System, method and apparatus for automatic categorization and assessment of billing narratives

A system for the automated analysis of actual invoices and timekeeper narratives included therein, comprising:

• a computer having a processor;
• a data store accessible to the computer and capable of storing invoice data in digital textural form;
• a semantic engine capable of running on the processor, the semantic engine having a learning layer and a processing layer, the learning layer being configured to receive training data containing accurately decomposed and categorized sample invoice data, including narratives, from a training sample of invoice data and develop a training model, the decomposed and categorized sample invoice data including a set of standardized categories of actions, each of which describes an action that may be performed by a timekeeper, and objects of actions, each of which describes an object upon which an action is performed by a timekeeper, the processing layer being configured to process actual invoice data associated with an actual invoice in accordance with the training model, to decompose timekeeper narratives in the actual invoice data describing work performed by a service provider into fragments pertaining to actions performed and objects of actions by the service provider, and to categorize the decomposed fragments into at least one of the set of standardized categories of actions and objects of actions for forming categorized invoice data in accordance with the training model, and
• a rules engine capable of running on the processor, the rules engine having access to at least one rule applicable to the at least one of the set of standardized categories of actions and objects of actions, the at least one rule including one or more billing guidelines,
• wherein the rules engine is configured to receive the categorized invoice data from the semantic engine, to apply at least one of the one or more billing guidelines of the at least one rule to the categorized invoice data associated with at least one of the timekeeper narratives, and to generate an output consistent with the at least one rule, the output including results of an analysis including at least one determination of whether work associated with at least one of the timekeeper narratives has been optimally performed.