System and method for expense management

• US 7,974,892 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2005
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Concur Technologies Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Concur Technologies Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Fredericks, Michael, Gorodnichev, Valery, Dunnick, Joseph, Armstrong, Jeannine
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender; F. Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Amsdell; Dana
• Application Number:
  US11/159,398
• Publication Number:
  US 20050289025A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,203 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5, 705/6, 705/11, 705/30, 705/35, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A method for expense management. An expense data record is retrieved from a trusted source and two or more sub-transactions are identified. The expense data record is then added to an expense report as two or more expense items corresponding to the two or more sub-transactions.

Claims

1. A computerized method for expense management of at least one transportation and/or lodging expense, comprising:

automatically retrieving, by at least one computer via at least one network, at least one electronic feed of charges for multiple expense receipt records directly from at least one lodging and/or transportation vendor, the at least one feed of charges including computer-readable electronic transaction data;

automatically detecting, by the at least one computer, that at least one expense receipt record from the multiple expense receipt records from the at least one feed of charges is comprised of two or more line items;

automatically mapping, by the at least one computer, the two or more line items to at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service that is chargeable to at least one account identifier, the mapping utilizing vendor expense codes and/or keyword searches, and the mapping stored in at least one database, wherein the at least one account identifier comprises;

at least one department identifier;

at least one project identifier;

at least one expense type;

or

any combination thereof;

automatically retrieving, by the at least one computer, the mapping from the database; and

automatically pre-populating by the at least one computer, the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service mapped to each of the two or more line items from the at least one expense receipt record in at least one expense report in at least one expense management system as two or more expense itemizations;

wherein the expense receipt record is added to the at least one expense report as at least one expense item which is marked as being comprised of the two or more expense itemizations corresponding to the two or more line items;

wherein each expense itemization added from the at least one expense receipt record to the at least one expense report corresponds to exactly one of the two or more line items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one expense report shows the at least two line items associated with expense types.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the at least one expense report for approval;

providing the at least one expense report for reimbursement;

or

providing the at least one expense report so that it can be integrated with other documents;

or

any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching the at least one expense receipt record for pre-defined criteria.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating at least one company accounting code to at least one expense type.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one expense type comprises program-recognizable information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing at least one user to edit the at least one expense report;

or

allowing at least one user to approve the at least one expense report;

or any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

flagging where the at least one user edits the at least one expense report; and

allowing the at least one user to attach at least one explanation to each edit of the at least one expense report.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one second user audits at least one flagged edit to the at least one expense report.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein each expense itemization is assigned to at least one expense type associated with at least one attribute comprising:

at least one identifier;

at least one description;

at least one general ledger or other accounting code;

at least one list of data fields to be supplied on the at least one expense report;

or

corporate policy information;

or

or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one expense type is additionally comprised of semantic information describing at least one type of expense.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the semantic information comprises at least one identifier of the at least one expense type.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the line items contain information identifying at least one expense, where possible expense identifications are determined by at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising associating at least one expense identification determined by the at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record to at least one master expense identification on at least one master expense type list.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one expense itemization is automatically assigned to at least one expense type based on associating the at least one expense type determined by the at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record to the at least one master expense type on the at least one master expense type list.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising auditing the at least one expense report by comparing the two or more line items with the two or more expense itemizations on the at least one expense report.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

allowing at least one user to edit the at least one expense report; and

auditing the at least one expense report by comparing edits of the at least one user to the at least one expense data record from the at least one lodging and/or transportation vendor.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one lodging and/or transportation vendor comprises:

at least one hotel entity;

at least one car rental entity;

or both.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is customizable to incorporate policies, desires, and/or tax considerations for at least one entity using the method to assist in creating expense reports for its employees.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service comprises:

at least one lodging room rental, at least one tax, internet access, at least one telephone call, food and/or beverage from at least one eating establishment, at least one item from at least one mini-bar, at least one service from at least one business center, room service, gym or health club access, an item from at least one hotel store, banquet facility rental at least one gratuity, laundry service, parking, limousine service, at least one movie, audio and/or video equipment rental, at least one cash advance, at least one conference room rental, or at least one early departure fee, or any combination thereof.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service comprises:

at least one automobile rental, insurance, fuel, extra mileage, or equipment repair, or any combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer also receives at least one additional electronic feed of charges containing multiple expense receipt records for lodging and/or transportation expense from at least one credit card vendor.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein:

the at least one computer automatically detects that at least one transaction appears only in the at least one electronic feed of charges received from the at least one credit card vendor;

the at least one transaction is comprised of two or more line items;

the at least one computer automatically maps the two or more line items to at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service that is chargeable to at least one account identifier, the mapping utilizing vendor expense codes and/or keyword, and the mapping stored in at least one database;

the at least one computer automatically retrieves the mapping from the at least one database;

the at least one computer automatically pre-populates the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service mapped to each of the two or more line items from the at least one expense receipt record on at least one expense report in at least one expense management system as two or more expense itemizations;

the expense receipt record is added to the at least one expense report as at least one expense item which is marked as being comprised of the two or more expense itemizations corresponding to the two or more line items; and

each expense itemization added from the at least one expense receipt record to the at least one expense report corresponds to exactly one of the two or more line items.

