Expenditure Visualization Application Tree View GUI Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional financial management software applications lack the ability to efficiently track and analyze planned and actual expenditures at different organizational levels, such as departments and projects, making it difficult for users to gain insights into expenditures and failing to provide consolidated budget and expenditure information for strategic sourcing and cost analysis.
Innovation Solution
An expenditure visualization application that presents a tree view GUI control representing a hierarchy of cost objects, allowing users to drill down to detailed levels, generate waterfall visualizations, and define user-specific parameters for budget utilization alerts and predictive analysis, enabling efficient comparison and analysis of spend data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional financial management software records financial transactions for various purposes including accounting, finance, and reporting, then comprehensive financial data is captured, but the ability to efficiently track and analyze planned and actual expenditures at different organizational levels is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments expenditure data by organizational levels (departments, projects, cost objects) and presents them in a hierarchical tree view structure. This segmentation allows users to drill down from high-level summaries to detailed expenditure line items, making it easy to track and analyze planned versus actual expenditures at any organizational level without overwhelming complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a visual dimension to financial data by implementing waterfall charts and graphical representations that show planned versus actual expenditures. This visual dimension transforms complex numerical data into intuitive visual displays, enabling users to quickly grasp expenditure variances and trends without sifting through raw numbers
2Loss of information
If the application provides detailed expenditure data at multiple organizational levels, then comprehensive analysis capability is improved, but the interface complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic interface where the tree view control automatically expands and collapses based on user interactions. Users can click to drill down from parent cost objects to child cost objects and individual line items, or collapse to return to higher-level summaries. This dynamic behavior allows users to access detailed information when needed while maintaining a simplified view during normal operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary tree view control that acts as a bridge between the complex underlying financial data structure and the user interface. This control provides a structured, hierarchical navigation mechanism that simplifies access to detailed expenditure information while maintaining ease of operation through intuitive expand/collapse functionality
3Productivity
If the application implements multiple visualization types and predictive analysis capabilities, then analytical power is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal expenditure visualization framework that can display multiple types of information (planned versus actual expenditures, budget variances, trends, predictive analytics) using a consistent tree view and waterfall chart interface. This multi-functional design allows the same interface structure to handle diverse analytical needs, improving productivity without proportionally increasing perceived complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are system, method and computer program product embodiments for implementing an expenditure visualization application. An embodiment obtains an identifier of a parent cost object, accesses one or more databases of cost accounting data to generate a data structure that represents a hierarchy of cost objects that includes the parent cost object and one or more child cost objects that depend therefrom, the data structure storing planned data and expenditure data for each cost object in the hierarchy, generates based on the data structure a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents each cost object in the hierarchy of cost objects as a corresponding node, each node in the tree view GUI control including an expenditure visualization representing the planned data and the expenditure data for the corresponding cost object, and provides the tree view GUI control for display via a GUI of the application.