Data processing apparatus, data processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a data processing device, method and program for creating journal data by combining an input invoice with invoice data processed in the past.SOLUTION: A data processing device comprises: a data acquisition unit 121 that acquires received invoice data that is invoice electronic data; a selection unit 122 that selects selected invoice data, which is past invoice data for which a degree of similarity with the received invoice data is equal to or larger than a reference level, by comparing at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of sets of past invoice data of a plurality of past invoices with at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in the received invoice data; and a creation unit 123 that creates received journal data, which is journal data corresponding to the received invoice data, by combining at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in journal data stored in association with the selected invoice data selected by the selection unit, with the amount or date included in the received invoice data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, a data processing method, and a program for processing claim data.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a technique for translating an item to be translated included in input data based on a previously generated translation rule. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for generating a translation rule for translating the tax classification of a transaction indicated by abstract information as a reduced tax rate when the abstract information includes a character string indicating the reduced tax rate.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The rules used when translating the goods or services that are the subject of the claim described in the claim differ depending on the organization that performs the accounting process. Even with the prior art, it is not possible to automatically create different translation rules depending on the organization, so the accounting staff had to perform the translation process for each claim.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object thereof is to reduce the workload of the translation process.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In the data processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, there are provided a data acquisition unit that acquires received claim data which is electronic data of a claim, and a selection unit that selects selected claim data which is the past claim data having a similarity level with the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level by comparing at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of past claims and at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the received claim data, and a creation unit that creates received journal data which is journal data corresponding to the received claim data by combining at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected claim data selected by the selection unit and an amount or a date included in the received claim data.

[0007] The selection unit may select the selected claim data from among the past claim data in which character strings indicating a claimant included in the received claim data match character strings indicating the claimant included in the past claim data.

[0008] The selection unit may select, as the selected claim data, the past claim data having a form closest to the form of the received claim data from among a plurality of different forms of the past claim data issued in the past by the claimant corresponding to the received claim data.

[0009] The selection unit may select the selected claim data from among the past claim data corresponding to the same claim target as the claim target of the received claim data by comparing a character string indicating a claim target included in the received claim data and a character string indicating the claim target included in the past claim data.

[0010] When the selection unit does not select the selected claim data, the creation unit causes the display device to display the received journal data created based on the character string included in the received claim data without using the selected claim data. When the selection unit selects the selected claim data, the creation unit may not cause the display device to display the received journal data corresponding to the received claim data.

[0011] The selection unit selects one or more pieces of the selected claim data. The creation unit causes the display device to display the one or more pieces of selected claim data, and combines at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected claim data selected by the user from the one or more pieces of selected claim data displayed on the display device, and the amount or date included in the received claim data, to create the received journal data.

[0012] When there are a plurality of pieces of journal data corresponding to the selected claim data selected by the selection unit, the creation unit causes the display device to display the plurality of pieces of journal data corresponding to the past claim data, and combines at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data selected by the user from the plurality of pieces of journal data displayed on the display device, and the amount or date included in the received claim data, to create the received journal data.

[0013] The apparatus further includes a setting reception unit that receives a setting as to whether to transmit the received journal data created by the creation unit to the accounting system after causing the display device to display the received journal data, or to transmit the received journal data to the accounting system without causing the display device to display the received journal data created by the creation unit. The creation unit may determine whether to transmit the received journal data to the accounting system after causing the display device to display the received journal data, or to transmit the received journal data to the accounting system without causing the display device to display the received journal data created by the creation unit, based on the content of the setting received by the setting reception unit.

[0014] The storage unit further stores automatic processing setting data indicating that the automatic processing mode is set, in which the received journal data created by the creation unit is transmitted to the accounting system without being displayed on the display device, in association with the past invoice data. When the automatic processing setting data is stored in the storage unit in association with the selected invoice data, the creation unit may transmit the received journal data created using the journal data stored in association with the selected invoice data to the accounting system without displaying it on the display device.

[0015] In response to receiving an operation from the user for the creation unit to display the created received journal data on the display device and to make the displayed received journal data a target to be processed in the automatic processing mode, the creation unit may store the automatic processing setting data in the storage unit in association with the received invoice data corresponding to the received journal data.

[0016] The creation unit may create the received journal data including at least a part of a plurality of character strings included in the received invoice data and not included in the selected invoice data in a summary column.

