Abstract:
The budget information system includes a budgetary information database having numerical data and associated textual identifiers. Searching on the database permits receiving correlated budget data on a desired topic. The system is built by accessing a database containing raw budget data and textual information on a plurality of budgetary subdivisions. A list of titles of at least some of the budgetary subdivisions is compiled, and a first computer screen containing the list of titles is created. A numerical record on a selected budget subdivision is retrieved into a spreadsheet application, and a textual record on the selected budget subdivision is retrieved into a word processing application. A second screen is then formatted that contains the numerical record and the textual record in tabular form, and a link is provided between a title of the subdivision on the first screen with the second screen.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 60/185,830, filed Feb. 29, 2000, entitled “Querying Method to Budget Information Network via Internet Access.” The disclosure of that application is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to systems and methods for accessing budgetary information and, more particularly, to such systems and methods for accessing governmental budgetary information via a network.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Governmental budget systems, such as that known in the art in Florida, are often housed on mainframes, with program files being difficult to access and manipulate, especially for a person not conversant with complex computer coding. To properly use and understand such applications typically requires extensive training and a background in the budget desired to be accessed. For elected officials, a staff is required to mine data as desired; for a person outside the government, it would be virtually impossible to obtain such data in a desired form.  
           [0006]    In the exemplary Florida system, operational systems data for state personnel, accounting, budgeting, and planning are housed in separate mainframe computers that are not linked and are incompatible. Reengineering such a system would present a difficult, time-consuming, and expensive challenge.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for accessing budgetary data via a network.  
           [0008]    It is a further object to provide such a system and method that is indexed under a plurality of categories.  
           [0009]    It is another object to provide such a system and method that is accessible via the Internet.  
           [0010]    It is an additional object to provide such a system and method that contains links to related electronic sites for correlating budget information with other data.  
           [0011]    It is yet a further object to provide such a system and method that is tailored for governmental budgetary data.  
           [0012]    It is yet another object to provide such a system and method that can perform zero-based budget analysis.  
           [0013]    These and other objects are achieved by the present invention, a budget information system that comprises a budgetary information database that includes numerical data and textual identifiers imported from a remote site. The numerical data are extracted from the remote site into a spreadsheet or similar application, and the textual identifiers are extracted from the remote site into a word processing application. The system also comprises means for receiving a keyword selected by a user and means for matching the database with the keyword. The keyword “selection” may comprise, for example, the user&#39;s entering the keyword into a search engine; alternatively, the selection may comprise clicking an item on the screen with a pointing device, that item linked to related data in the database. Means for formatting and outputting related budget data and a textual identifier that were found from the database search commensurate with the keyword match permit the user to receive correlated budget data on a desired topic.  
           [0014]    Another aspect of the present invention are methods for building, accessing, and using a budget information system. This method comprises the steps of accessing a database containing raw budget data and textual information on a plurality of budgetary subdivisions. Next a list of titles of at least some of the budgetary subdivisions is compiled, and a first computer screen containing the list of titles is created.  
           [0015]    In use, a numerical record on a selected budget subdivision is retrieved into a spreadsheet application, and a textual record on the selected budget subdivision is retrieved into a word processing application. A second screen is then formatted that contains the numerical record and the textual record in tabular form, and a link is provided between a title of the subdivision on the first screen with the second screen.  
           [0016]    A multiplicity of features is provided by the present system and method, including, but not intended to be limited to:  
           [0017]    the ability to review data imported from disparate planning, budget, accounting, and personnel sources across subdivisions/agencies in order to effectively manage resources;  
           [0018]    the ability to access the data via a network, such as the Internet, from any location and any time;  
           [0019]    the integration of sources of operational data;  
           [0020]    a searchable data system;  
           [0021]    the ability to track items of interest for review, including business processes that are deemed to be of high or low priority, the budget needed to support that process, the positions necessary, and the expense related to that process;  
           [0022]    the ability to review business processes  
           [0023]    the ability to “drill down” (expand) expense category details; and  
           [0024]    the ability to review employee position data in context of the planning documents, such as support of a particular process, salary information, work location, etc.  
