Jeffrey I Hunt

US Patent:

20010042032, Nov 15, 2001

Filed:

Dec 5, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/730247

Inventors:

Geoffrey Crawshaw - Needham MA, US
William O'Farrell - Providence RI, US
Thomas Brennan - Cambridge MA, US
Jeffrey Hunt - Boston MA, US
Michael Monahan - Mystic CT, US
Boris Boruchovich - Bedford MA, US
Brett Huff - Cambridge MA, US

International Classification:

G06F017/60

US Classification:

705/032000

Abstract:

A system that accepts and stores raw time and expense data for a plurality of businesses—each business defining a separate account that is accessible and usable by authorized users for the particular business. The inventive system automatically converts the raw time and expense data by considering any client or project-specific billing requirements (e.g., flat-fee, maximum fee, discount, write-offs, etc.) and by applying such specific requirements to the raw time and/or expense data in generating an invoice. The raw data may be referred to as internal data in that it is used only by the business providing a service to their client, and in connection with that business's account by the inventive system. A client will not have access to internal data. The invoice data, on the other hand, may be referred to as external data because it is communicated to the client and also used in connection with that business's account. The inventive system maintains the internal (raw) data, the external (invoiced) data, and other parameters associated with those data in a plurality of relational databases, and coordinates that data between and among a plurality of functionality including time bills, expense reports, time sheets, proposals, and project tracking functionality.