[0017] When the difference between the amount or quantity of the claim target included in the selected invoice data and the amount or quantity of the claim target included in the received invoice data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the creation unit may display warning information on the display device, and transmit the received journal data to the accounting system on the condition that a predetermined operation by the user is received after the warning information is displayed on the display device.

[0018] When the format of the received invoice data is different from the format of the selected invoice data, the creation unit may display warning information on the display device, and transmit the received journal data to the accounting system on the condition that a predetermined operation by the user is received after the warning information is displayed on the display device.

[0019] In the data processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data acquisition unit that acquires received claim data which is electronic data of a claim, and at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past claims, and at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the received claim data are compared, and a selection unit that selects selected claim data which is the past claim data having a similarity level to the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level, and an amount or at least a part of character strings other than a date included in the selected claim data selected by the selection unit, and an amount or a date included in the received claim data are combined to create corrected claim data corresponding to the received claim data.

[0020] In the data processing method according to the third aspect of the present invention, there are provided steps of: a computer acquiring received claim data which is electronic data of a claim; comparing at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past claims and at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the received claim data, and selecting selected claim data which is the past claim data having a similarity level to the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level; and combining at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in journal data stored in association with the selected selected claim data and an amount or a date included in the received claim data to create received journal data which is journal data corresponding to the received claim data.

[0021] In the data processing method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a step of obtaining received claim data, which is electronic data of a claim, executed by a computer; and at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past claims, and at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in the received claim data are compared, and a step of selecting selected claim data, which is the past claim data having a similarity level with the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level; and at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in the selected selected claim data and the amount or date included in the received claim data are combined to create corrected claim data corresponding to the received claim data.

[0022] In the program according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a computer is caused to function as a data acquisition unit that acquires received claim data, which is electronic data of a claim; a selection unit that selects selected claim data, which is the past claim data having a similarity level with the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level, by comparing at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past claims and at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in the received claim data; and a creation unit that creates received journal data, which is journal data corresponding to the received claim data, by combining at least a part of character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected selected claim data and the amount or date included in the received claim data.

[0023] In the program according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the computer is caused to function as a data acquisition unit that acquires received claim data, which is electronic data of a claim form; a selection unit that selects selected claim data, which is the past claim data having a similarity level equal to or higher than a reference level with respect to the received claim data, by comparing at least a part of character strings included in a plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past claim forms with at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the received claim data; and a creation unit that creates corrected claim data corresponding to the received claim data by combining at least a part of character strings other than an amount or a date included in the selected claim data selected by the selection unit with an amount or a date included in the received claim data.

Advantages of the Invention

[0024] According to the present invention, there is an effect of reducing the workload of the journalizing process.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0025]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0026] [Outline of the Data Processing Apparatus 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the flow of journalizing processing in the data processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The data processing apparatus 1 creates journal data corresponding to the input invoice, and outputs the journal data to an external accounting system 2. Based on the rule of thumb that similar invoices are likely to have the same journal entries, the data processing apparatus 1 combines the date or amount described in the input invoice with the journal data of past invoices similar to the input invoice to create the journal data of the input invoice. The data processing apparatus 1 may be configured as a journalizing function unit that is part of the accounting system 2.

[0027] More specifically, the data processing apparatus 1 calculates the similarity between the data included in the invoice data (hereinafter referred to as received invoice data) input via a network, for example, and the invoice data (hereinafter referred to as past invoice data) of past invoices processed and stored in the database. The data processing apparatus 1 selects the past invoice data with a similarity equal to or higher than the reference level as the selected invoice data. The data processing apparatus 1 acquires the journal data (hereinafter referred to as selected journal data) associated with and stored among the plurality of past journal data corresponding to the plurality of past invoice data. The data processing apparatus 1 combines the account items included in the selected journal data with the date or amount included in the input received invoice data to create the journal data (hereinafter referred to as received journal data) of the received invoice data. The data processing apparatus 1 outputs the created received journal data to the external accounting system 2.

[0028] With the data processing device 1 configured in this way, when an enterprise that uses the data processing device 1 receives an invoice, it can register in the accounting system 2 the journal data automatically created with the same posting method as that of past invoices similar to the received invoice. Conventionally, even for the same goods or services, the posting method differed depending on which enterprise issued the invoice, or differed depending on the policy of the enterprise performing the posting process, so it was difficult to perform the posting process automatically. However, according to the data processing device 1, by combining the accounting items included in the past journal data corresponding to the similar past invoice data with the different dates or amounts for each invoice and using them, journal data suitable for the content of the received invoice can be automatically created. As a result, the workload of the accounting staff for the posting process is significantly reduced.

