Methods, apparatus and computer program products for use in association with joint ventures and/or potential joint ventures

1. A method comprising:

receiving information associated with a joint venture, the information including an agreement that includes terms that specify how to distribute, to members of the joint venture, a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture;

determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement;

determining financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution;

storing the financial information in a database;

retrieving the financial information from the database using a processing system;

providing a graphical user interface to allow a user to define a hurdle set, the hurdle set being a plurality of process steps of a process to determine a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture and the graphical user interface including a first graphical editing tool that allows the user to specify a first calculation to be included in the hurdle set by allowing the user to select the first calculation from a list of calculations of a first type;

defining a hurdle set in response to input to the graphical user interface;

determining, in the processing system, an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the financial information and the hurdle set, the determining comprising:

determining whether one or more pool tests are to be applied to the joint venture;

computing pool test amounts, including at least properties, capital contributions, and balances, for each of the one or more pool tests;

determining an overall test score for the joint venture based on the one or more pool tests applied to the joint venture;

selecting, from one or more hurdle sets including the hurdle set defined by the user, a hurdle set to use in a calculation of the distribution amount based on the overall test score for the joint venture;

calculating the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture; and

providing an output of the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information comprises:

determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement indicative of financial performance of the joint venture for the accounting period.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution comprises:

determining an amount of a capital contribution to the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein storing the financial information in a database comprises:

storing a posting for a ledger in the database.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein storing a posting for a ledger comprises:

storing a posting for a general ledger.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a processing system to receive information associated with a joint venture, the information including an agreement that includes terms that specify how to distribute, to members of the joint venture, a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture, determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement, determine financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution, store the financial information in a database, retrieve the financial information from the database, provide a graphical user interface to allow a user to define a hurdle set, the hurdle set being a plurality of process steps of a process to determine a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture and the graphical user interface including a first graphical editing tool that allows the user to specify a first calculation to be included in the hurdle set by allowing the user to select the first calculation from a list of calculations of a first type, defining the hurdle set in response to input to the graphical user interface; and determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the financial information and the hurdle set, wherein to determine the amount of the distribution comprises using a processor for:

determining whether one or more pool tests are to be applied to the joint venture;

computing pool test amounts, including at least properties, capital contributions, and balances, for each of the one or more pool tests;

determining an overall test score for the joint venture based on the one or more pool tests applied to the joint venture;

selecting, from one or more hurdle sets including the hurdle set defined by the user, a hurdle set to use in a calculation of the distribution amount based on the overall test score for the joint venture

calculating the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture; and

providing an output of the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processing system comprises:

a processing system to determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement indicative of financial performance of the joint venture for the accounting period.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processing system comprises:

a processing system to receive information associated with a joint venture and determine an amount of interest based at least in part on a capital contribution to the joint venture.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processing system comprises:

a processing system to receive information associated with a joint venture, determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information and determine an amount of a capital contribution to the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the processing system comprises:

a processing system to receive information associated with a joint venture, determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information, determine financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution and store a posting for a ledger in the database.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing system comprises:

a processing system to receive information associated with a joint venture, determine an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information, determine financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution and store a posting for a general ledger.

12. A computer program product comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that if executed by a machine, result in the following:

receiving information associated with a joint venture, the information including an agreement that includes terms that specify how to distribute, to members of the joint venture, a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture;

determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement;

determining financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution;

storing the financial information in a database;

retrieving the financial information from the database using a processing system;

providing a graphical user interface to allow a user to define a hurdle set, the hurdle set being a plurality of process steps of a process to determine a distributable portion of total capital within the joint venture and the graphical user interface including a first graphical editing tool that allows the user to specify a first calculation to be included in the hurdle set by allowing the user to select the first calculation from a list of calculations of a first type;

defining the hurdle set in response to input to the graphical user interface;

determining, in the processing system, an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the financial information and the hurdle set, the determining comprising:

determining whether one or more pool tests are to be applied to the joint venture;

computing pool test amounts, including at least properties, capital contributions, and balances, for each of the one or more pool tests;

determining an overall test score for the joint venture based on the one or more pool tests applied to the joint venture;

selecting, from one or more hurdle sets including the hurdle set defined by the user, a hurdle set to use in a calculation of the distribution amount based on the overall test score for the joint venture

calculating the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture; and

providing an output of the distribution amount for each hurdle in the selected hurdle set for each member of the joint venture.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information comprises:

determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the agreement indicative of financial performance of the joint venture for the accounting period.

14. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein determining an amount of a distribution based at least in part on the information comprises:

determining an amount of interest based at least in part on a capital contribution to the joint venture.

15. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein determining financial information for the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution comprises:

determining an amount of a capital contribution to the joint venture based at least in part on the amount of the distribution.

16. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein storing the financial information in a database comprises:

storing a posting for a ledger in the database.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving information associated with a joint venture comprises:

receiving at least a portion of the information associated with the joint venture from the database.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving information associated with a joint venture comprises:

retrieving the information associated with the joint venture from the database using the processing system.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the information associated with the joint venture comprises information indicative of an amount of a capital contribution made by each member of the joint venture and a rate of return for each member of the joint venture.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving information associated with a joint venture comprises:

receiving, in the processing system, a posting for a ledger.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface includes a second graphical editing tool that allows the user to specify an order of claim priority for the first calculation by allowing the user to select the order of claim priority from a list of various types of order of claim priority.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface includes a second graphical editing tool that allows the user to specify a second calculation that is of a second type and included in the hurdle set.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphical user interface includes a first sequence number that is associated with the first calculation and indicates a position of the first calculation with a sequence of calculations for the hurdle set.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the graphical user interface includes dialogue box within which the user may type the first sequence number.