Budget Information System Cross-Reference Feature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Government budgets are complex and lack standardization and transparency, making it difficult for non-experts to access and understand budget data, especially since individual agency systems are not interoperable and require extensive training, and recent laws mandate public access through online interfaces.
Innovation Solution
A method for displaying budget information from multiple financial databases using a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to access and cross-reference numerical and textual data across different databases, providing a unified view of planning, budgeting, accounting, personnel, and contracts data, with features like pop-up windows and fiscal year indicators, enabling seamless navigation and data tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual agency budget systems are maintained separately, then each system can be optimized for its specific needs, but interoperability between systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central indexing system that acts as an intermediary between multiple separate agency budget systems. This indexing system receives data from various agency systems (education, health, transportation, etc.), standardizes the data using common identifiers, and provides a unified search interface. The intermediary indexing system enables interoperability without requiring changes to the individual agency systems, allowing them to maintain their optimization while becoming accessible through a common framework.
2Reliability
If budget systems are housed on mainframes with program files, then data security and processing capability are improved, but accessibility and ease of manipulation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data from the mainframe systems and presents it through a web-based interface. Instead of requiring users to access mainframe program files directly, the system extracts budget data and formats it for web delivery. This maintains the security and processing capabilities of the mainframe while providing easy web-based access to the data, eliminating the need for users to interact with complex mainframe systems.
3Device complexity
If extensive training is required for budget system access, then system complexity is reduced, but user accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the budget data presentation layer through the web interface. Instead of requiring users to learn the complex mainframe system, the web interface provides a user-friendly copy of the data access functionality. The underlying mainframe system remains complex, but the web interface presents a simplified, intuitive copy that requires minimal training while maintaining access to the same comprehensive budget data.
4Manufacturing precision
If standardization of accounting codes is implemented, then data consistency across agencies is improved, but system flexibility and adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data standardization process into a separate indexing layer. Individual agency systems can maintain their own accounting codes and classifications, but the indexing system applies standardization only when needed for cross-agency comparison. This allows data consistency where required while preserving system flexibility within individual agencies, as the standardization is applied selectively rather than mandatorily across all systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is for displaying budget information from a different financial databases respectively stored in computer systems. Each different financial database is associated with a respective organizational entity. The method includes using a memory and a processor cooperating with the memory to communicate with the computer systems, and import and store the different financial databases into the memory. The method includes using the processor to process the different numerical data and textual identifiers from the different financial databases, and provide a GUI to a user. The method includes using the processor to use shared codes and fields from each of the different financial databases to generate the numerical data and textual identifiers in the other different financial databases and associated to the numerical data and textual identifiers in the current menu, and update the different numerical data and textual identifiers for the user-selected items from the different financial databases.