System and method for account reconciliation

• US 7,693,787 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2001
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Provinse, Shirley J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Akintola, Olabode
• Application Number:
  US09/943,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20020026416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,144 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 40, 705/5, 705/33
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• 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 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 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/128 Check-book balancing, updating or printing arrangements

Abstract

An account reconciliation system having a particular usefulness in the reconciliation of centrally billed accounts and more specifically, in the reconciliation of centrally billed accounts in the travel industry is provided. The system and methods of the present invention expand on the traditional match/non-match techniques and provide complete transaction management for every item on a client'"'"'s account. In another sense, reconciliation is redefined to include each and every transaction on an account regardless of its reconciliation status, i.e., matched, unresolved, pending, etc. Consequently, the present invention reconciles the client'"'"'s account to the account balance.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing account reconciliation for an account comprising:

matching, by a processor, a first charge in a financial database to a first amount of a travel record in a travel database, wherein a department code is associated with said travel record, and wherein said travel record in said travel database includes said first amount and first data;

assigning, by said processor, said first charge in said financial database to said department code by writing said department code to a field corresponding to said first charge in said financial database;

associating, by said processor, a second charge in said financial database with said first data of said travel record in said travel database, wherein said travel record in said travel database does not include said second charge in said financial database, and wherein said second charge in said financial database is associated with a change to said travel record in said travel database; and

,

assigning, by said processor, said second charge in said financial database to said department code associated with said travel record in said travel database.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of associating a second charge with said first data of said travel record comprises the steps of:

selecting said second charge from a pending list;

identifying a match criteria on said second charge; and

searching a plurality of travel records based on said match criteria.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said travel record relates to at least one of:

airline, lodging or rental car.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

compiling matches and near-matches on an approved items list; and

generating a report from said compilation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a plurality of travel transactions relating to at least one of:

an air carrier ticket, lodging, and car rental from a first database, wherein said first database is a Customer Reservations System (CRS) of a travel agent.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving, from a second database, a plurality of charge transactions relating to purchases made using a charge account, wherein said second database is at a transaction account management system.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising storing said plurality of travel transactions and said plurality of charge transactions on a pending list within a database of said computing device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising matching said plurality of travel transactions and a plurality of charge transactions based upon first criteria, wherein said first criteria includes at least one of:

account number, passenger name, transaction amount, booking fee, and ticket number.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a client department code based on said match upon identifying said match between a travel transaction and a charge transaction.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising identifying a near-match among said plurality of travel transactions and said plurality of charge transactions within a predetermined tolerance level based upon secondary criteria.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining said department code based on said near-match between said travel transactions and said charge transactions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said first data relates to non-monetary information.

13. An account reconciliation system for reconciling a plurality of merchant records to a card account balance, said system comprising:

a network interface communicating with a memory;

said memory communicating with a processor; and

said processor, when executing a computer program, is configured to;

match, at said processor, a first charge in a financial database to a first amount of a travel record in a travel database, wherein a department code is associated with said travel record, and wherein said travel record in said travel database includes said first amount and first data;

assign, by said processor, said first charge in said financial database to said department code by writing said department code to a field corresponding to said first charge in said financial database;

associate, by said processor, a second charge in said financial database with said first data of said travel record in said travel database, wherein said travel record in said travel database does not include said second charge in said financial database, and wherein said second charge in said financial database is associated with a change to said travel record in said travel database; and

,

assign, by said processor, said second charge in said financial database to said department code associated with said travel record in said travel database.

14. The system of claim 13, further configured to search for a common set of numbers within said travel record and said first data.

15. The system of claim 13, further configured to identify a basic matching criteria.

16. The system of claim 15, further configured to confirm said association by matching all of a plurality of basic matching criteria between said travel record and said first data.

17. The system of claim 16, further configured to confirm said association by matching a set of client-defined criteria.

18. The system of claim 13, further configured to:

calculate a first list total by tallying together a dollar amount associated with a matched plurality of a first charges to a plurality of first amounts;

calculate a second list total by tallying together a dollar amount associated with a nearly-matched plurality of a second charges to a plurality of first data;

calculate a third list total by tallying together a dollar amount from each of a plurality of unapproved near-matches;

calculate an ending balance by subtracting said first list total and said third list total from a balance of said account; and

compare said ending balance with said second list total.

19. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which, when executed on a processor, perform operations for providing account reconciliation for an account comprising:

matching, by said processor, a first charge in a financial database to a first amount of a travel record in a travel database, wherein a department code is associated with said travel record, and wherein said travel record in said travel database includes said first amount and first data;

assigning, by said processor, said first charge in said financial database to said department code by writing said department code to a field corresponding to said first charge in said financial database;

associating, by said processor, a second charge in said financial database with said first data of said travel record in said travel database, wherein said travel record in said travel database does not include said second charge in said financial database, and wherein said second charge in said financial database is associated with a change to said travel record in said travel database; and

,

assigning, by said processor, said second charge in said financial database to said department code associated with said travel record in said travel database.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein said association is determined based on first criteria comprising a basic matching criteria and a second criteria comprising a client-specific criteria.

21. The medium of claim 20 further comprising verifying the presence of all basic matching criteria and all client-specific criteria.

22. The medium of claim 19, wherein said travel record comprises a travel account.

23. The medium of claim 19, wherein said travel record relates to at least one of:

air travel, lodging or rental car.

24. The medium of claim 20, wherein said basic matching criteria comprises an individual'"'"'s name, a ticket number, a card number, and a dollar amount.

25. The medium of claim 19 further comprising compiling a list of two or more transactions that when summed equal zero.

26. The medium of claim 19, further comprising accepting a command to edit said travel record.

27. The medium of claim 26, further comprising programming to authenticate a user prior to acceptance of said command.

28. The medium of claim 19, further comprising a report generation process.