Patent ID: 7555451

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for estimating a budget item based upon at least one prior transaction, for use in predicting a cash flow forecast, comprising the steps of: (a) summing all prior transactions occurring over a specified range of time to produce a sum; (b) determining, utilizing an autobudget module executing on the computer, a total number of prior transactions occurring during said specified range of time; (c) determining, utilizing the autobudget module executing on the computer, a date span between a first transaction and a last transaction within the specified range of time; (d) determining, utilizing the autobudget module executing on the computer, a budget item frequency as a function of the total number of prior transactions, and the date span, wherein determining the budget item frequency comprises assigning the budget item frequency to be weekly if the total number of prior transactions is not equal to one, the date span is equal to or greater than two months, the total number of prior transactions is equal to or greater than one half of the date span expressed in months, and the total number of prior transactions is greater than a predefined multiple of the date span expressed in months; (e) determining, utilizing the autobudget module executing on the computer, an average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span; (f) determining, utilizing the autobudget module executing on the computer, a budget item amount by scaling the average amount for the prior transactions occurring over the date span, by the budget item frequency; and (g) using the budget item amount and the budget item frequency for predicting the cash flow forecast, wherein the cash flow forecast comprises a daily forecast of transactions over a forecast period comprising at least a future time period, thereby facilitating the understanding of income and spending patterns and the recognition of opportunities to improve a financial situation.