[0029] Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of received invoice data. The invoice data shown in Figure 2 is, for example, an electronic file of an invoice created by a computer. The invoice data may be an electronic file obtained by scanning a paper invoice. The electronic file is, for example, an image file, but the electronic file may be a text file.

[0030] The invoice data includes, for example, the destination of the invoice, the invoice number, the issue date of the invoice, information indicating the issuer of the invoice (the address and company name of the invoice issuer), information regarding the billing period, information regarding the billing target (order date, product name, quantity, unit price, tax amount, total amount), and the transfer destination account number.

[0031] The data processing device 1 extracts the character strings (for example, words or numbers) included in the invoice data and registers them in the database. The data processing device 1 recognizes, for example, a plurality of character strings included in the invoice data by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and registers the recognized plurality of character strings in the past invoice database.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a past invoice database. In the past invoice database, the information contained in the past invoice data is associated with the journal entry data. In the past invoice database shown in FIG. 3, an automatic processing setting flag is stored in association with each past invoice data and journal entry data. The information contained in the invoice data is, for example, the name of the creditor, the invoice issue date, the invoice number, the name of the object of the invoice (product name or service name), the quantity, the unit price, and the amount. The journal entry data includes the accounting item and the journal entry amount. The automatic processing setting flag is data indicating whether the data processing device 1 automatically creates journal entry data without the user's operation. The invoice data may include a character string described in the summary column, and the journal entry data may also include a character string described in the summary column. Note that the user in this specification is, for example, an accounting person.

[0033] Note that in the past invoice database, the image data of the past invoice data may be associated with the journal entry data. The journal entry data may include information indicating whether it is subject to taxation or other character strings such as tax rates.

[0034] [Configuration of Data Processing Device 1] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data processing device 1. The data processing device 1 includes a storage unit 11 and a control unit 12. The control unit 12 includes a data acquisition unit 121, a selection unit 122, a creation unit 123, an output unit 124, and a setting reception unit 125.

[0035] The data processing device 1 may be realized by computing resources such as a plurality of processors and memories, such as a cloud computing system. In this case, each unit constituting the control unit 12 is realized by at least one of a plurality of different processors executing a program.

[0036] The storage unit 11 has storage media such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 11 stores programs executed by the control unit 12. As an example, the storage unit 11 stores, for example, the past invoice database shown in FIG. 3, and stores the past invoice data and the past journal data in association with each other.

[0037] The storage unit 11 may store automatic processing setting data indicating that it is set to an automatic processing mode in which the reception journal data created by the creation unit 123 is transmitted to the accounting system 2 without being displayed on the display device in association with the past invoice data, like the automatic processing setting flag shown in FIG. 3. That is, the storage unit 11 stores automatic processing setting data indicating whether the data processing device 1 automatically creates reception journal data when reception invoice data with a similarity to the past invoice data equal to or higher than a reference level is input to the data processing device 1. The display device is, for example, the display of a computer used by the user.

[0038] The control unit 12 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 12 functions as a data acquisition unit 121, a selection unit 122, a creation unit 123, an output unit 124, and a setting reception unit 125 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 11.

[0039] The data acquisition unit 121 acquires reception invoice data, which is the electronic data of an invoice. For example, the data acquisition unit 121 acquires reception invoice data from the user's computer or an external computer.

[0040] The selection unit 122 selects selection claim data that is past claim data with a similarity level to the received claim data equal to or higher than a reference level by comparing at least some of the character strings included in the plurality of past claim data of a plurality of past invoices with at least some of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the received claim data. At least some of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the received claim data are at least some of the character strings other than the amount included in the received claim data, at least some of the character strings other than the date, or at least some of the character strings different from both the amount and the date. At least some of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the received claim data are, for example, information regarding the claimant included in the received claim data, the invoice number, the name or quantity of the item being billed.

[0041] The selection unit 122 extracts, for example, information regarding the claimant included in the received claim data, the invoice number, the name of the item being billed, the unit price, the quantity, or information regarding the amount (hereinafter referred to as extraction data). When the received claim data is an image file created by reading a paper invoice with a scanner, the selection unit 122 extracts the extraction data by recognizing the characters included in the received claim data using OCR.

