Forecasting from day-aligned data

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for aligning stored data in a matter that may facilitate budgeting and/or forecasting. A definable calendar period is provided which has a starting day. The starting day is applied to the stored data to locate and align each of a plurality of time periods associated with the stored data so that each time period has a starting day that matches the starting day of the calendar period.

1 . An interactive budget and forecast system, comprising:
 a calendar interface component that receives a first input that describes a time increment and a second input that describes a time range;   a calendar format component that selects from a database historic records that relate to business operation transactions that occurred during the time range, the calendar format component delineates the historic records into historic periods defined by the time increment;   a forecast component that provides a business operation forecast for a future period that is equivalent to the time increment, the forecast is based upon examination of the historic records included in a historic period that aligns with the future period; and   a calendar alignment component identifies a day of the week in which the future period begins and that selects the historic period that begins on the same day of the week in order to align the historic period with the future period.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , the time increment is at least one of a day, a week, a month, a quarter, six months, a year, or a user-defined increment of time. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the time range is at least one of a week, a month, a quarter, six months, a year, multiple years, or a user-defined time range. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , the time increment is input automatically based upon a default increment or the time range is input automatically based upon a default range. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , the default increment is a day. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , the default range is a year. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , the business operation transactions relate to at least one of business facility reservations, scheduled banquets, sales, catering, telephone usage or call accounting, time keeping, payroll processing, accounts payable, general ledger, or daily revenue recording. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , the calendar format component selects records within the time range further based upon a pivot attribute. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , the forecast component provides the forecast further based upon a calendar attribute that corresponds to an external event. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , the forecast component determines an impact value for the calendar attribute based upon business operation transactions that occurred during a previous or similar external event. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , the forecast component applies the impact value to a set of hierarchically linked pivot attributes. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , the forecast component applies the impact value to the forecast to produce an impact forecast. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , the calendar attribute is at least one of a holiday, a convention, a sporting event, a festival, a concert, an attraction, weather, news, or a renovation. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , the business operation transactions or the external event is collected from at least one facility data source. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , the facility data source is at least one of a point-of-sale (POS) device, a business transaction data store, a schedule of local events, or a local weather report. 
     
     
         16 . A computer implemented method for budgeting or forecasting based upon aligned data, comprising:
 receiving a first input that defines a time increment;   receiving a second input that defines a time range;   selecting from a data store historic records that correspond to business operations transactions that occurred during the time range;   aggregating the selected records into distinct historic periods, whereby each historic period is the same as the time increment;   employing a processor for providing a business operation forecast for a future period that is the same as the time increment, the forecast is generated by examining historic records included in a historic period that aligns with the future period; and   aligning the historic period with the future period by beginning the historic period on a same day of the week as the day of the week in which the future period begins.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising at least one of the following:
 defining the time increment as a day based upon the first input;   defining the time range as a year based upon the second input;   selecting historic records from the data store further based upon a pivot attribute;   providing the forecast further based upon a calendar attribute relating to an external event;   determining an impact value for the calendar attribute based upon business operation transactions occurring during a pervious or substantially similar external event;   applying the impact value to a set of hierarchically linked pivot attributes; or   applying the impact value to the forecast for constructing an impact forecast.   
     
     
         18 . An interactive budget and forecast system that aligns historic data, comprising:
 a calendar selection component that selects from a database historic records that relate to business operation transactions that occurred during a previous year, the database is organized to delineate records based upon a day of the week;   a forecast component that employs a processor to generate a business operation forecast for a future time period that begins on a future day, the forecast is based upon examination of the historic records that begin with an aligned day; and   a calendar alignment component that ensures the future day and the aligned day both correspond to an identical day of the week.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , the forecast component provides the forecast further based upon a calendar attribute that corresponds to an external event that is at least one of is at least one of a holiday, a convention, a sporting event, a festival, a concert, an attraction, weather, news, or a renovation. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , the forecast component determines an impact value for the calendar attribute based upon business operation transactions that occurred during a previous or substantially similar external event, and further applies the impact value to the forecast when the future day is associated with the calendar attribute.