Method and system for collaborative vendor reconciliation

• US 20030220858A1
• Filed: 05/24/2002
• Published: 11/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Mueller, Georg, Lingampalli, Baby, Lopin, Pavel, McRae, Xuan Sunny, Agrawal, Chandra (CP), Lam, Duc
• Application Number:
  US10/155,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20030220858A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Method and system of exchanging business documents between a set of entities. The set of entities include a plurality of buyers and sellers. Identification information is received from respective entities. The identification information includes at least the names of respected entities from which the identification information is received. The information received from the entities is stored in records in a first storage resource. The records include information to facilitate the sending documents to the entities. Based on similarity between information in respective records, approximate correspondence is determined between records (a) the first storage resource and (b) a second storage resource. The second storage resource is included in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system belonging to a first entity. Links are established between the respective records based on the approximate correspondence. A request is received to send a document from the first entity to a second entity. A record associated with the second entity is identified in the second storage resource in the enterprise resource planning system. Based on the established link between the record associated with the second entity and the corresponding record in the first storage resource, information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource is obtained to facilitate sending the document to the second entity. Based on information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource, the document is sent from the first entity to the second entity. According to one aspect of the invention, the information received from respective entities includes a postal address and account information. Determining approximate correspondence may comprise determining the degree of correspondence between the postal address and name in the first storage resource and the postal address and name in the second storage resource.

Claims

1. A method of exchanging business documents between a set of entities, the set including a plurality of buyers and sellers, the method comprising:

receiving identification information from respective entities, the identification information including at least the names of the respective entities from which the identification information is received;

storing the information received from the entities in records in a first storage resource, the records including information to facilitate sending documents to the entities;

based on similarity between information in respective records, determining approximate correspondence between records in (a) the first storage resource and (b) a second storage resource, wherein the second storage resource is included in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system belonging to a first entity;

establishing links between the respective records based on the approximate correspondence;

receiving a request to send a document from the first entity to a second entity;

identifying a record associated with the second entity in the second storage resource in the enterprise resource planning system;

based on the established link between the record associated with the second entity and a corresponding record in the first storage resource, obtaining information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource to facilitate sending the document to the second entity; and

sending the document from the first entity to the second entity based on the information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information received from respective entities includes a postal address and account information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining approximate correspondence comprises determining degree of correspondence between the postal address and name in the first storage resource and the postal address and name in the second storage resource.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information to facilitate sending documents comprises an electronic mail address of the respective entity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entity comprises a buyer, the second entity comprises a seller and the document comprises an electronic check.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the document comprises an invoice.

7. The method of claim 1, including,

loading records from the second storage resource onto a system separate from the enterprise resource planning system;

and

comparing records loaded onto the system separate from the enterprise resource planning system with the records in the first storage resource to determine the correspondence between records in the first storage resource and the second storage resource.

8. The method of claim 1, including establishing links between the respective records based on links previously established between records in (a) the first storage resource and (b) storage devices included in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems belonging to an entities other than the first entity and the second entity.

9. The method of claim 1, including establishing links between the respective records based on recommendations by a party other than the first entity and the second entity.

10. The method of claim 1, including establishing links between respective records based on user selection when insufficient confidence is established from automatic determination of similarity between information in respective records.

11. The method of claim 1, including determining the approximate correspondence based on a weighted combination of the correspondence between selected items in the corresponding records in the first storage resource and the second resource.

12. The method of claim 1, including,

receiving a seller'"'"'s identification information from a buyer;

presenting to the seller the seller'"'"'s identification information that was received from the buyer;

receiving from the seller edits to the seller'"'"'s identification information;

storing the edited seller'"'"'s identification information in a record in the first storage resource; and

establishing a link between a corresponding record in the buyer'"'"'s enterprise resource planning system and the record the first storage resource that includes the seller'"'"'s edited identification information.

13. The method of claim 12, including, after establishing the link between the corresponding record in the buyer'"'"'s enterprise resource planning system and the record the first storage resource that includes the seller'"'"'s edited identification information, updating the seller'"'"'s identification information in the first storage resource based on input from the seller.

14. The method of claim 1, including

receiving from a buyer information regarding,

an address for billing of transactions,

an address for shipping goods in the transactions, and

a definition of an invoice to be submitted to the buyer for transactions;

storing the information from the buyer in the first storage resource; and

effecting a transaction between a seller and the buyer using the information from the buyer stored in the first storage resource.

15. A system for exchanging business documents between a set of entities, the set including a plurality of buyers and sellers, the system comprising:

a first storage resource;

logic that receives identification information from the respective entities, the identification information including at least the names of the respective entities from which the identification information is received;

logic that stores the information received from the entities in records in the first storage resource, the records including information to facilitate sending documents to the entities;

logic that, based on similarity between information in respective records, determining approximate correspondence between records in (a) the first storage resource and (b) a second storage resource, wherein the second storage resource is included in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system belonging to a first entity;

logic that establishes links between the respective records based on the approximate correspondence;

logic that receives a request to send a document from the first entity to a second entity;

logic that identifies a record associated with the second entity in the second storage resource in the enterprise resource planning system;

logic that, based on the established link between the record associated with the second entity and a corresponding record in the first storage resource, obtains information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource to facilitate sending the document to the second entity; and

logic that sends the document from the first entity to the second entity based on the information in the corresponding record in the first storage resource.

