Patent ID: 8386348

Claim:
A method for comparing and analyzing expenditures and savings for a first and a second time period, comprising: receiving, by a computer based system for comparing and analyzing expenditures and savings comprising a processor and a memory, and from an input device, consumption data, expenditure data and market price data for the first and the second time periods relating to the purchase of a commodity; calculating, by the computer based system, a first savings based on differences between the market price data and the expenditure data for the first time period; calculating, by the computer based system, a second savings based on differences between the market price data and the expenditure data for the second time period; calculating, by the computer based system, a change in savings based on differences between the first savings and the second savings; calculating, by the computer based system, a market price effect based upon a change in a market price of the commodity purchased between the first time period and the second time period; calculating, by the computer based system, a consumption effect based upon a change in the amount of the commodity purchased between the first time period and the second time period; calculating, by the computer based system, an expenditure effect based upon a change in an actual price paid for the commodity purchased between the first time period and the second time period; calculating, by the computer based system, an exchange rate effect based upon a change in a currency exchange rate between the first time period and the second time period; outputting, by the computer based system, to a display device a value of the market price effect, the consumption effect, the expenditure effect, the exchange rate effect, and at least one of the first savings, the second savings and the change in savings; identifying, by the computer based system, a component of the change in savings that is subject to control of an organization, outputting, by the computer based system, to the display device, the component of the change in savings that is subject to control of the organization, wherein the consumption data represents a type and an amount of the commodity consumed by the organization during a given time period, the expenditure data represents an actual cost paid for the commodity by the organization during that given time period, and the market price data represents the market price of the commodity during that given time period.