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Inventor patents variation on double-entry accounting

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Edward Kellman, CEO and chief design engineer of Trakker Apps, holds two U.S. patents for an innovative take on double-entry accounting 

The system, known as the Double-Entry Multi-Extrinsic-Variable Accounting Method Database, aims to modernize financial tracking while preserving the essence of the traditional accounting system that was first described by Luca Pacioli back in 1494. It leverages artificial intelligence while generating and reconciling multiple financial ledgers by account, user, customer, job and vendor.

“I made a representation of the current double entry database, which basically collects a date, amount, a debit and a credit account, and that’s about as much of that calculation as you can do by hand,” said Kellman. “It’s been done by hand for hundreds of years. It’s very tedious, but nobody ever thought to expand the database now that you can use a computer to solve for these enormously complex database solutions.”

He expanded the database with new variables, which he calls extrinsic variables, and now it can track financial transactions by customer, job, user and vendor. “By doing that, I’ve created an enormous amount of new financial solutions that can be plucked from the database that never existed, and these are all financial analytics for your company, because the variables are the things that matter in your company: which jobs make the most money, which users produce the most income and expenses, and things of this nature,” said Kellman. “But because I expanded that database, and nobody thought to do this since 1494 when this system was first published. It’s totally modernized double entry accounting.”

He offers them as apps that can be downloaded from the Apple and Android app stores, along with a browser-based version through the Trakker Apps website. He is hoping to partner with financial institutions rather than accounting software companies since the system was developed as a BaaS, or banking-as-a-service, technology. The bank would be able to white label the program with its own branding.

The system leverages artificial intelligence to automate data entry. “I didn’t want it to become a tedious process for entering data, so we basically wrote these AI data entry algorithms that collect the data and fill in the data when it knows it right away,” said Kellman. “You can enter these transactions really just as quickly, if not quicker, on a smartphone than you can on any other accounting system, because of the data entry algorithms that just collect the data really quickly. And once you hit Enter and record that transaction, that’s all stored in the cloud. All your business is digitized.”

He did beta testing for a year on the app stores, where the program had around 6,000 downloads. But then he shut down the program because he didn’t want to be the cloud host responsible for storing thousands of people’s financial data so he is searching for a banking partner to host it securely. The system provides a kind of ERP platform that combines banking and accounting. 

“Instead of printing profit and loss reports and balance sheet reports and trial balance summary reports just for the whole company, I can print them individually, for each individual user or each individual job,” said Kellman. “Or if you have multiple users, like in a law firm on one job, you can select the job and the user and print just the transactions that apply to those variables that you’ve selected, and now you’ve got a wealth of information about your company that never existed before.”

Trakker Apps’ BaaS fintech platform includes Business Trakker, Invoice 4 Business, Expense Trakker, Balance Sheet Trakker and Escrow Trakker for Lawyers.

It took four years before Kellman was able to patent the technology. “Normally, when you apply for a patent, they spend a lot of time on a patent search, where they investigate all the previous patents to see if you’re in violation of any other patents, or any other art that exists,” he said. “My patents are the only patents ever issued for a double entry accounting system, and there was no prior art. It took about four years to get it, and then I got a second one after that.”

Kellman isn’t planning to challenge other accounting software companies now that he has the patents, which are actually for the ledger. “No, I don’t want to challenge other companies,” he said. “You can’t patent a software program. My program produces what we call a multivariable ledger that you can hold in your hand. It’s a financial ledger, and that’s what’s patented.”

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Accounting

Trump tax bill would help the richest, hurt the poorest, CBO says

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The House-passed version of President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill would deliver a financial blow to the poorest Americans but be a boon for higher-income households, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.

The bottom 10% of households would lose an average of about $1,600 in resources per year, amounting to a 3.9% cut in their income, according to the analysis released Thursday. Those decreases are largely attributable to cuts in the Medicaid health insurance program and food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Households in the highest 10% of incomes would see an average $12,000 boost in resources, amounting to a 2.3% increase in their incomes. Those increases are mainly attributable to reductions in taxes owed, according to the report from the nonpartisan CBO.

Households in the middle of the income distribution would see an increase in resources of $500 to $1,000, or between 0.5% and 0.8% of their income. 

The projections are based on the version of the tax legislation that House Republicans passed last month, which includes much of Trump’s economic agenda. The bill would extend tax cuts passed under Trump in 2017 otherwise due to expire at the end of the year and create several new tax breaks. It also imposes new changes to the Medicaid and SNAP programs in an effort to cut spending.

Overall, the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to US deficits over the next 10 years, not accounting for dynamic effects, the CBO previously forecast.

The Senate is considering changes to the legislation including efforts by some Republican senators to scale back cuts to Medicaid.

