Benchmarking through data mining

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10546261-B2
Application number	US-201816027989-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2018
Priority date	Apr 27, 2015
Publication date	Jan 28, 2020
Grant date	Jan 28, 2020

Abstract

A system with access to regularly updated information regarding an entity can generate information regarding the performance of that entity. For example, values of various key performance indicators (KPIs) can be determined. One or more of the values can be compared to a corresponding threshold or range. Based on the results of the comparisons, an alert can be generated and sent to a user associated with the entity, a user interface (UI) that presents information to the user about the entity can include information regarding the KPIs, or both. The system may have access to data regarding a number of similar entities. Using the data for the similar entities, one or more benchmarks for the KPIs of the entity can be determined. The KPIs can be compared to the benchmarks and the results shown in a UI, an alert, or both.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
importing into user data, by an accounting platform in a cloud computing environment, banking data for each of a plurality of users subscribed to the accounting platform, the plurality of users including a first user, wherein the accounting platform is configured to import the banking data through a bank feed transmitted over a network, wherein the importing through the bank feed further comprises providing account credentials of the plurality of users to obtain the banking data for the plurality of users;
receiving, at the accounting platform and from a client device via the network, a request for benchmarking a first attribute of the first user, the first attribute being part of the user data of the first user that includes the imported banking data of the first user and accounting data of the first user, the accounting data including general ledger accounting data maintained by the accounting platform;
accessing, by the accounting platform, the user data for the plurality of users;
identifying, by the accounting platform, a first set of similar users subscribed to the accounting platform that have a value of a geographic attribute in the user data similar to a value of the geographic attribute of the first user;
identifying, in the user data of the accounting platform, a value of the first attribute for the first set of similar users;
determining, by the accounting platform, a statistical value based on the values of the first attribute for the first set of similar users;
setting, by the accounting platform, a benchmark based on the statistical value; and
sending, via the network, the benchmark of the first attribute to the client device for presentation in a user interface of the accounting platform.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the statistical value is an average of values of the first attribute for the first set of similar users, each similar user being assigned a weight based on a difference between the value of the geographic attribute for the similar user and the value of the geographic attribute for the first user.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the weight is based on a difference between a size of a city of the first user and a size of a city of the user from the first set of similar users.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises one or more of:
a value of the benchmark, a direction of change over a previous period, a graph of the value of the benchmark over time, a current target of the value of the benchmark, or a benchmark comparison value in reference to values of the benchmark for the plurality of users.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the geographic attribute is one of same city, same region, or same country.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the geographic attribute is one of similar city, similar region, or similar country.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the geographic attribute is based on a distance from a location of the first user.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the geographic attribute is based on a size of a city where each user is located.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing the benchmark to a value of the first attribute of the first user;
determining that the value of the first attribute of the first user is outside a predefined desired range of values based on the comparison; and
sending a notification to the user interface indicating that the value of the first attribute of the first user is outside the predefined desired range for the benchmark.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first attribute is selected from the group consisting of:
a number of transactions in a predetermined time period, an average transaction size, a number of full-time employees, a location, a turnover rate, a debt-to-equity ratio, a floor space, a land area, a profit as a percentage of stock, a profit as a percentage of land area, and a profit as a percentage of retail space.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
periodically analyzing, by the accounting platform, a value of the benchmark;
setting up an alert when the value of the benchmark is outside a predetermined range of values; and
sending the alert to the first user.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein identifying the first set of similar users further comprises:
from the users that have a value of the geographic attribute in the banking data similar to the value of the geographic attribute of the first user, selecting users for the first set of similar users that have a similar type of business as the first user.

13. A system comprising:
a memory comprising instructions; and
one or more computer processors, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:
importing into user data, by an accounting platform in a cloud computing environment, banking data for each of a plurality of users subscribed to the accounting platform, the plurality of users including a first user, wherein the accounting platform is configured to import the banking data through a bank feed transmitted over a network, wherein the importing through the bank feed further comprises providing account credentials of the plurality of users to obtain the banking data for the plurality of users;
receiving, at the accounting platform and from a client device via the network, a request for benchmarking a first attribute of the first user, the first attribute being part of the user data of the first user that includes the imported banking data of the first user and accounting data of the first user, the accounting data including general ledger accounting data maintained by the accounting platform;
accessing, by the accounting platform, the user data for the plurality of users;
identifying, by the accounting platform, a first set of similar users subscribed to the accounting platform that have a value of a geographic attribute in the user data similar to a value of the geographic attribute of the first user;
identifying, in the user data of the accounting platform, a value of the first attribute for the first set of similar users;
determining, by the accounting platform, a statistical value based on the values of the first attribute for the first set of similar users;
setting, by the accounting platform, a benchmark based on the statistical value; and
sending, via the network, the benchmark of the first attribute to the client device for presentation in a user interface of the accounting platform.

14. The system as recited in claim 13 , wherein the statistical value is an average of values of the first attribute for the first set of similar users, each similar user being assigned a weight based on a difference between the value of the geographic attribute for the similar user and the value of the geographic attribute for the first user, wherein the weight is based on a difference between a size of a city of the first user and a size of a city of the user from the first set of similar users.

15. The system as recited in claim 13 , wherein the geographic attribute is one of same city, same region, same country, similar city, similar region, similar country, a distance from a location of the first user, or a size of a city where each user is located.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comp

Assignees

• Xero Ltd

Inventors

• Mole Tim
• Anderson Grant

Classifications

• G06Q10/06393 Primary

  Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis · CPC title