[0042] The selection unit 122 calculates the similarity between at least some of the character strings other than the amount or date among the plurality of character strings included in the extraction data and at least some of the character strings included in the past claim data. The character strings to be compared by the selection unit 122 are any one or more of the issuer name, issuer address, issuer contact information, transfer destination account number, name or quantity of the item being billed. One of the amount or date of the item being billed may be included as the character string to be compared by the selection unit 122.

[0043] The selection unit 122 selects, for example, past claim data in which the ratio of matching character strings for all character strings to be compared is equal to or higher than a reference level. As an example, when the reference level is expressed as a real number between 0 and 1, the reference level is set to a threshold value of 0.8. The selection unit 122 may select, as selected claim data, past claim data in which the ratio of the number of matching character strings between the character strings included in the received claim data and the character strings included in the past claim data is equal to or higher than the threshold value.

[0044] Note that the reference level is not limited to a numerical value, and the selection unit 122 may determine that the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level when the character strings to be compared are the same. Specifically, the selection unit 122 determines that the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level when the character string indicating the claimant included in the received claim data is included in the past claim data. The selection unit 122 determines, for example, that the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level when the character string indicating the claimant included in the received claim data is included in the past claim data. The selection unit 122 may determine that the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level when the character strings identical to the character string indicating the claimant and the character string indicating the claim target included in the received claim data are included in the past claim data.

[0045] The selection unit 122 may generate learned data obtained by classifying the past claim data by clustering the past claim data using the word vectors of the character strings included in the past claim data as variables. In this case, the selection unit 122 may infer the class to which the received claim data belongs using the learned data, and select, as the selected claim data, the past claim data belonging to the same class as the received claim data. In this case, the selection unit 122 determines that the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level when the likelihood that the received claim data belongs to the class is equal to or higher than the threshold value.

[0046] The selection unit 122 may compare the character string indicating the claim object included in the received invoice data with the character string indicating the claim object included in the past invoice data, and select the selected invoice data from the past invoice data corresponding to the same claim object as the claim object of the received invoice data. For example, the selection unit 122 quantifies the ratio of the matching characters among the character strings corresponding to the claim objects of the received invoice data and the past invoice data respectively, and determines that the received invoice data and the past invoice data are the same when the ratio of the matching characters is equal to or higher than a threshold value. As an example, when the claim object item name included in the extracted data is "maintenance operation cost" and the claim object item name included in the past invoice data is "maintenance operation expense", the selection unit 122 calculates that the ratio of the matching characters between the two is 0.8. When the threshold value indicating the reference level is set to 0.8, the selection unit 122 determines that the maintenance operation cost and the maintenance operation expense are the same.

[0047] When the invoice data includes a plurality of claim object item names, the selection unit 122 may calculate the similarity by calculating the weighted average of the number or ratio of the matching characters included in the plurality of claim object item names. For example, the selection unit 122 calculates the weighted average by making the weight of a predetermined number of characters (for example, 5 characters) from the beginning larger than the weight of other characters. The selection unit 122 may also calculate the weighted average by multiplying different weights for each claim object item name. For example, the selection unit 122 increases the weight for a claim object item name with a larger amount. By operating in this way, since the past invoice data corresponding to the same product or service as the main product or service in the received invoice data is selected, the probability of selecting the past invoice data suitable for creating the journal data of the received invoice data is increased.

[0048] By the way, as a result of the selection unit 122 calculating the similarity, there may be a case where there are a plurality of invoice data with a similarity equal to or higher than the reference level. In this case, the selection unit 122 may select a plurality of past invoice data as the selected invoice data, or may select the past invoice data with the highest similarity as the selected invoice data.

[0049] In addition, there may be cases where a plurality of claimed objects included in one claim data are each associated with a plurality of different journal entry data. For example, this is the case where the claimed objects of one received claim data include "stamps" and "revenue stamps". In this case, journal entry data should be created in which the accounting item for "stamps" is "communication expenses" and the accounting item for "revenue stamps" is "taxes and duties". In this case, the selection unit 122 calculates the similarity with the past claim data for each claimed object of the received claim data. By calculating the similarity for each claimed object, the selection unit 122 can select past claim data in which some of the claimed objects are similar even when there is no past claim data in which all the claimed objects are similar.

