Methods and system for performing business-to-business electronic invoice presentment and payment with line item level granularity
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
- providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item; and
for each entry, (i) determining an individual with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type, (ii) making the entry available to the determined individual, and (iii) receiving an indication from the determined individual reflecting a decision on whether to approve the entry, wherein entries that the individual does not have authority to approve are not made available to the individual.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for performing Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) processing at a line item granularity is disclosed. A server enables a purchasing entity to designate approvers for selected departments within the purchasing entity. The server receives from a providing entity invoices that each include one or more line items. The server processes the invoices and stores line item data associated with each line item in a database. Using the line items included in the invoices, the server determines departments that each line item is associated with and whether each department has a designated approver. In response to a notification message from the server, an approver may request access to invoice information associated with their department. The server accesses the database and makes available only information associated with line items included in the invoices that are associated with the approver'"'"'s corresponding department.
44 Citations
86 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item; and
for each entry, (i) determining an individual with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type, (ii) making the entry available to the determined individual, and (iii) receiving an indication from the determined individual reflecting a decision on whether to approve the entry, wherein entries that the individual does not have authority to approve are not made available to the individual. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries;
determining a value of the invoice; and
automatically approving all of the entries included in the invoice based on the determined value.
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6. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item;
determining a value of each entry included in the invoice;
identifying for each entry an approver with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type;
automatically approving one or more entries included in the invoice based on the determined value of each approved entry; and
making one or more entries available to a corresponding approver based on the available one or more entries'"'"' determined value, wherein each entry that is made available excludes entries that the corresponding authorized approver does not have the authority to approve. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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7. The method of 6, further comprising:
receiving an indication from each corresponding approver reflecting a decision on whether to approve each entry that the corresponding approver has the authority to approve.
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10. A method for facilitating business transactions between a providing entity and a purchasing entity, comprising:
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providing, by the providing entity, an invoice including a plurality of items;
determining, for each item included in the invoice, a corresponding approver with authority to approve the item; and
facilitating a review process for each item based on the determination, wherein the review process is defined by the purchasing entity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19)
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15. A method for facilitating business transactions, comprising:
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receiving information reflecting an invoice with a plurality of items; and
directing individual items to respective approvers such that each respective approver receives only items that the respective approver is authorized to review.
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16. A method for facilitating business transactions, comprising:
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requesting access to invoice information associated with an invoice including a plurality of items;
accessing the invoice information that includes information on only items included in the invoice that are authorized for review; and
generating an indication reflecting a decision one whether to approve each authorized item.
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20. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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receiving profile information associated with a user;
receiving an indication reflecting the assignment of the user'"'"'s approver status based on the profile information;
assigning an entity identifier to the user based on the approver status, wherein the identifier indicates an entity within a providing entity that purchases items from a purchasing entity; and
assigning the user as an approver with the authority to approve the purchases reflected in entries included in an invoice provided by the providing entity.
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21. A method for facilitating electronic business transactions in a system including a purchasing entity that includes one or more sub-entities, and a providing entity, the method comprising:
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receiving a notification that an invoice including one or more line items has been provided by the providing entity;
requesting access to information associated with the invoice;
receiving line item information associated with selected line items of the one or more line items included in the invoice;
performing a dispute/approval process on the line item information; and
generating an indication reflecting results of the dispute/approval process. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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26. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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a providing entity for providing one or more invoices associated with one or more purchasing entities, wherein the one or more invoices each include one or more line items; and
a server for receiving the one or more invoices from the providing entity, determining an approver for each line item included in the one or more invoices, making available line item data associated with each one of the one or more line items to the approver(s), wherein each one of the approvers has viewing access restricted to line item data associated with line items that they authorized to review.
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31. A method for facilitating business transactions between a providing entity and a purchasing entity, comprising:
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providing, by the providing entity, an invoice including a plurality of items; and
determining, for each item included in the invoice, a corresponding approver with authority to approve the item.
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32. A computer-implemented method for facilitating dispute handling for invoices reflecting purchases of goods and services, comprising:
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storing data representing an invoice with a plurality of line items;
permitting access to at least a portion of the data by an individual authorized to review a set of line items selected from the plurality of line items based on stored profile data associated with the individual; and
receiving decision data reflecting a decision by the authorized individual to dispute one of the selected line items. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40)
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37. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating electronic business transactions, the method comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item; and
for each entry, (i) determining an individual with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type, (ii) making the entry available to the determined individual, and (iii) receiving an indication from the determined individual reflecting a decision on whether to approve the entry, wherein entries that the individual does not have authority to approve are not made available to the individual.
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41. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating electronic business transactions, the method comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries;
determining a value of the invoice; and
automatically approving all of the entries included in the invoice based on the determined value.
