US5815829A — Job cost accounting data compression and indexing…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 277 words

A method for organizing cost data for financial records pertaining to a project or job separately from the general ledger and for incorporating the job as a whole into a single general ledger entry in a system, the steps comprising: Providing two related data entry fields and entering a first set of data into a first data entry field of said two related data entry fields and a second set of data into a second data entry field of said two related data entry fields, said first set of data representing either a blank field, a job number, a division, or a division and a job number, and said second set of data representing either general ledger information or job cost information so that said first set of data and said second set of data together represent either general ledger information or job cost information; storing said first set of data and said second set of data into data structures called tables by means of one of either disk storage means or modem transmission means to transmit to remote system locations; analyzing and obtaining significant data information from each of said data sets for parsing, which includes the steps of separating job cost information from general ledger information and interpreting job cost information to permit use of different user defined numbering systems which are entered into said second data entry field; and generating one of either a general ledger report which gathers and summarizes data information related to a particular job and includes that information as a single entry in the report or a detailed job cost report which gathers all phases and tasks of each job.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 277 words

A method for organizing cost data for financial records pertaining to a project or job separately from the general ledger and for incorporating the job as a whole into a single general ledger entry in a system, the steps comprising: Providing two related data entry fields and entering a first set of data into a first data entry field of said two related data entry fields and a second set of data into a second data entry field of said two related data entry fields, said first set of data representing either a blank field, a job number, a division, or a division and a job number, and said second set of data representing either general ledger information or job cost information so that said first set of data and said second set of data together represent either general ledger information or job cost information; storing said first set of data and said second set of data into data structures called tables by means of one of either disk storage means or modem transmission means to transmit to remote system locations; analyzing and obtaining significant data information from each of said data sets for parsing, which includes the steps of separating job cost information from general ledger information and interpreting job cost information to permit use of different user defined numbering systems which are entered into said second data entry field; and generating one of either a general ledger report which gathers and summarizes data information related to a particular job and includes that information as a single entry in the report or a detailed job cost report which gathers all phases and tasks of each job.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 184 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein the first data entry field is provided to enter data of the first data set which either contains division information and job number information or is left empty, wherein said division information is information identifying an organizational unit of a business entity and said job information is information identifying a particular job by a unique alphanumeric code; a second data entry field is provided to enter data of a second data set which is dependent upon the contents of the first data set such that if the first data set contains division and job number information then the system determines that the data of the second data entry field relates to job cost information and the second data set may contain bid/budget and line number information related to that job; if the first data set is left empty then the system determines that the data of the second data entry field relates to general ledger information and the second data set contains general ledger information including general ledger number and department code and initials of key people.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second data sets are encoded in computer character strings and are analyzed and validated using algorithmic means to obtain significant information which is then made available for processing by the system.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method according to claim 3 wherein said algorithmic means includes separate software routines for analyzing the first data set and second data set respectively.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 48 words

The method according to claim 3 wherein said algorithmic means includes a software routine which separates the said computer character strings into component character strings for individual identification and which is utilized by each of the said software routines for the first data set and second data set.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein software routines employ algorithmic means to separate data sets including general ledger information from data sets including job cost information and to gather and summarize job cost information into a single entry for inclusion in the general ledger report.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein software routines employ algorithmic means to interpret job cost information for different user-defined numbering systems during data entry.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 39 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein data structures called tables are provided for the storage of the said first and second data sets and wherein said first and second data sets are organized and stored in said tables.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said tables are stored using means including hard disk drives, floppy disks and compact disks.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said providing step includes entering information from said first set of data and said second set of data by bar coding means.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said first set of data and said second set of data transmitted by said modem means are subsequently stored on disk storage means at said remote system locations.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said report is either printed on paper or displayed on a computer monitor.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 303 words