[0050] By the way, even for claimed objects with the same content, there may be cases where the journal entry rules differ for each trading partner. Therefore, the selection unit 122 compares the character string indicating the claimant included in the received claim data with the character string indicating the claimant included in the past claim data, and may select the selected claim data from among the past claim data in which the character strings indicating the claimant match. That is, the selection unit 122 compares at least one of the claimant name, claimant phone number, and transfer destination account number included in the extracted data with at least one of the claimant name, claimant phone number, and transfer destination account number included in the past claim data. The selection unit 122 calculates the similarity when at least one of the claimant name, claimant phone number, and transfer destination account number matches.

[0051] In addition, even for a claim from one trading partner, the format may be different. For example, in the case of a claim issued by a company with many departments, it is also assumed that even if the claimant name is the same, the format may be different depending on the department. And it is also assumed that different journal entry processes may be required for each department that issues the claim. Therefore, the selection unit 122 may select, as the selected claim data, the past claim data in the format closest to the format of the received claim data from among a plurality of different formats of past claim data issued by the claimant corresponding to the received claim data.

[0052] For example, when the received invoice data and the past invoice data are image data, the selection unit 122 identifies the format of the invoice by performing image recognition on the frame lines of the received invoice data and the past invoice data. The selection unit 122 calculates the similarity between the format of the received invoice data and the format of the past invoice data. The selection unit 122 determines that the past invoice data with an invoice format similarity equal to or greater than a predetermined value is the past invoice data in the format closest to the format of the received invoice data. The selection unit 122 selects the selected invoice data from among the past invoice data in the format closest to the format of the received invoice data.

[0053] As another example, the selection unit 122 may identify the similarity of the invoice format using a trained model generated by machine learning of the invoice. The selection unit 122 may create a trained model that infers the invoice format by clustering the format of the past invoice using the coordinates of elements such as the invoiced item name, unit price, quantity, and amount included in the invoice as variables. The selection unit 122 extracts a plurality of elements such as the invoicing company name, invoiced item name, unit price, quantity, and amount in the received invoice, and identifies the coordinates of each of the extracted plurality of elements. The selection unit 122 associates the element names and coordinates identified in the received invoice data and inputs them into the trained model, thereby identifying the past invoice data in the format closest to the received invoice data.

[0054] Even when the invoice formats are different, there may be cases where translation data may be created after the user recognizes that invoice data with different formats has been selected. Therefore, when the selection unit 122 selects past invoice data with different formats, the selection unit 122 may output to the creation unit 123 the selected invoice data with a flag indicating that the formats of the selected invoice and the received invoice are different. As a result, as will be described later, when the creation unit 123 displays the created translation data on the display device, it becomes possible to notify the user that the translation data of the past invoice data with different formats has been used.

[0055] The creation unit 123 combines at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected claim data selected by the selection unit 122 and the amount or date included in the received claim data to create received journal data which is journal data corresponding to the received claim data. That is, the creation unit 123 combines the information on the amount or date included in the received claim data and the accounting item included in the selected claim data to create the received journal data. For example, the creation unit 123 creates received journal data including the name of the billing target commonly included in the received claim data and the past journal data associated with the past claim data, the accounting item associated with the name of the billing target in the past journal data, and the amount or date associated with the name of the billing target in the received claim data.

[0056] The creation unit 123 may display one or more selected claim data on a display device, and combine at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected claim data selected by the user from the one or more selected claim data displayed on the display device and the amount or date included in the received claim data to create the received journal data. Specifically, when a selected claim is selected, the creation unit 123 displays a determination screen of the selected claim illustrated in FIG. 5 on the display device.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for determining a selected claim. The creation unit 123 displays the received claim data and the selected claim data on the screen illustrated in FIG. 5A. The "Next" or "Previous" icon image arranged on the screen of FIG. 5A is an image for receiving a switching operation to display other selected claim data when there are a plurality of selected claim data. When receiving a switching operation of the selected claim data, the creation unit 123 displays other selected claim data. When the determination button is pressed, the creation unit 123 combines the amount or date included in the received claim data and the accounting item associated with the displayed selected claim data to create the received journal data.

[0058] The creation unit 123 may create received journal data that includes at least a part of a plurality of character strings that are included in the received invoice data and not included in the selected invoice data in the abstract column. Specifically, the creation unit 123 determines whether a character string representing a time or stage is included in the abstract column of the selected invoice. If a character string representing a time or stage is included in the abstract column of the selected invoice, the creation unit 123 replaces the character string representing the time or stage in the abstract column with a character string representing the time or stage described in the received invoice to create received journal data. Examples of character strings representing time or stage are, for example, "for the year 2021", "for June", "step 3", "phase 3", "the third period", etc.

