Patent ID: 8768749

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a processor, a plurality of sets of pricing information for a particular matter, each of the plurality of sets of pricing information including a number of units for each of a plurality of different tasks and a total price, wherein each of the plurality of different tasks is identified by a different task identifier; identifying, by the processor, a first common task among the plurality of sets of pricing information using the different task identifiers; calculating, by the processor, a set of costs for the sets of pricing information, wherein the set of costs includes, for each of the plurality of sets of pricing information, a cost for the first common task, wherein the cost is a unit cost or ratio cost, and wherein for each of the plurality of sets of pricing information the unit cost is calculated by dividing a total cost for the first common task for a particular set of pricing information by the number of units for the particular set of pricing information, and the ratio cost is calculated by dividing the total cost for the first common task for the particular set of pricing information by the total price for the particular set of pricing information; receiving, by the processor, analysis constraints; selecting from the set of costs for the particular matter, by the processor based on the analysis constraints, the calculated costs for a subset of the plurality of sets of pricing information; generating, by the processor, a cost model based on the selected costs for the first common task; outputting, by the processor to an output device, the cost model; comparing, by the processor, an additional set of pricing information with the cost model; and outputting, by the processor to the output device, results of the comparison of the additional set of pricing information with the cost model.