Expense report system with receipt image processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9659327-B2
Application number	US-201213410170-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2012
Priority date	Mar 1, 2012
Publication date	May 23, 2017
Grant date	May 23, 2017

Abstract

A system and method for generating expense data for an expense report is disclosed. The method includes receiving receipt data that includes one or more data items pertaining to a transaction, where the one or more data items are obtained from characters optically recognized in receipt image data for the transaction, and the receipt data includes data indicating whether the transaction is a credit card transaction or a cash transaction. The method further includes, if the receipt data indicates the transaction is a credit card transaction, creating expense data for the expense report, where the expense data includes the receipt data and the receipt image data associated with the receipt data for the transaction, and the receipt data includes credit card data. If the transaction indicates the transaction is a personal credit card transaction, then the credit card data is personal credit card data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
receiving, from an image capture device, receipt image data for a receipt for a transaction;
processing the receipt image data by an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract receipt data that includes a plurality of transaction attribute values for a plurality of respective transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction;
assigning, by the OCR engine, an uncertainty parameter value that indicates an expected accuracy of optical character recognition by the OCR engine for each respective transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values;
wherein the uncertainty parameter value for at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy a threshold;
displaying, concurrently on a graphical user interface, the receipt image data, the plurality of transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction that were extracted from the receipt image data, and, a visual indicator that flags a user that the uncertainty parameter value of the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy the threshold;
for the at least one transaction attribute of the one or more transaction attributes that has a corresponding transaction attribute value with an uncertainty parameter value that does not satisfy a threshold, receiving, through the graphical user interface, user input specifying a corrected transaction attribute value;
defining a first area on a receipt image represented by the receipt image data that is associated with the corrected transaction attribute value, the defined first area aiding in the optical recognition of the characters in the receipt image corresponding to the corrected transaction attribute value;
generating an expense report that includes the receipt image data and the corrected transaction attribute value.

2. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause retrieving corporate credit card transaction data from a credit card service; wherein the corporate credit card transaction data is included in the expense report.

3. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 1 , wherein instructions for concurrently displaying, on a graphical user interface, the receipt image data, the plurality of transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction that were extracted from the receipt image data, and, a visual indicator that flags a user that the uncertainty parameter value of the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy the threshold comprise instructions for:
determining that a transaction attribute value in the receipt data is missing for a corresponding transaction attribute;
in response to determining that the transaction attribute value in the receipt data is missing for the corresponding transaction attribute, displaying, via the graphical user interface, a field for adding the missing transaction attribute value to the receipt data.

4. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 3 , further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors cause defining a second area on the receipt image that is associated with the missing transaction attribute value, the defined second area aiding in the optical recognition of the characters in the receipt image corresponding to the missing transaction attribute value.

5. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media recited in claim 1 , wherein instructions for concurrently displaying, on a graphical user interface, the receipt image data, the plurality of transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction that were extracted from the receipt image data, and, a visual indicator that flags a user that the uncertainty parameter value of the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy the threshold comprise instructions for displaying a blank value for the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values that does not satisfy the threshold.

6. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories storing instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause:
receiving, from an image capture device, receipt image data for a receipt for a transaction;
processing the receipt image data by an optical character recognition (OCR) engine to extract receipt data that includes a plurality of transaction attribute values for a plurality of respective transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction;
assigning, by the OCR engine, an uncertainty parameter value that indicates an expected accuracy of optical character recognition by the OCR engine for each respective transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values;
wherein the uncertainty parameter value for at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy a threshold;
displaying, concurrently on a graphical user interface, the receipt image data, the plurality of transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction that were extracted from the receipt image data, and, a visual indicator that flags a user that the uncertainty parameter value of the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy the threshold;
for the at least one transaction attribute of the one or more transaction attributes that has a corresponding transaction attribute value with an uncertainty parameter value that does not satisfy a threshold, receiving, through the graphical user interface, user input specifying a corrected transaction attribute value;
defining a first area on a receipt image represented by the receipt image data that is associated with the corrected transaction attribute value, the defined first area aiding in the optical recognition of the characters in the receipt image corresponding to the corrected transaction attribute value;
generating an expense report that includes the receipt image data and the corrected transaction attribute value.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause retrieving corporate credit card transaction data from a credit card service; wherein the corporate credit card transaction data is included in the expense report.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein instructions for displaying, on a graphical user interface, the receipt image data, the plurality of transaction attributes pertaining to the transaction that were extracted from the receipt image data, and, a visual indicator that flags a user that the uncertainty parameter value of the at least one transaction attribute value of the plurality of transaction attribute values does not satisfy the threshold comprise instructions for:
determining that a transaction attribute value in the receipt data is missing for a corresponding transaction attribute;
in response to determining that the transaction attribute value in the receipt data is missing for the corresponding transaction attribute, displaying, via the graphical user interface, a field for adding the missing transaction attribute value to the receipt data.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 8 , wherein the one or more memories store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors cause defining a second area on the receipt image tha

Assignees

• Nuggehalli Jayasimha
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nuggehalli Jayasimha

Classifications

• G06K9/033

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K9/00

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K9/2054

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06Q40/12

  Accounting · CPC title

• G06Q40/00 Primary

  Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes · CPC title