Abstract: A computer implemented method for processing data representing transactions involving a plurality of commodities and one or more suppliers for each of the plurality of commodities. Data is received that represents a transaction involving one of the plurality of commodities, the data having a format and including a price, a quantity, two or more characteristics of the commodity involved in the transaction, and the identity of the supplier of the commodity involved in the transaction. The data is translated from its received format into an internal format that allows for the price, the quantity, each of the commodity characteristics, and the supplier identity of the data representing the transaction to be directly accessed. Calculations may be performed on the translated data to produce reports based on price, quantity, one or more characteristics of the specification for a commodity, and in relation to internal and/or external benchmarks.