Patent ID: 8140361
Filing Date: 2012-03-20
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computerized method for integrating travel and expense information, comprising: receiving, by a server module, travel request data and/or travel reservation data corresponding to a travel event type, the request and/or reservation data further including travel request and/or reservation attributes; generating, by the server module, a travel request record, wherein the travel record includes the travel request and/or travel reservation information; receiving from a plurality of sources, by the server module, travel expense transaction data, the travel expense transaction data further comprising an expense transaction attribute; generating, by the server module, a travel expense transaction record, wherein the travel expense transaction record comprises the expense transaction data; designating, by a matching module, an attribute included in the expense transaction record for comparison to a corresponding attribute included in the travel request record; retrieving, by the matching module, pre-determined matching criteria corresponding to the travel event type and to the designated expense transaction attribute; comparing, by the matching module, the expense transaction attribute to any corresponding request attribute using the pre-determined matching criteria and determining an initial matching score based on the comparison; iteratively repeating the comparisons for each attribute included in the expense transaction record and the travel request record to produce an adjusted matching score; determining, by the matching module, whether the total matching score exceeds a first pre-determined threshold defined by the pre-determined matching criteria for the travel event type and the travel request attribute; designating, by the matching module, the expense transaction record and the travel request record as a positive match when the total matching score is above the first threshold; determining, by the matching module, whether the total matching score does not exceed the first pre-determined threshold defined by the pre-determined matching criteria for the travel event type, but does exceed a second pre-determined threshold, the second pre-determined threshold also defined by the pre-determined matching criteria for the travel event type; and designating, by the matching module, the expense transaction record and the travel request record as a possible match when the total matching score does not exceed the first pre-determined threshold but is above the second threshold.