The projected loss of safety-net resources for low-income families come against the backdrop of higher tariffs, which economists have warned would also disproportionately impact lower-income families. While recent inflation data has shown limited impact from the import duties so far, low-income families tend to spend a larger portion of their income on necessities, such as food, so price increases hit them harder.

The House-passed bill requires that able-bodied individuals without dependents document at least 80 hours of “community engagement” a month, including working a job or participating in an educational program to qualify for Medicaid. It also includes increased costs for health care for enrollees, among other provisions.

More older adults also would have to prove they are working to continue to receive SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. The legislation helps pay for tax cuts by raising the age for which able bodied adults must work to receive benefits to 64, up from 54. Under the current law, some parents with dependent children under age 18 are exempt from work requirements, but the bill lowers the age for the exemption for dependent children to 7 years old. 

The legislation also shifts a portion of the cost for federal food aid onto state governments.

CBO previously estimated that the expanded work requirements on SNAP would reduce participation in the program by roughly 3.2 million people, and more could lose or face a reduction in benefits due to other changes to the program. A separate analysis from the organization found that 7.8 million people would lose health insurance because of the changes to Medicaid.

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Accounting

New York passes CPA licensure changes bill

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The New York State Legislature passed a bill on Thursday that establishes an additional pathway to CPA licensure, and it awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.

Backed by the New York State Society of CPAs, the legislation creates a third pathway to licensure: 120 credit-hours (or what is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree), two years of experience and passing the CPA exam. It also ensures practice mobility so out-of-state accountants can serve clients in New York.

The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and with two negative votes in the Senate.

The New York State Capitol Building in Albany
The New York State Capitol Building in Albany.

Picasa/demerzel21 – Fotolia

“Passing one piece of legislation is not an easy task, let alone passing two,” NYCPA CEO Calvin Harris said in a statement. “Furthermore, the Society with our partners in Albany introduced additional pathway legislation this year. I’ve been told that it is almost impossible and completely unprecedented to pass any form of legislation in just one legislative session, but with the help of nearly 40 members that participated in Lobby Day in May, our exceptional Government Relations Teams and our coalition partners, which includes our PAC and Legislative Task Force, we took the united voice of the profession to the halls of power and demonstrated why advocacy is one of the greatest member benefits.”

New York is one of more than a dozen states that have already passed changes to licensure requirements in an ongoing effort to address the profession’s talent shortage. Most recently, Illinois and Minnesota passed similar bills in May.

The New York State Legislature passed another NYCPA-backed bill on June 9, which would authorize the use of electronic signatures by a person granted Power of Attorney with respect to the submitted tax documents. The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and with one negative vote in the Senate. It also awaits the signature of Gov. Hochul.

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Accounting

SEC taps Kurt Hohl as new chief accountant

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The Securities and Exchange Commission appointed Kurt Hohl, a former partner at Ernst & Young, as its new chief accountant, effective July 7.

Acting chief accountant Ryan Wolfe will be returning to his role as chief accountant in the Division of Enforcement. 

Hohl has close to 40 years of accounting and auditing experience. In 2023, he founded Corallium Advisors, which helps businesses with auditing, regulatory compliance, risk management, and initial public offerings. Previously, he spent 26 years as a partner at EY in various roles. His final role at the Big Four firm was as global deputy vice-chair of EY’s Global Assurance Professional Practice, where he was responsible for the operation and oversight of the technical, regulatory, risk, and quality oversight functions of EY’s global professional practice organization and its more than 1,400 professionals. 

He previously worked at the SEC from 1989 to 1997, rising to associate chief accountant in the Division of Corporation Finance. There he wrote what became the Financial Reporting Manual, a primary guide for the SEC accounting staff and practitioners in the application of the federal securities laws. He began his professional career at Deloitte Haskins & Sells. He received a B.B.S. in accounting from James Madison University and is a CPA in Virginia.

“Kurt is an experienced accountant with deeply technical knowledge and international experience, and we are lucky he has decided to return to the SEC,” said SEC chairman Paul S. Atkins in a statement Friday. “This is an important role. Given that I served with Kurt previously, I know firsthand that his integrity, along with his skills, will benefit our markets and investors.”

“I’m pleased to come back to the SEC along with Chairman Atkins,” said Hohl. “This is a pivotal time for our capital markets, and I look forward to working with the dedicated public servants in the Office of the Chief Accountant to advance accounting and auditing policies that reinforce investor confidence, enhance transparency, and support innovation.”

Wolfe has served as acting chief accountant since January 2025. He concurrently has been serving as chief accountant of the Division of Enforcement and has previously served as senior associate chief accountant in the Office of the Chief Accountant.

“I want to thank Ryan for his service as acting chief accountant and am pleased that he will continue serving in the Division of Enforcement,” said Atkins.

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