Computerized system for processing transaction data

Abstract

A system and method of managing purchasing contracts between supplier entities and customer entities for the purchase of products includes the step of generating at least one purchasing contract between at least one supplier entity (e.g., a product originator such as an airline company or a distributor such as travel agency) and at least one customer entity. The purchasing contract generated is one that is applicable to one or more contracted purchasing transactions effected, at least partially, through a computerized system. The generating step includes identifying one or more contract terms, wherein each contract term has one or more term attributes, and storing a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term in one or more computer databases. The method also involves collecting transaction data relating to one or more purchasing transactions and storing the transaction data in one or more computer databases. Preferably, a computer program is executed to identify one or more of the purchasing transactions as a contracted transaction (i.e., applicable to a specific contract) by selecting at least a portion of the transaction data for a purchasing transaction and comparing the selected portion with the term attributes for a contract term. In this way, the transaction may be identified as a contracted transaction if the selected portion is identified with one or more of the term attributes.

1 . A computerized system for processing transaction data, comprising a transaction database for storing a plurality of transaction data sets, wherein a transaction data set comprises transaction data relating to one or more transactions;
 a term definition storage means for storing a plurality of contract terms of a contract, wherein a contract term comprises at least one performance measurement criterion and at least one benefit criterion, wherein the term definition storage means is a means for storing structure data in an electronic media accessed by computerized processes;   means for enabling a user to define at least one performance measurement criterion of a contract term from a list of measurement criteria;   means for enabling a user to define at least one benefit criterion of a contract term from a list of benefit criteria;   means for storing the defined at least one performance measurement criterion of the contract term in the term definition storage means;   means for storing the defined at least one benefit criterion of the contract term in the term definition storage means;   means for identifying transaction data sets stored in the transaction database and satisfying the at least one performance measurement criterion of a contract term as measure-on; and   means for identifying transaction data sets stored in the transaction database and satisfying the at least one benefit criterion of a contract term as benefit-on.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising means for processing the identified transaction datasets to create a term forecast. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 2 , further comprising means for converting the performance measurement criterion of a contract term into a first query;
 means for converting the benefit criteria of a contract term into a second query;   wherein the means for identifying transaction data sets as measure-on is arranged for applying the first query and the means for identifying transaction data sets as benefit-on is arranged for applying the second query.   
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the first query and the second query are expressed in a structured query language format. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising means for enabling a user to define at least one term rule;
 means for informing a user whether the contract term meets the requirements of the at least one term rule.   
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the means for enabling a user to define at least one performance measurement criterion comprises a first input screen and the means for enabling a user to define at least one benefit criterion comprises a second input screen. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising means for marking a transaction data set with a contract code and with a term code where a match exists based on the criteria. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a term performance database for storing an analysis summary based on the identified transaction data sets. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a requirements screen for displaying a forecast of a contract term's performance and for displaying an alert if the contract term does not satisfy a term rule requirement. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system is arranged for enabling to define and for storing contract terms for a plurality of contracts. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising means for normalizing the transaction data into a format wherein each transaction data set is relating to an origin and destination row reflecting a true destination of a traveler. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising means for enabling a user to add a contract term of the contract to the term definition database. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the means for storing the defined at least one performance measurement criterion and the means for storing the defined at least one benefit criterion are arranged for storing the first query and the second query, respectively. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 3 , further comprising means for analyzing the overall results of each of the combined individual terms of a contract to obtain a contract performance forecast. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the 15 transactions are purchasing transactions, wherein the benefit criteria are discount criteria, wherein the benefit-on is a discount-on, and wherein the term forecast is a financial term forecast. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method of processing transaction data, comprising
 storing a plurality of transaction data sets in a transaction database, wherein a transaction data set comprises transaction data relating to one or more transactions;   storing a plurality of contract terms of a contract in a term definition storage  25  means, wherein a contract term comprises at least one performance measurement criterion and at least one benefit criterion, wherein the term definition storage means is a means for storing structure data in an electronic media accessed by computerized processes;   enabling a user to define at least one performance measurement criterion of a contract term from a list of measurement criteria;   enabling a user to define at least one benefit criterion of a contract term from a list of benefit criteria;   storing the defined at least one performance measurement criterion of the contract term in the term definition storage means;   storing the defined at least one benefit criterion of the contract term in the term definition storage means;   identifying transaction data sets stored in the transaction database and satisfying the at least one performance measurement criterion of a contract term as measure-on;   identifying transaction data sets stored in the transaction database and 5 satisfying the at least one benefit criterion of a contract term as benefit-on; and   processing the identified transaction datasets to create a term forecast.   
     
     
         17 . A computer program product comprising instructions for causing a processor to perform the method according to  claim 16 .