Document Extraction System for Financial Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems face challenges in extracting meaningful data from non-standardized digital scans of financial documents, as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) only translates characters without assigning meaning, making it difficult and costly to integrate this data into third-party systems.

Innovation Solution

An automated document extraction system that uses OCR technologies in conjunction with a custom interpreter to recognize financial documents, making assumptions based on common formatting features to assign meaning to data, thereby reducing the need for extensive mapping processes and enabling efficient data extraction without requiring a specific template for each document.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If OCR technology is used to convert scanned documents into machine-encoded text, then character translation is achieved, but meaningful data extraction is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecharacter recognition accuracyVSAvoiddata meaning
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary data structure (JSON format with metadata, confidence scores, and contextual information) that bridges the gap between raw OCR text and meaningful financial data. This intermediary layer preserves both the textual content and its semantic meaning by structuring the output to include field identifiers, confidence levels, and relationships between data elements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system segments the document processing into distinct functional modules: OCR text extraction, metadata generation, confidence scoring, and financial data interpretation. Each module handles a specific aspect of the transformation, allowing the system to maintain both character accuracy and data meaning through specialized processing stages.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If manual mapping is performed to establish data locations for standardized forms, then data extraction accuracy is improved, but time and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata extraction accuracyVSAvoidmapping setup time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service by automatically generating metadata and confidence scores that guide data extraction without requiring manual mapping setup. The financial document interpretation module autonomously identifies data locations and meanings by analyzing document structure, headings, and contextual patterns, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual configuration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-processing documents to generate structured metadata and confidence indicators before extraction is needed. This preliminary structuring of information allows subsequent extraction operations to proceed automatically with high accuracy, avoiding the need for manual mapping at the time of data collection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of information

If extensive OCR mapping is performed for each non-standardized document, then data extraction completeness is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata completenessVSAvoidmapping process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a universal financial document interpretation module that handles multiple document types and formats through a single standardized approach. This module uses common financial statement structures and naming conventions to extract data from diverse sources without requiring document-specific mapping configurations, thereby maintaining data completeness while reducing system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes parameters by transforming unstructured or semi-structured document data into a standardized JSON format with consistent metadata fields and confidence scores. This parameter transformation allows the system to maintain data completeness across varying document formats while using a uniform processing approach that reduces complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

4Measurement precision

If custom templates are created for each document format, then extraction accuracy is improved, but adaptability decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveextraction accuracyVSAvoiddocument format flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system achieves universality by designing a single financial document interpretation module that can process multiple document formats and styles. This module uses generalized financial statement patterns and metadata structures to maintain extraction accuracy across diverse formats without requiring separate custom templates for each document type.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements dynamics by making the extraction process adaptive to different document formats through confidence scoring and metadata analysis. Rather than relying on static templates, the system dynamically adjusts its interpretation based on document-specific characteristics while maintaining accuracy through structured output formats and validation mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS11281901B2Document extraction system and method
Publication Date: 2022.03.22 CROWE LLP
  • US11281901B2 patent drawing
  • US11281901B2 patent drawing
  • US11281901B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A system for giving meaning to data in a non-standardized digital document. In some embodiments, the system includes a web portal, a recognition server and an extraction system. The web portal is accessible via a network for receiving a non-standardized digital source document. The recognition server is configured to perform optical character recognition analysis on the non-standardized digital source document and generates document recognition data including positional locations of a plurality of characters in the non-standardized digital source document. The extraction system is configured to identify labels and corresponding values represented in the non-standardized digital source document and automatically maps the labels to a plurality of predetermined variables in an external software system to which the values from the non-standardized digital source document are to be imported.