Patent ID: 7742948

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of allocating data regarding purchasing contracts over temporal periods associated with the purchasing contracts, the method comprising: receiving, at an open-to-buy (OTB) system, first data regarding a first purchasing contract in a computerized system, the first data being received from a user interface, wherein the OTB system and the user interface are implemented using computer-executable instructions executable by a processor and stored on at least one computer-readable medium; receiving, at the OTB system, second data regarding a second purchasing contract, the second data being received from the user interface; distributing, using the OTB system, the received first data regarding the first purchasing contract and the second data regarding the second purchasing contract over the associated temporal periods; applying, using the OTB system, at least one rule to the distributed data to determine whether the distribution of the data regarding the first purchasing contract and the second purchasing contract should be accepted or rejected; determining, using the OTB system, a first cost of the first purchasing contract based on a third data regarding the temporal periods associated with the first purchasing contract; comparing, using the OTB system, a first budget to the first cost; verifying, using the OTB system, the first purchasing contract based on the first budget exceeding the first cost; determining, using the OTB system, a second cost of the second purchasing contract based on a fourth data regarding the temporal periods associated with the second purchasing contract; comparing, using the OTB system, a second budget to the second cost; verifying, using the OTB system, the second purchasing contract based on the second budget exceeding the second cost; and storing in a database at least one of the first purchasing contract, the second purchasing contract, the first cost, and the second cost; wherein verifying the first purchasing contract based on the first budget exceeding the first cost occurs at the creation of the first purchasing contract based on a first identifier of the first purchasing contract; wherein verifying the second purchasing contract based on the second budget exceeding the second cost occurs when a purchase order referencing the second purchasing contract is released based on a second identifier of the second purchasing contract.