Wesley Sampson created Data-Pattern Index, Inc. to define and promote a new approach of 'matrix accounting'. The goal of 'matrix accounting' is to track and summarize events made up of multiple transactions, rather than the individual transactions themselves, by constructing an index to reorganize line items into a double-entry format.
The method patented by Sampson in 1995 effectively creates a new ledger by analyzing the sequence of existing journal entries. Once the data has been structured in terms of events, many patterns and/or anomalies become easier to identify. A major difference between the matrix accounting approach and more conventional analysis techniques (for example, sorting and classifying at period end) is that the matrix accounting technique is scalable and will run in real time, making it suitable for large ERP systems or anywhere that the computing time to generate ledgers 'after the fact' is an issue. The total cycles of computing time needed to create the ledger are significantly reduced. For example, a grocery store using this method could automatically generate a sales mix analysis (which products sold with which in a single sales event) in addition to all of the standard inventory and sales volume data already contained in the original transactions.
A white paper describing the evolution of the theory is available at www.data-pattern.com. |