           [0025]    The features that characterize the invention, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description used in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is to be expressly understood that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. These and other objects attained, and advantages offered, by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description that now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0026]    [0026]FIGS. 1A,1B is a flowchart of the method for creating the information system of the present invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a functional analysis of spending data.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 is a home page screen for the system accessed via the Internet.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4 is a decision chart of information screens accessible by the system.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5 is an exemplary contact data screen.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the method for entering the system for accessing budgetary data using the system of the present invention.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 7 is a screen tabulating budget issues for the current fiscal year.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 8 is a screen tabulating budget issues with one issue further divided for the current fiscal year.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 9 is a screen tabulating line item divisions for a selected issue.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 10 is a screen tabulating budget detail information and presenting issue narrative justification.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 11 is a screen expanding on budget details for a selected item.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 12 is a screen giving agency budget details.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 13 is a screen giving search results.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 14 is a screen listing budget bills.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 15 is a screen showing section titles of a selected bill.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 16 is a screen expanding on a selected section to give items and associated verbiage.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 17 is a screen giving details of a specific selected appropriation.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 18 is a screen giving results of a search on budget bills.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 19 is a screen giving details of an appropriation.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 20 is a screen for selecting items to be tracked.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 21 is a screen containing details of a tracked folder.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 22 is a screen containing personalized comments and textual information on a tracked item.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 23 is a list of reference materials available on the system. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0049]    A description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be presented with reference to FIGS.  1 A- 24 . The particular embodiment disclosed herein is directed to an interactive budget information system for state or other governmental budgetary data, here Florida. It will be understood by one of skill in the art, however, that the system is adaptable to any budgetary information desired for presentation to a remote user, such as corporate or other institutional budget and financial data. Therefore, the generic term subdivisions used herein refers in the specific governmental case to agencies or departments; likewise, the subdivisions are broken down into line items, which refers to issues, which themselves are typically broken down further into individual expenditures.  
         [0050]    Creation of Budget Information System  
         [0051]    The method for building the budget details aspect of the system  10  of the present invention (block  100 ) is illustrated in flowchart form in FIGS. 1A, 1 B, and the functional flow of agency data used to supply the system  10  is shown in FIG. 2. In the particular embodiment illustrated here, the budget data are imported from a mainframe computer located at a central site, such as a state capital. In the specific case of Florida, such data files are received from the Office of the Governor, Office of Systems Design and Development. A new document is created in the system site to which the imported data files are attached. This step comprises importing numerical data into a spreadsheet application, such as, but not intended to be limited to, Excel or Lotus software (block  101 ), creating a budget detail database and excluding portions of the files not desired for inclusion in this database, such as Bill data. The next step comprises importing the textual data into a word processing application, such as, but not intended to be limited to, Lotus Notes or Lotus Script (block  102 ). The numerical data are linked to the textual narratives (block  103 ), as will be discussed in the following. These data are imported into a system site computer, where all further processing (block  104 ) takes place. Some form of data massaging may be required, as will be understood by one of skill in the art, depending upon the form in which they are supplied, such as uncompressing or removing record delimiters.  
         [0052]    In the current embodiment, the system  10  integrates data from a plurality of mainframe computers, each housing disparate systems, and creates a web-enabled information site. Such an integration of information will enable users to review planning, budget, accounting, personnel, purchasing, and investment data across agencies in order to effectively manage resources. Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen the budget data flow from, for example, a state agency  20 , which provides data for the agency measurement system  21 . This system  21  contains defined business processes and planning documents  22 . The agency measurement system  21  provides data for the state budgeting system  23 , which contains mainframe budget detail files  24 . The state budgeting system  23  provides data for the state accounting system  25 , which contains the mainframe accounting file object codes  26 . The state accounting system  25  provides data for the state personnel system  27 , which contains mainframe personnel data and information on vacant positions  28 . Purchasing data  29   a  and Investment data  29   b  feed, along with budgeting  23 , accounting  25 , and personnel  27  systems feed into an integrated financial management system  11 . The system components  22 , 24 , 26 , 28  are further integrated  12  by the system  10  and serve as sources for the system  10 . Steps  101 , 102  are repeated each time a new iteration of the state budget is released, from an original agency request, through a legislative session with each version of the budget from the House and the Senate, and the Governor&#39;s office, to the final appropriations and the Governor&#39;s vetoed items. Thus FIG. 2 serves as a template indicating the structure of a zero-based budget reviewing system, permitting data integration, search capabilities, and data mining and reporting, as will be detailed in the following.  
