Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for electronic report tracking

#The present disclosure relates generally to accounting, and more specifically to systems, methods, and computer-readable media for sheet material processing and account reconciliation.

#In currency processing systems, if the system determines that banknote or other currency objects cannot be read properly, is damaged, is counterfeit, or is otherwise unfit for continued circulation, the system will generally reject the banknote or currency object for a human to perform a second review of the note. In order to maintain deposit integrity and ensure that the original deposit account is credited for that note, the system must keep track of which account that note is associated with. This is currently done one of two ways. Some systems stop the machine after processing each deposit, and have a human review each note in that deposit and reconcile the account that deposit came from. This causes a labor intensity problem and causes a loss in productivity. Other systems continue running the machine and use physical separators inserted between each deposited set of notes in the rejected-note container in order to keep track of what account those rejected notes were associated with. These physical separators can take the form of header cards, trailer cards, input package barcodes. The currency processing machine will recognize the physical separators as identifying the beginning of a new deposit during processing, and will identify with which account the sequentially following sheets are associated.

#The Cash Cycle describes what happens to currency from printing to destruction. Currency, a subset of currency objects, is created and distributed by Central Banks (and similar authorities), enters circulation, is used and reused many times, and eventually reaches a point where it is worn or soiled and must be replaced with a new note. This also is true for other currency objects such as Food Coupons, Casino Vouchers, Cash-Out Tickets and other types of currency objects used in commerce.

#For a more complete understanding of the present invention, needs satisfied thereby, and the objects, features, and advantages thereof, reference now is made to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary virtual separator encoding system according to particular embodiments.

#FIG. 2 is a schematic representation showing exemplary communications between a sheet-accepting device, a sensor comprising a plurality of sensing devices, an encoding device, and a container, in a virtual separator encoding system according to particular embodiments.

#The systems, methods, and media of the invention are suitable for use with and may incorporate various components of the systems and methods disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/260,744, filed on Apr. 24, 2014, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/046,621, filed on Oct. 4, 2013, patent application No. PCT/EP2008/008991, filed on Oct. 23, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,423 B2, published on May 27, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,593 B2, published on Nov. 7, 2006; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,263, published on Oct. 18, 2005, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Although many of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, as well as in these disclosures, are directed toward banking and accounting, the invention disclosed herein is not limited to applications in the field of banking and accounting, but rather is applicable to a wide range of applications in the financial services industry and beyond, including, but not limited to, retail banking, retail commerce, currency exchanges, law enforcement, central banking, clearing houses and processing of commercial paper, accounting, auditing, casino operations, gaming, transit agency operations, and many other fields.

#Certain currency processing systems use physical separators inserted between each deposited set of notes in a rejected-note container in order to keep track of which account those rejected notes were associated with. The physical separators often take the form of header cards, trailer cards, band strap images, or input package barcodes. An input package comprises a deposit that is presented for processing at the currency processor system. An input package may vary in physical number of objects it contains or it may be uniform in size. When the physical separator is placed in the currency processing system, the system reads the information stored on the physical separator, such as account information, and associates notes that sequentially follow the physical separator with a particular account identified in the account information. The use of physical separators in reject-note containers, however, result in increased occurrences of mechanical malfunctions, including machine jams and hardware failures, and operator errors while handling the rejected notes and physical separators. The occurrences can alter the sequential ordering used to identify a particular account, resulting in loss of deposit integrity and account discrepancies. In addition, because the reason that each particular note was rejected is not tracked, every note often undergoes a secondary human inspection, which results in a labor intensity problem and a loss of productivity.

#Existing systems of currency object validation and reconciliation make reject handling complicated, manually intensive, and prone to mistakes and loss. Some of the challenges include: 1. The rejected currency objects must be handled manually—sometimes several times. 2. Currency objects from a single deposit must be segregated by deposit so that proper reconciliation can take place. 3. To prevent systematic theft, reconciliation is often done by persons other than the original machine operator so that losses cannot be “pushed forward.” Currency objects refer to true currency bank notes as well as objects that represent a monetary value.