Automated Travel Expense Statement Creation System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current travel-expense management systems require manual selection and assignment of transaction data for creating travel-expense statements, which is time-consuming and prone to errors, lacking automated credit card clearing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A computer system and method for automated travel-expense statement creation that automatically identifies and collects relevant transaction data based on identifying criteria such as date, allowing only associated entries to be presented for user review and selection, with the option to cancel incorrect assignments, utilizing electronic data processing and network data exchange for streamlined data transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual selection and assignment of transaction data is used for creating travel-expense statements, then the system maintains simplicity in implementation, but the process becomes time-consuming and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically pre-selecting transaction data that matches travel itinerary information before the user needs to create the expense statement. The computer system retrieves transaction data from payment systems, matches it with travel itinerary data, and pre-populates the expense statement with correctly associated transactions, eliminating the need for manual selection and assignment during statement creation.
2Device complexity
If manual selection and assignment of transaction data is used for creating travel-expense statements, then the system structure remains simple, but the process becomes prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The computer system acts as an intermediary between the payment system and the expense statement creation process. It automatically retrieves transaction data, matches it with travel itinerary information, and assigns the correct transactions to the expense statement. This intermediary automation eliminates manual matching errors while maintaining system simplicity through standardized data exchange formats and automated processing logic.
3Productivity
If automated identification of transaction data is implemented, then the productivity of creating travel-expense statements improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The computer system performs multiple functions: it acts as a data retrieval interface with payment systems, a data matching engine comparing transactions with itineraries, and an automated statement population tool. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system that communicates through standardized formats, the patent achieves high productivity without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer system and computer-implemented method for creating travel-expense statements. The computer system is based on electronic data processing means comprising identifying means for automatically creating particular identifying data for identifying which of the travel-expense receipts were related to particular business trips, and determining means for automatically collecting the identifying data of the travel-expense data for determining the travel-expense receipts associated with the particular identifying data. Rather than showing all entries, only those automatically-identified entries may be presented to the user as items that should be associated with a particular travel-expense statement.