Patent ID: 7966253

Claim:
A computer system that tracks roles that parties have with respect to accounts and that facilitates account identification, comprising: one or more programmable processors; a data storage system, wherein said one or more programmable processors is operatively connected to said data storage system to receive data and instructions from said data storage system, and to transmit data and instructions to said data storage system, wherein said data storage system comprises a data architecture comprising: a plurality of party records, each of said plurality of party records having party data fields that store information relating to one of a plurality of parties, and wherein at least some of said plurality of party records further comprise a relationship data field that links to another party record to operatively create a relationship between said parties; a plurality of account records, each of said plurality of account records having account data fields that store information relating to one of a plurality of accounts, and wherein each of said plurality of account records further comprises at least one role data field, including a principal role data field, that links to at least one of the party records to operatively associate the account to the linked party relative to the role of the linked party for the account as specified in contents of the at least one role data field; and a plurality of transaction records, each of said plurality of transaction records having transaction data fields that store information relating to one of a plurality of transactions, and wherein each of said plurality of transaction records links to one of said plurality of account records whereby each transaction, performed under an account, is operatively linked to said account; and at least one input and output device for inputting and outputting data; and wherein at least one of the processors is programmed to identify accounts, using the data storage system, by: identifying, based on a party record of a specified party, related parties that are related to the specified party; and identifying all accounts that have associated with them in the role of principal, either the specified party or one of the related parties based upon the contents of the at least one role data field; and wherein an account entry screen presents one or more role entry fields that allow selection of party data from a party file, wherein the computer system creates links between a specified account record and one or more of the party records, each with respect to a corresponding role, to associate one or more of the parties to the specified account.