         [0053]    The system  10  also incorporates the building of a plurality of linked screens that will use all the budgetary numerical and textual data housed in the local computer. These screens, which will be detailed in the following section, include a “home,” or entry, page comprising a sign in feature (name, password, etc.). Linked to the home page are a plurality of system sectors accessed by selecting from a plurality of tabs.  
         [0054]    The system  10  also permits a user to access information on budget bills (block  105 ) as above for the budget data. This aspect of the system  10  is created by importing data from the mainframe computer at the central site (block  106 ), copying the data into a file, massaging the data as needed (block  107 ), copying the data into the database created during the creation of the Budget Details, preparing the table titles from the word processing file, and formatting the information into the word processing program (block  108 ).  
         [0055]    A further feature of the system  10  comprises the ability to track subdivisions of the budget database (block  109 ). This feature is built by using a software application that has been written to establish tracking records in a created tracking database for each item tracked. This record is unique to the user creating the tracking record and has a unique folder name associated therewith. If the tracking record already exists, it is updated with the latest budget data. The tracking record is linked to the original budget item by a unique ID number. When the tracking record, which is editable for the user, is opened, the original budget item document is retrieved and displayed within the same document, which enables the tracking item to appear as the user&#39;s private version of the original document, with the user&#39;s comments associated to the budget item. The user interface screen, which is adapted to receive user a selection (block  110 ), triggers a polling of the subdivision related to that selection (block  111 ) to update the data each time the user accesses the system  10 . The user comments (block  112 ) remain with the folder item.  
         [0056]    Another feature of the system  10  comprises the presentation of a list of contacts (block  113 ) associated with each subdivision/agency. This element is built by pulling personnel data imported at step  102  into a file (block  114 ) and creating a screen listing name and contact information (block  115 ).  
         [0057]    A resources sector is created (block  116 ) to include reference information, with data included from the importation of data at step  102  and other explanatory material (block  117 ) to assist a user in navigating the state government system, which may have been created from other sources as well as the central site database to build a set of linked resources screens (block  118 ).  
         [0058]    Accessing and Using the Budget Information System  
         [0059]    In the exemplary embodiment presented herein, a user desiring budgetary information enters the system  10  via a network, such as the Internet, by entering a web site hosting the system  10 . A home page screen  30  (FIG. 3) appears, with a description of the site  301  and various electronic links (“hot” links) to, among other things, announcements  302 . In order to view the data, the user in this embodiment must sign in  303 , although this is not intended as a limitation. A plurality of tabs  304 - 309  at the top of the screen  30  provide access to the identified sectors of the system  10 , the decision hierarchy for which is shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0060]    If the user selects the “contacts” tab  305 , block  310  on FIG. 4, a screen  41  appears (FIG. 5) that lists budget contacts broken down into subdivisions/agencies. Each agency listing includes contact people reporting to one or more parts of the government  400 , by name  401 , telephone number  402 , and hot link to email  403 . Also belonging to the contact sector are screens (not shown) for budget contacts  311 , business contacts  312 , purchasing contacts  313 , technology contacts  314 , and legislative contacts  315  accessible by subtabs  404 - 407 .  
         [0061]    The method for viewing details of a budget is illustrated in flowchart form in FIG. 6. If the user selects the “budget details” tab  306 , block  320  on FIG. 4, block  201  on FIG. 6, a screen  50  appears (FIG. 7) that lists all state budget issues  501  alphabetically for the current fiscal year. Tabulated on this screen  50  (block  322 , FIG. 4) are data for appropriated spending  502 , number of positions allocated  503 , and the percentage of total budgeted funds  504 . Similar screens are available for historical data  321  and planned future data  323 .  
         [0062]    An additional feature of this sector of the system  10  is the ability to “drill down” each budget issue  501  and display further divisions, or line items, under a selected budget issue  501 . This is accomplished by selecting one of the issues (block  307 , FIG. 6), which brings up screen  53  (FIG. 8), selected by selecting “Children &amp; Families”  505  on FIG. 7. Here finer divisions  531  are broken out, in similar tabular form to FIG. 7.  
         [0063]    Yet more information is available by selecting one of the line items  531 , here “Agency Unique Issues,” to bring up individual budget items  541  on screen  54  (FIG. 9, block  308  on FIG. 6), tabulated as before. Also indicated on this screen  54  to the left of the items  531  is how the funding on each item  531  arose, with icons indicating that the appropriation was agreed upon  542  or compromised upon  543 .  
