Patent ID: 8412598

Claim:
A causality analyzer implemented on a computer system, useful in association with price management systems, the causality analyzer comprising: a time period selector implemented on a computer system configurable to select a reference time period and a comparison time period; a causality modeler implemented on a computer system configurable to receive transaction data and calculate change in total margin, percent margin and total revenue between the reference time period and the comparison time period using the transaction data; and a causality attributor implemented on a computer system configurable to disaggregate each of the change in total margin, the percent margin and the total revenue by causality effects, wherein the causality effects include price effect, cost effect, quantity effect, product mix effect, customer mix effect, exchange rate effect, new and lost business, and an adjustment change, and further configurable to unbiase the causality effects where they interact using a finite difference approach, wherein the finite difference approach splits the shared effect according to proportionate percentage of the change attributed only to each effect.