System and Method for Associating Financial Transaction Data with a User's Project Data Using a Portable Electronic Device

Abstract

This invention relates to a system for viewing and manipulating a user's financial transaction data and a method for associating financial transaction data with a user's project data using a portable electronic device.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A system for viewing and organizing a user's financial transaction data using a portable electronic device, the system comprising:
 a data storage unit for hosting a user's financial transaction data, addressable on a network, and accessible by a remote user on a portable electronic device having a user input means and a display; and   an application executed by a processor of the portable electronic device, the application comprising:
 a transaction retrieval component configured to access the user's financial transaction data, including line item data, and generate representations thereof viewable by a user on the display; and 
 a transaction categorization engine configured to associate a percentage or portion of selected ones of the user's financial transaction data representations for a single transaction with one or more user-defined project category data representations; 
   wherein the application is further configured to display a user preferences menu to the user.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the user preferences menu is configured to display preference options to the user. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the preference options allow the user to assign priority to one or both of the following: specified user-defined project category data representations and specified financial transaction data representations. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the financial transaction data includes one or more of the following: purchase data, product data, product quantity data, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendor name data, vendor part number data, product name data, stock keeping unit (SKU) number data, tax data, discount data, receipt number data, universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data, interest data, balance data, debit card data, check data, line of credit access card data, line of credit transaction card data, and balance transfer data. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the preference options allow the user to assign priority to a financial transaction data representation based on at least one of the following: purchase data, product data, product quantity data, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendor name data, vendor part number data, product name data, stock keeping unit (SKU) number data, tax data, discount data, receipt number data, universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data, interest data, balance data, debit card data, check data, line of credit access card data, line of credit transaction card data, and balance transfer data. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the preference options allow the user to indicate a preference relating to the display of the financial transaction data on the portable electronic device. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the preference options are based at least in part on information input by the user and are further associated with a user profile. 
     
     
         29 . A computer implemented method for expense reporting, the method comprising:
 accessing, using an electronic device connected to a wireless data network, a user's financial transaction data, the electronic device comprising the following:   a processor,   a data storage unit configured to address a remote data storage unit in order to receive financial transaction data,   a user input means, and   a display;   displaying representations of the user's financial transaction data on the display of the electronic device;   defining project category data and generating representations thereof on the display of the electronic device;   associating a percentage or portion of the user's financial transaction data for a single transaction with user-defined project category data;   creating a data record having the user's financial transaction data and user-defined project category data, wherein the data record is in a form suitable for at least one of: review, storage, modification, analysis, and exportation;   displaying a user preferences menu to the user, wherein the menu presents two or more options to the user; and   selecting at least one option via the user input means.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising updating, in real time, the user's association of a percentage or portion of the user's financial transaction data for a single transaction with user-defined project category data, based on the user's selection of the at least one option. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising assigning priority to one or more of the user-defined project category data representations or to one or more of the user's financial transaction data representations. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the financial transaction data includes one or more of the following: purchase data, product data, product quantity data, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendor name data, vendor part number data, product name data, stock keeping unit (SKU) number data, tax data, discount data, receipt number data, universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data, interest data, balance data, debit card data, check data, line of credit access card data, line of credit transaction card data, and balance transfer data. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising assigning priority to a single transaction based on at least one of the following: purchase data, product data, product quantity data, purchase date data, purchase price data, vendor name data, vendor part number data, product name data, stock keeping unit (SKU) number data, tax data, discount data, receipt number data, universal product code data, barcode data, fee data, interest rate data, interest data, balance data, debit card data, check data, line of credit access card data, line of credit transaction card data, and balance transfer data. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising indicating a preference relating to the display of the financial transaction data on the portable electronic device. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising basing the at least two or more options to the user at least in part on information input by the user and associated with a user profile. 
     
     
         36 . A system for viewing and manipulating a user's financial transaction data, the system comprising:
 an electronic device connected to a wireless data network, the electronic device comprising a processor and a data storage unit configured to address a remote data storage unit in order to receive financial transaction data;   user input means and a display associated with the electronic device;   a notification component configured to present a reminder to the user on the display of the portable electronic device, wherein data associated with the reminder is either manually entered by the user prior to the time of the notification or where the notification is automatically generated based on the user's input of at least one user preference; and   a processor configured to execute an application comprising the following:   a transaction retrieval component configured to access the user's financial transaction data and generate representations thereof,   a category generation engine configured to generate user-defined project category data and representations thereof viewable to a user on the display,   a transaction categorization engine configured to associate a percentage or portion of the user's financial transaction data representations for a single transaction with one or more of the user-defined project category data representations, and   a data record generation engine configured create a data record containing the user's financial transaction data and the user-defined project category data, wherein the data record is in a form suitable for at least one of: review, storage, modification, analysis, and exportation.