         [0064]    Selecting one of the individual items  541  (block  309 , FIG. 6) brings up a budget detail information screen  55  (FIG. 10). This screen  55  gives budgets  551  as proposed by various government sectors and the number of positions  552  proposed. Additionally, an issue narrative  553  that had been submitted by each state agency is presented.  
         [0065]    Selecting the “Display Dollar Breakout Options” link  554  (block  316 , FIG. 6) brings up a screen  56  (FIG. 11) indicating the funding sources  561 , budgeted amount  562 , and positions  563  for each breakdown. Yet further detail is available by selecting one of these sources  561  to bring up screen  57  (FIG. 12) to view agency budget details. Additional details may be accessed by drilling down into specific expense categories, selected by budgeting, accounting, accounting details, or personnel.  
         [0066]    Thus, using the present system  10 , detailed budget information can be accessed and reviewed for the current year, including agency budget request, governor&#39;s recommendations, legislative proposals, and a final conference committee report (i.e., a general appropriations act for the fiscal year). Access is also available for next year&#39;s budget preparation, beginning with the agency budget request, governor&#39;s recommendations, legislative proposals, and final conference committee report. Searches can be performed on a word or group of words and can have results reported by continuation base, agency initiatives, and capital outlay projects.  
         [0067]    In addition to “drilling down” by selecting links on any of the available screens, it is also possible in the present system  10  to search by a keyword, by selecting the “Search” option  506  of any of screens  50 , 53 , 54  (block  317 , FIG. 6). In the example screen  57  illustrated in FIG. 13, a search has been performed on the word caseload  571 , with a list of linked items  572  tabulated as previously.  
         [0068]    The next sector of the system, budget bills  32 , is accessed by selecting tab  306 , which brings up a summary of budget bills on screen  58  (FIG. 14; blocks  330 - 339 ). This screen  58  contains bills for current  581  and next  582  fiscal years, each listed item linked to further data. Selecting the current session&#39;s governor&#39;s recommendations, for example, brings up screen  59  (FIG. 15), which lists bill sections  591 . Each of these, in turn, is linked to a screen  60  (FIG. 16) that provides further details by agency  601 , including appropriations details  602 . These details  601  are again linked to an appropriation screen  61  (FIG. 17) containing information  613  sortable by fund  611  or issue/fund  612 .  
         [0069]    Searches are also available by selecting the “Search” option  603  on screen  60  (FIG. 16), the results of which appear as on screen  62  (FIG. 18) for the words law and screen. Each of the listed items  621  tabulated under “Department/Appropriation Category” also has bill language  622  included and an appropriation number  623  for each. If one of these is selected, screen  63  (FIG. 19) appears, giving appropriations details  631 .  
         [0070]    If the user selects the “tracking” tab  308 , a budget data tracking screen  63  (FIG. 20; block  340 , FIG. 4) that permits the user to customize one or more of the subdivisions  631  to follow over the current fiscal year  341  or planning fiscal year  342  by updating any changes that occur in budget issues  343 , 344  or specific budget bill items  345 , 346  over time. Selecting a subdivision  631  places a checkmark in the associated box  632  and permits that item to be added to the tracking folder  633 . If an item  631  is selected, screen  64  (FIG. 21) is brought up, including details  641  of the tracked folder. Selecting one of the tracked items  632 , which appear in the user&#39;s folder  633 , brings up screen  65  (FIG. 22), on which personalized comments can be made  651  to be retained with the user&#39;s folder and on which textual information  652  appears regarding the budget item. If a word or phrase is entered into box  634 , screen  66  (FIG. 23) appears, wherein the search results are presented, along with links to the items&#39; budget data.  
         [0071]    If the user selects the “resources” tab  309  (block  350 , FIG. 4), access may be gained to reference materials (block  351 , FIG. 4) as listed on screen  67  (FIG. 24). The elements  671  of this list are all linked to information on subsequent screens, which include organizational charts, glossaries of terms, and user guide information. This list is not intended as a limitation, and other elements may be conceived by one of skill in the art.  
         [0072]    In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity, and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for description purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the embodiments of the apparatus illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.  
         [0073]    Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby, the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.