accounts based on the labels matched to the received data;

forming, in the computer processing device, a first data structure to include a first pointer to an attribute group including one or more of the attributes;

linking, in the computer processing device, the attribute group to the first data structure pointing to the attribute group via a second pointer that points to the first data structure;

forming, in the computer processing device, a second data structure, which has the one or more attributes of the attribute group, to include the first pointer to the attribute group;

linking, in the computer processing device, the attribute group to the second data structure via a third pointer that points to the second data structure; and

dynamically assigning, in the computer processing device, at least one additional attribute to the first and second data structures, the first and second data structures comprising at least one of a) one of the multiple accounts, b) a sub-account of one of the multiple accounts, and c) an entry in one of the multiple accounts, by adding the at least one additional attribute to the attribute group; and

outputting, from the computer processing device, at least part of the first data structure and at least part of the second data structure based on at least one of the attributes of the attribute group linked to the first data structure and the second data structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the label set comprises Assets, Liabilities, Revenues, Expenses, Owner'"'"'s Equity, and Cost of Sales.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the label set comprises Liquid Assets, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Trade Revenues, Trade Expenses, Operating Cash Flow, Financing Cash Flow, and Investing Cash Flow.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising assigning an account classification label to an account.

5. The method of claim 4, comprising selecting the account classification label from an account classification label set comprising Customer, Supplier, Rent, Utilities, and Commissions.

6. The method of claim 4, comprising assigning multi-level classification labels to an account.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising selecting the multi-level classification labels from a set comprising details about elements in the account classification label set.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

the computer system displaying a Beginning Balance Sheet sequence, a Balance Sheet Transfer and Adjustment sequence, an Income Statement sequence, an Indirect Cash Statement sequence, and an Ending Balance Sheet sequence aligned side-by-side; and

the computer system organizing all elements in the sequences so that all corresponding elements in the sequences are aligned in the same row.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising:

a user matching labels from the label set to the data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the label set comprises labels defined by a user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the labels matched to the received data is linked to at least one of the other labels in the label set.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising:

receiving at least one first label from a user;

collecting all data matched to the at least one first label and all data matched to labels linked to the at least one first label; and

displaying the collected data.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the labels matched to the received data is linked to a plurality of the labels in the label set.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data represent transactions, and at least one of the multiple accounts is a Smart Account having a rule set associated with it that defines transactions and defines posting rules associated with the defined transactions, the method comprising:

the Smart Account recognizing a transaction defined in the rule set based on the corresponding labels matched to the received data; and

the Smart Account posting the recognized transaction in accordance with the associated posting rules.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the Smart Account posts parts of the transaction to different accounts in accordance with the associated rules.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the different accounts are Alternate Control Accounts associated with different accounting standards.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the Smart Account is an Alternate Control Account.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the posting rules identify one or more accounts to which an identified transaction will be posted, by at least one of account type labels and account nature labels.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the Smart Account posts an identified transaction in parts, each part with a different date.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the different parts and corresponding dates are consistent with a depreciation schedule or an amortization schedule.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the parts and different dates distribute prepaid income over a period of time.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the Smart Account posts an identified transaction in parts, each part with a different future date.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein the Smart Account posts an identified transaction to a future date.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data include financial data and non-financial data.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple accounts are organized based on the assigned labels.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple accounts comprise a control account, the control account comprises a sub-account, and the sub-account comprises an element, the method comprising:

displaying the control account;

displaying a sub-account in the control account; and

displaying details regarding the element in the sub-account.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the displaying steps are each performed in response to a user'"'"'s selection.

31. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a date selection indicating a time period;

receiving an account selection; and

displaying activity in the selected account from the selected time period.

32. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving an account selection;

receiving a date selection indicating a point in time for each account in the account selection; and

displaying for each account in the account selection, an account value on the point in time.

33. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving goals and rules linking financial data with non-financial data;

identifying, via the assigned labels and the matched labels, ones of the multiple accounts and posted data relevant to the received goals and rules; and

modeling changes to the identified accounts and identified posted data that achieve the received goals and rules.

34. The method of claim 33, comprising:

identifying activities associated with the identified accounts and identified posted data.

35. The method of claim 33, comprising:

adjusting the modeled changes in response to inputs from a user.

36. The method of claim 1, comprising:

based on the labels assigned to the multiple accounts, assigning Consolidation Numbers to the multiple accounts;

extracting information from the accounts; and

placing the extracted information into at least one Consolidation Account based on the Consolidation Numbers of the accounts from which the information was extracted.

37. The method of claim 36, comprising:

placing extracted information from one of the multiple accounts into a Consolidation Account identified by the Consolidation Number assigned to the one of the multiple accounts.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the attributes is a Virtual Attribute.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the attributes Attribute is an Active Attribute.

40. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pointer comprises respective one or more logical pointers that point to the one or more attributes associated with the attribute group.

41. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pointer comprises a logical pointer to an attribute group definition that has links to the one or more attributes associated with the attribute group.

42. The method of claim 1, comprising:

logically locking related entries across the multiple accounts by inserting a code into a lock table, wherein the code indicates at least one Attribute relating the locked entries.

43. The method of claim 1, comprising:

forming an Attribute Center that points to data structures having at least one of the attributes in common, the Attribute Center being one of the labels of the label set.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the Attribute Center is a Virtual Attribute Center.

45. The method of claim 1, comprising:

defining some of the multiple accounts as first Alternate Control Accounts associated with a first Accounting Standard that is defined using labels from the label set; and

posting the received data to the first Alternate Control Accounts, based on the labels matched to the received data.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the first Alternate Control Accounts are Control Accounts for the first Accounting Standard.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the first Alternate Control Accounts are linked to other Alternate Control Accounts associated with other Accounting Standards and the method comprises:

automatically reflecting the received data from the first Alternate Control Accounts into the other Alternate Control Accounts based on the links between the Alternate Control Accounts.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the associations between the Alternate Control Accounts and the corresponding Accounting Standards identify the Alternate Control Accounts by at least one of account type labels and account nature labels.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the links between the Alternate Control Accounts identify the Alternate Control Accounts by at least one of account type labels and account nature labels.

9. The method of 8, comprising organizing all the elements in each sequence in accordance with an ordering of one of the sequences.

10. The method of 9, wherein the ordering is of the Ending Balance Sheet sequence.

11. The method of 9, comprising organizing all the elements in each sequence in accordance with an ordering selected by a user.