A system for organizing cost data for financial records pertaining to a project or job separately from the general ledger and for incorporating the job as a whole into a single general ledger entry in the system, comprising: two related data entry fields including a first data entry field representing either a blank field, a job number, a division or a division and a job number of said two related data entry fields having a first set of data entered therein, and a second data entry field of said two related data entry fields representing either general ledger information or job cost information and having a second set of data which is entered therein, so that said first set of data and said second set of data together represent either general ledger information or job cost information; data structures called tables into which said first set of data and said second set of data, means for storing said first set of data and said second set of data into said data structures called tables, said means for storing including of one of either disk storage means, magnetic storage means, or modem transmission means to transmit to remote system locations; means for analyzing and obtaining significant data information from each of said data sets to allow for parsing, which includes means for separating job cost information from general ledger information and means for interpreting job cost information to permit use of different user defined numbering systems which are entered into said second data entry field; and means for generating a either one of a general ledger report which gathers and summarizes data information related to a particular job and includes that information as a single entry in the report or a detailed job cost report which gathers all phases and tasks of each job.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 303 words

A system for organizing cost data for financial records pertaining to a project or job separately from the general ledger and for incorporating the job as a whole into a single general ledger entry in the system, comprising: two related data entry fields including a first data entry field representing either a blank field, a job number, a division or a division and a job number of said two related data entry fields having a first set of data entered therein, and a second data entry field of said two related data entry fields representing either general ledger information or job cost information and having a second set of data which is entered therein, so that said first set of data and said second set of data together represent either general ledger information or job cost information; data structures called tables into which said first set of data and said second set of data, means for storing said first set of data and said second set of data into said data structures called tables, said means for storing including of one of either disk storage means, magnetic storage means, or modem transmission means to transmit to remote system locations; means for analyzing and obtaining significant data information from each of said data sets to allow for parsing, which includes means for separating job cost information from general ledger information and means for interpreting job cost information to permit use of different user defined numbering systems which are entered into said second data entry field; and means for generating a either one of a general ledger report which gathers and summarizes data information related to a particular job and includes that information as a single entry in the report or a detailed job cost report which gathers all phases and tasks of each job.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 45 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein said first and second data sets are encoded in computer character strings and further comprising algorithmic means for analyzing and validating said computer character strings to obtain significant information which is then made available for processing the system.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 25 words

The system according to claim 14 wherein said algorithmic means includes separate software routines for analyzing the first data set and second data set respectively.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 49 words

The system according to claim 14 wherein said algorithmic means includes a software routine which separates the said computer character strings into component character strings for individual identification and which is utilized by each of the said software routines for the first data set and the second data set.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 181 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein the first data entry field is structured to permit entry of the first data set which either contains division information and job number information or is left empty, wherein said division information is information identifying an organizational unit of a business entity and said job information is information identifying a particular job by a unique alphanumeric code; a second data entry field is structured to enter data of a second data set which is dependant upon the contents of the first data set such that in a first mode if the first data set contains division and job number information then the system determines that the data relates to job cost information and the second data set may contain bid/budget and line number information related to that job; in a second mode if the first data set is left empty then the system determines that the data relates to general ledger information and the second data set may contain general ledger information including general ledger number and department code and initials of key people.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 48 words

The system according to claim 13 further comprising software routines which employ algorithmic means to separate data sets including general ledger information from data sets including job cost information and to gather and summarize job cost information into a single entry for inclusion in the general ledger report.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 27 words

The system according to claim 13 further comprising software routines which employ algorithmic means to interpret job cost information for different user-defined numbering systems during data entry.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein data structures called tables are provided for the storage of the said first and second data sets and wherein said first and second data sets are organized and stored in said tables.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 26 words

The system according to claim 13 further comprising storage means for storing said tables, said storage means including hard disk drives, floppy disks and compact disks.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 29 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein said providing step includes entering information from said first set of data and said second set of data by bar coding means.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein said first set of data and said second set of data transmitted by said modem means are subsequently stored on disk storage means at said remote system locations.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 20 words

The system according to claim 13 wherein said report is either printed on paper or displayed on a computer monitor.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-09-28	2002-03-30	2002-09-29	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-09-28	2006-03-30	2006-09-29	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-09-28	2010-03-30	2010-09-29	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Job cost accounting data compression and indexing system and methods for doing the same

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