24. A computerized system for expense management of at least one transportation and/or lodging expense, comprising:

at least one server and/or at least one client coupled to at least one network; and

at least one application coupled to the at least one server and/or the at least one client, the at least one application configured for;

automatically retrieving, by at least one computer via at least one network, at least one electronic feed of charges for multiple expense receipt records directly from at least one lodging and/or transportation vendor, the at least one feed of charges including computer-readable electronic transaction data;

automatically detecting, by the at least one computer, that at least one expense receipt record from the multiple expense receipt records from the at least one feed of charges is comprised of two or more line items;

automatically mapping, by the at least one computer, the two or more line items to at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service that is chargeable to at least one account identifier, the mapping utilizing vendor expense codes and/or keyword searches, and the mapping stored in at least one database, wherein the at least one account identifier comprises;

at least one department identifier;

at least one project identifier;

at least one expense type;

or

any combination thereof;

automatically retrieving, by the at least one computer, the mapping from the database; and

automatically pre-populating by the at least one computer, the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service mapped to each of the two or more line items from the at least one expense receipt record in at least one expense report in at least one expense management system as two or more expense itemizations;

wherein the expense receipt record is added to the at least one expense report as at least one expense item which is marked as being comprised of the two or more expense itemizations corresponding to the two or more line items;

wherein each expense itemization added from the at least one expense receipt record to the at least one expense report corresponds to exactly one of the two or more line items.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one expense report shows the at least two line items associated with expense types.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application further comprises:

providing the at least one expense report for approval;

providing the at least one expense report for reimbursement;

or

providing the at least one expense report so that it can be integrated with other documents;

or

any combination thereof.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application further comprises searching the at least one expense receipt record for pre-defined criteria.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application further comprises associating at least one company accounting code to at least one expense type.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one expense type comprises program-recognizable information.

30. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application further comprises:

allowing at least one user to edit the at least one expense report;

or

allowing at least one user to approve the at least one expense report;

or any combination thereof.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the at least one application further comprises:

flagging where the at least one user edits the at least one expense report; and

allowing the at least one user to attach at least one explanation to each edit of the at least one expense report.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein at least one second user audits at least one flagged edit to the at least one expense report.

33. The system of claim 24, wherein each expense itemization is assigned to at least one expense type associated with at least one attribute comprising:

at least one identifier;

at least one description;

at least one general ledger or other accounting code;

at least one list of data fields to be supplied on the at least one expense report;

or

corporate policy information;

or

any combination thereof.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the at least one expense type is additionally comprised of semantic information describing at least one type of expense.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the semantic information comprises at least one identifier of the at least one expense type.

36. The system of claim 24, wherein the line items contain information identifying at least one expense, where possible expense identifications are determined by at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the at least one application further comprises associating at least one expense identification determined by the at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record to at least one master expense identification on at least one master expense type list.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein at least one expense itemization is automatically assigned to at least one expense type based on associating the at least one expense type determined by the at least one vendor producing the at least one expense data record to the at least one master expense types on the at least one master expense type list.

39. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application further comprises auditing the at least one expense report by comparing the two or more line items with the two or more expense itemizations on the at least one expense report.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the at least one application further comprises:

allowing at least one user to edit the at least one expense report; and

auditing the at least one expense report by comparing edits of the at least one user to the at least one expense data record from at least one trusted source.

41. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one lodging and/or transportation vendor comprises:

at least one hotel entity;

at least one car rental entity;

or

both.

42. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one application is customizable to incorporate policies, desires, and/or tax considerations for at least one entity using the system to assist in creating expense reports for its employees.

43. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service is one of:

at least one lodging room rental, at least one tax, internet access, at least one telephone call, food and/or beverage from at least one eating establishment, at least one item from at least one mini-bar, at least one service from at least one business center, room service, gym or health club access, an item from at least one hotel store, banquet facility rental at least one gratuity, laundry service, parking, limousine service, at least one movie, audio and/or video equipment rental, at least one cash advance, at least one conference room rental, or at least one early departure fee, or any combination thereof.

44. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service comprises:

at least one automobile rental, insurance, fuel, extra mileage, or equipment repair, or any combination thereof.

45. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one computer also receives at least one electronic feed of charges containing multiple expense receipt records for lodging and/or transportation expenses from at least one credit card vendor.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein:

the at least one computer automatically detects that at least one transaction appears only in the at least one electronic feed of charges received from the at least one credit card vendor;

the at least one transaction is comprised of two or more line items;

the at least one computer automatically maps the two or more line items to at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service that is chargeable to at least one account identifier, the mapping utilizing vendor expense codes and/or keyword, and the mapping stored in at least one database;

the at least one computer automatically retrieves the mapping from the at least one database;

the at least one computer automatically pre-populates the at least one transportation and/or lodging good and/or service mapped to each of the two or more line items from the at least one expense receipt record on at least one expense report in at least one expense management system as two or more expense itemizations;

the expense receipt record is added to the at least one expense report as at least one expense item which is marked as being comprised of the two or more expense itemizations corresponding to the two or more line items; and

each expense itemization added from the at least one expense receipt record to the at least one expense report corresponds to exactly one of the two or more line items.