[0059] For example, if the details of the received invoice state "maintenance fee (for June)" and the abstract associated with the selected invoice states "maintenance fee (for May)", the creation unit 123 determines that a character string representing time is included and replaces "for May" with the character string "for June". The creation unit 123 inputs "maintenance fee (for June)" created from the abstract of the selected invoice and the replaced character string into the abstract of the received journal data to create received journal data. By configuring the creation unit 123 in this way, the text regarding the claim target of the received invoice can be automatically reflected in the abstract column, and accounting data that is easy for the user to understand can be easily created.

[0060] By the way, there may be a plurality of journal data associated with the selected invoice data. When there are a plurality of journal data corresponding to the selected invoice data selected by the selection unit 122, the creation unit 123 causes a display device to display a plurality of journal data corresponding to the past invoice data, and at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data selected by the user from the plurality of journal data displayed on the display device, and the amount or date included in the received invoice data, are combined to create received journal data.

[0061] In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the creation unit 123 may display a plurality of journal data associated with the selected claim on the screen for determining the selected claim. The user can determine the journal data to be selected by switching the radio buttons associated with the displayed journal data. When the determination button is pressed, the creation unit 123 creates received journal data by combining the amount or date included in the received claim data with the account item included in the journal data selected by the radio button.

[0062] Also, there may be cases where the appropriate journal data differs for each claim object described in the received claim. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, the creation unit 123 displays a screen for determining a selected claim configured to determine journal data in units of claim objects. On the screen for determining the selected claim shown in FIG. 5C, the detailed data of the received claim to be determined is highlighted. The user can switch the detailed data of the received claim to be determined by operating the screen. When the determination button is pressed, the creation unit 123 creates received journal data by combining the amount or date included in the received claim data with the account item included in the journal data selected by the radio button for each detailed data of the received claim.

[0063] By the way, since there is no past claim data similar to the received claim data, the selection unit 122 may not select the selected claim data. Therefore, when the selection unit 122 does not select the selected claim data, the creation unit 123 may display on the display device the received journal data created based on the character string included in the received claim data without using the selected claim data. Specifically, when the selection unit 122 does not select the selected claim data, the creation unit 123 displays on the display device the journal data registration screen illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0064] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a registration screen for journal data. On the registration screen for journal data shown in FIG. 6, a panel for inputting journal data is displayed. The creation unit 123 displays the name of the claim target and the amount in the panel for inputting journal data based on the received claim data, and displays the summary and account item in a blank state. The user checks the contents of the claim form displayed on the screen, enters appropriate characters in the display areas for the summary and account item, and presses the registration button. When the registration button is pressed, the creation unit 123 creates received journal data including the amount or date included in the received claim data and the summary and account item input on the screen.

[0065] With the creation unit 123 configured in this way, the data processing apparatus 1 can create journal data even when there is no similar past claim data. Further, by having the creation unit 123 store the received journal data registered in this way in the storage unit 11, the creation unit 123 can automatically create journal data corresponding to future received claim data similar to the registered received journal data.

[0066] When the difference between the amount or quantity of the claim target included in the selected claim data and the amount or quantity of the claim target included in the received claim data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the creation unit 123 may cause the display device to display warning information, and transmit the received journal data to the accounting system 2 on the condition that a predetermined operation by the user has been received after the warning information has been displayed on the display device. The creation unit 123 compares the selected claim data with the received claim data, and determines whether any one of the unit price, quantity, and amount deviates from a predetermined threshold value by a certain amount or more.

[0067] The predetermined threshold value is, for example, a value allowed as a ratio of the difference between the unit price included in the selected claim data and the unit price included in the received claim data to the unit price included in the selected claim data. The predetermined threshold value is set by the administrator of the data processing apparatus 1 and is, for example, 10%.

[0068] When any one of the unit price, quantity, or amount deviates from a predetermined threshold value, the creation unit 123 displays on the display device a screen indicating that the unit price, quantity, or amount deviates significantly compared to the previous invoice, prompting the user's attention. When an approval operation is received from the user on this screen, the creation unit 123 outputs the receipt journal data to the output unit 124. When an operation of not approving is received from the user on this screen, the creation unit 123 may not output the receipt journal data to the output unit 124 and may display on the display device the journal data registration screen shown in FIG. 6. In addition, when the difference from the amount included in another document corresponding to the received invoice, such as a request for approval, an order form, or an estimate, is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the creation unit 123 may display warning information on the display device.