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42. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item;
determining a value of each entry included in the invoice;
identifying for each entry an approver with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type;
automatically approving one or more entries included in the invoice based on the determined value of each approved entry; and
making one or more entries available to a corresponding approver based on the available one or more entries'"'"' determined value, wherein each entry that is made available excludes entries that the corresponding authorized approver does not have the authority to approve. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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43. The computer-readable medium of 42, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving an indication from each corresponding approver reflecting a decision on whether to approve each entry that the corresponding approver has the authority to approve.
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46. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating business transactions between a providing entity and a purchasing entity, comprising:
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providing, by the providing entity, an invoice including a plurality of items;
determining, for each item included in the invoice, a corresponding approver with authority to approve the item; and
facilitating a review process for each item based on the determination, wherein the review process is defined by the purchasing entity.
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51. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating business transactions, the method comprising:
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receiving information reflecting an invoice with a plurality of items; and
directing individual items to respective approvers such that each respective approver receives only items that the respective approver is authorized to review.
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52. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating business transactions, comprising:
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requesting access to invoice information associated with an invoice including a plurality of items;
accessing the invoice information that includes information on only items included in the invoice that are authorized for review; and
generating an indication reflecting a decision one whether to approve each authorized item. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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56. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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receiving profile information associated with a user;
receiving an indication reflecting the assignment of the user'"'"'s approver status based on the profile information;
assigning an entity identifier to the user based on the approver status, wherein the identifier indicates an entity within a providing entity that purchases items from a purchasing entity; and
assigning the user as an approver with the authority to approve the purchases reflected in entries included in an invoice provided by the providing entity.
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57. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for facilitating electronic business transactions in a system including a purchasing entity that includes one or more sub-entities, and a providing entity, the method comprising:
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receiving a notification that an invoice including one or more line items has been provided by the providing entity;
requesting access to information associated with the invoice;
receiving line item information associated with selected line items of the one or more line items included in the invoice;
performing a dispute/approval process on the line item information; and
generating an indication reflecting results of the dispute/approval process.
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62. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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means for providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item;
means for determining, for each entry, an individual with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type;
means for making each entry available to the determined individual; and
means for receiving, for each entry, an indication from the determined individual reflecting a decision on whether to approve the entry, wherein entries that the individual does not have authority to approve are not made available to the individual. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65)
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66. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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means for providing an invoice including a plurality of entries;
means for determining a value of the invoice; and
means for automatically approving all of the entries included in the invoice based on the determined value. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70)
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67. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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means for providing an invoice including a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a type of item;
means for determining a value of each entry included in the invoice;
means for identifying for each entry an approver with authority to approve the entry based on the associated item type;
means for automatically approving one or more entries included in the invoice based on the determined value of each approved entry; and
means for making one or more entries available to a corresponding approver based on the available one or more entries'"'"' determined value, wherein each entry that is made available excludes entries that the corresponding authorized approver does not have the authority to approve.
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68. The system of 67, further comprising:
means for receiving an indication from each corresponding approver reflecting a decision on whether to approve each entry that the corresponding approver has the authority to approve.
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71. A system for facilitating business transactions between a providing entity and a purchasing entity, comprising:
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means for providing, by the providing entity, an invoice including a plurality of items;
means for determining, for each item included in the invoice, a corresponding approver with authority to approve the item; and
means for facilitating a review process for each item based on the determination, wherein the review process is defined by the purchasing entity. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A system for facilitating business transactions, comprising:
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means for receiving information reflecting an invoice with a plurality of items; and
means for directing individual items to respective approvers such that each respective approver receives only items that the respective approver is authorized to review.
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77. A system for facilitating business transactions, comprising:
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means for requesting access to invoice information associated with an invoice including a plurality of items;
means for accessing the invoice information that includes information on only items included in the invoice that are authorized for review; and
means for generating an indication reflecting a decision one whether to approve each authorized item. - View Dependent Claims (78, 79, 80)
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81. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions, comprising:
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means for receiving profile information associated with a user;
means for receiving an indication reflecting the assignment of the user'"'"'s approver status based on the profile information;
means for assigning an entity identifier to the user based on the approver status, wherein the identifier indicates an entity within a providing entity that purchases items from a purchasing entity; and
means for assigning the user as an approver with the authority to approve the purchases reflected in entries included in an invoice provided by the providing entity.
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82. A system for facilitating electronic business transactions in a system including a purchasing entity that includes one or more sub-entities, and a providing entity, the system comprising:
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means for receiving a notification that an invoice including one or more line items has been provided by the providing entity;
means for requesting access to information associated with the invoice;
means for receiving line item information associated with selected line items of the one or more line items included in the invoice;
means for performing a dispute/approval process on the line item information; and
means for generating an indication reflecting results of the dispute/approval process. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 86)
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Specification