SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING SPENDING

• Main Authors: RICHARDS, PAUL J, KASRAVI, KASRA, MCLEMORE, SANDY A, QUIGNEY, PETER P, TEHRANI, SAEID, KRUK, JEFFREY M, SHAVER, JOSEPH M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French
• Published: 01.05.2003
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; PHYSICS; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

A method of managing spending is provided. The method includes collecting procurement data (22) from a plurality of data sources (26) which may have associated source-specific product catalogs. The method further includes storing a global catalog specifying mapping relationships between source- specific product attributes specified by the source-specific product catalog s and generic attributes specified by the global catalog. The method further includes mapping the source-specific attributes associated with particular products to corresponding generic attributes based on the mapping relationships. The method further includes analyzing a portion of the collected procurement data, including identifying information regarding products associated with the particular procurement events based on the generic attributes associated with the products. The method further includes automatically generating a visual output based on the analysis of the collected procurement data.