[0069] By the way, in the journal processing of an invoice similar to the invoice previously confirmed by the user, it is cumbersome for the user to perform an operation of checking the receipt journal data created by the creation unit 123. Therefore, when the selection unit 122 selects the selected invoice data in a state where the confirmation operation is set to be omitted, the creation unit 123 may not display on the display device the receipt journal data corresponding to the received invoice data. That is, based on the content of the setting received by the setting reception unit 125, the creation unit 123 may determine whether to send the receipt journal data to the accounting system 2 after displaying the receipt journal data on the display device, or to send the receipt journal data created by the creation unit to the accounting system without displaying the receipt journal data on the display device.

[0070] Specifically, when the automatic processing setting data is stored in the storage unit 11 in association with the selected invoice data, the creation unit 123 may send to the accounting system 2 the receipt journal data created using the journal data stored in association with the selected invoice data without displaying it on the display device.

[0071] When a selected claim form is selected, the creation unit 123 determines whether the automatic processing setting associated with the selected claim form is TRUE after creating the receipt journal data. If the automatic processing setting associated with the selected claim form in the past claim form database shown in FIG. 3 is TRUE, the creation unit 123 outputs the receipt journal data to the output unit 124 without displaying the determination screen of the selected claim form shown in FIG. 5. By configuring the creation unit 123 in this way, the data processing apparatus 1 can reduce the operations by the user and process the claim forms efficiently. When there are multiple selected claim form data, the creation unit 123 creates the receipt journal data using the selected claim form data with the highest similarity or the selected claim form data with the latest date.

[0072] Also, it is convenient if the user can set the automatic processing mode when new journal data is created. Therefore, the creation unit 123 may cause the display device to display the created receipt journal data, and in response to receiving an operation from the user to make the displayed receipt journal data a target to be processed in the automatic processing mode, store the automatic processing setting data in the storage unit 11 in association with the receipt claim form data corresponding to the receipt journal data.

[0073] As an example, when the decision button is pressed on the decision screen of the selected claim form, the creation unit 123 causes the display device to display a screen prompting confirmation as to whether to set the decided claim form to the automatic processing mode. When receiving an operation from the user to set it to the automatic processing mode, the creation unit 123 sets the automatic processing setting flag of the receipt journal data to TRUE and outputs the receipt journal data to the output unit 124. By configuring the creation unit 123 in this way, the user can easily set it to the automatic processing mode in the process of the claim form processing operation.

[0074] If the format of the received invoice data is different from the format of the selected invoice data, the creation unit 123 may cause the warning information to be displayed on the display device, and transmit the received journal data to the accounting system 2 on the condition that a predetermined operation by the user has been received after the warning information has been displayed on the display device. Specifically, when a selected invoice for which a flag indicating that the formats of the selected invoice and the received invoice are different is set by the selection unit 122 is input, the creation unit 123 displays a warning screen indicating that the formats of the received invoice and the selected invoice are different on the display device. When an operation to determine the selected invoice is received from the user, the received journal data is output to the output unit 124. By configuring the creation unit 123 in this way, it is possible to prevent the creation of incorrect received journal data.

[0075] In the above description, the case where the creation unit 123 creates the journal data corresponding to the received invoice data based on the received invoice data and the journal data corresponding to the past invoice data similar to the received invoice data has been exemplified. However, the creation unit 123 may create data other than the journal data. The creation unit 123 may combine at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the selected invoice data selected by the selection unit 122 and the amount or date included in the received invoice data to create corrected invoice data corresponding to the received invoice data.

[0076] Specifically, the creation unit 123 combines the information included in the selected invoice data selected by the selection unit 122 and that does not change for each invoice (for example, information regarding the claimant) and the amount or date included in the received invoice data to create corrected invoice data. The creation unit 123 causes the created corrected invoice data to be displayed on the display device and accepts the input of the journal data. The creation unit 123 combines the input journal data and the corrected invoice data to create the received journal data.

[0077] The output unit 124 outputs by associating the received invoice data acquired by the data acquisition unit 121 and the received journal entry data created by the creation unit 123. For example, the output unit 124 transmits the received invoice data and the received journal entry data to the accounting system 2, transmits them to the computer of the accounting staff, or outputs them to a printer. The output unit 124 may output the corrected invoice data instead of the received journal entry data. The output unit 124 may output the corrected invoice data and the received journal entry data.

[0078] The setting reception unit 125 receives a setting as to whether to transmit the received journal entry data created by the creation unit 123 to the accounting system 2 after displaying the received journal entry data on the display device or to transmit the received journal entry data to the accounting system 2 without displaying the received journal entry data created by the creation unit 123 on the display device. The setting reception unit 125 receives the user's operation on a screen that prompts confirmation of whether to set to the automatic processing mode.

[0079] [Flow of processing in the data processing device 1] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the data processing device 1. The processing in this flowchart starts when the data processing device 1 receives the input of the received invoice data. The data acquisition unit 121 acquires the received invoice data (S11). The selection unit 122 extracts a character string from the received invoice data.

[0080] The selection unit 122 compares at least a part of the character strings included in a plurality of past invoice data of the invoice with at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the received invoice data (S12). The selection unit 122 calculates the similarity between the past invoice data and the received invoice data, and determines whether there is past invoice data whose similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level (S13). If there is past invoice data whose similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level (YES in S13), the process proceeds to S14. If there is no past invoice data whose similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level (NO in S13), the process proceeds to S17.

[0081] When the similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level, the selection unit 122 selects, as the selected claim data, the past claim data whose similarity to the received claim data is equal to or higher than the reference level (S14). The creation unit 123 determines whether the selected claim data is set for automatic processing (S15). When the selected claim data is set for automatic processing (YES in S15), the creation unit 123 does not display the determination screen and proceeds to S18. When the selected claim data is not set for automatic processing (NO in S15), the process proceeds to S16.

[0082] When the selected claim data is not set for automatic processing, the creation unit 123 displays a screen for determining the selected claim (S16). When the creation unit 123 receives a determination operation of the selected claim from the user, the process proceeds to S18.

[0083] When there is no past claim data whose similarity is equal to or higher than the reference level, the creation unit 123 displays a registration screen for journal data (S17) and receives a registration operation of journal data from the user. When the creation unit 123 receives a registration operation of journal data from the user, the process proceeds to S18.

[0084] The creation unit 123 creates received journal data by combining the character strings included in the input journal data or the selected journal data and the character strings included in the received claim data (S18). The creation unit 123 outputs the received journal data to the output unit 124.

[0085] The selection unit 122 determines whether there is received claim data to be the next processing target (S19). When there is received claim data to be the next processing target (YES in S19), the data processing device 1 proceeds with the process to S12. When there is no received claim data to be the next processing target (NO in S19), the data processing device 1 proceeds with the process to S20. When there is no received claim data to be the next processing target, the output unit 124 outputs the received journal data to the accounting system 2. When the received journal data is output to the accounting system 2, the data processing device 1 ends the journal processing.

[0086] As described above, in the data processing apparatus 1, the selection unit 122 compares at least a part of the character strings included in the plurality of past claim data of the plurality of past invoices with at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the received invoice data, and selects the selected claim data which is the past claim data having a similarity level to the received invoice data equal to or higher than the reference level. Then, the creation unit 123 combines at least a part of the character strings other than the amount or date included in the journal data stored in association with the selected claim data selected by the selection unit 122 with the amount or date included in the received invoice data, and creates the received journal data which is the journal data corresponding to the received invoice data. By configuring the data processing apparatus 1 in this way, the journal processing suitable for the received invoice data is automatically performed, so that the workload of the journal processing can be reduced.

[0087] As described above, the present invention has been described using the embodiments. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by functionally or physically dispersing and integrating it in any unit. Also, new embodiments resulting from any combination of a plurality of embodiments are included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of the new embodiments resulting from the combination have the effects of the original embodiments combined.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0088] 1 Data processing apparatus 11 Storage unit 12 Control unit 121 Data acquisition unit 122 Selection unit 123 Creation unit 124 Output unit 125 Setting reception unit

Claims

[Claim 1] a data acquisition unit for acquiring received invoice data, which is electronic data of an invoice; a selection unit that compares a character string indicating a billing source included in the received invoice data with a character string indicating a billing source included in a plurality of past invoice data of a plurality of past invoices, and selects the past invoice data whose invoice source matches the received invoice data as selected invoice data; a creation unit that, when there is one or more selected invoice data, displays information included in one or more selected invoice data on a display device, and creates receipt journal data, which is journal data corresponding to the received invoice data, based on information included in journal data related to the one or more selected invoice data displayed on the display device selected by the user and information included in the received invoice data; A data processing device having:

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