16. A method for effecting electronic payment between a first entity and a second entity, the method comprising:

storing an account identification for the first entity;

associating the account identification with a first postal address;

receiving a request from the second entity to make payment to the first entity, the request including an identification of a second postal address which approximately corresponds to the first postal address;

associating the second postal address with the first postal address; and

effecting the payment electronically from the first entity to the account corresponding to the account identification stored for the first entity.

17. The method of claim 16, including:

providing the second entity a set of possible addresses that may correspond approximately with second postal address, the set of possible addresses including the first postal address; and

receiving a selection from the second entity of the first postal address from among the set of possible addresses;

wherein the associating the second postal address with the first postal address is performed in response to the receipt of such selection by the second entity.

18. The method of claim 16, including automatically associating the second postal address with the first postal address if a set of components of the first postal address and the second postal address match greater than a particular threshold.

19. The method of claim 16, including wherein the first postal address includes fields of:

a vendor name;

a zip code;

a portion comprising one of, (a) a street address or (b) a post office box number;

a taxpayer identification number (TIN) number; and

a data universal numbering system (DUNS) number;

wherein any of the foregoing fields may be blank.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first postal address further includes a field of a department name.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the postal address further includes a field of a business unit.

22. The method of claim 19, including automatically associating the second postal address with the first postal address if a set of the fields of the first postal address and the second postal address match greater than a particular threshold.

23. The method of claim 16, including automatically associating the second postal address with the first postal address based on unstructured pattern matching.

24. The method of claim 16, including automatically associating the second postal address with the first postal address based on fuzzy of the rules matching set of fields.

25. The method of claim 16, including

providing the second entity a set of possible addresses that may correspond approximately with second postal address, the set of possible addresses including the first postal address, and the set of possible addresses selected including addresses in which particular set of fields match the second postal address greater than a particular threshold;

and

receiving, from the second entity, a selection of the first address from among the set of possible addresses.

26. The method of claim 25, automatically associating addresses based on unstructured pattern matching.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the providing the set of possible addresses is based on fuzzy rules of matching a set of fields of the first postal address and the second postal address.

28. The method of claim 16, including

providing the second entity a set of possible addresses that may correspond approximately with second postal address, the set of possible addresses including the first postal address,

for each address in the set of possible addresses, providing a level of confidence in correspondence between the respective address and the second postal address;

and

receiving, from the second entity, a selection of the first address from among the set of possible addresses.

29. The method of claim 16, including effecting payment with an electronic check.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the check includes a digital signature.

31. A method for effecting electronic payment between a first entity and a second entity, the method comprising:

receiving from the first entity an account number identifying a financial account of the first entity;

receiving a first postal address provided by the first entity and associated with the account number by the first entity;

storing the account number and the first postal address in a record associated with a first unique identifier;

receiving from the second entity a second postal address which approximately corresponds to the first postal address;

storing the second postal address in a record with a second unique identifier;

receiving a request from the second entity to make payment to the first entity, the request including an identification of the second postal address;

determining that the first postal address corresponds to the second postal address;

based on such determination, associating the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier; and

effecting the payment electronically from the first entity to the financial account of the first entity identified by the account number.

32. The method of claim 31, including

receiving, from the first entity, a request to change the account number to a second account number associated with a second financial account in the record associated with a first unique identifier;

in response to the request to change, changing the account number to the second account number, in the record associated with a first unique identifier;

after such changing, receiving a second request from the second entity to make payment to the first entity, the request made based on identification of the second postal address; and

effecting the payment electronically from the first entity to the second financial account of the first entity identified by the second account number.

33. A system for effecting electronic payment between a set of entities associated with vendors and a set of entities associated with purchasers, the system comprising:

a database including,

for a respective entity associated with a purchaser, a set of records including remittance addresses of vendors,

for a respective entry associated with a vendor, a set of records each including a remittance address and an identifier of a financial account, and

links between (a) the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser and (b) the respective records associated with vendors, the links linking records with corresponding remittance addresses;

computer readable code that establishes the links based on correspondence between the respective addresses in the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser and the respective entities associated with vendors;

computer readable code that receives a request from an entity associated with a purchaser to make payment to a vendor, the request including a selection of a remittance address from among the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser;

computer readable code that effects payment to a financial account based on the link between (a) the respective record for the entity associated with the purchaser, the record corresponding to the selected remittance address and (b) the respective record for the entity associated with the vendor, the record having a remittance address corresponding to the selected remittance address and an identifier of the financial account.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the database includes a first database with respective entries associated with the vendor located on a server, and two databases associated with respective entries associated with the purchaser, the first such database is located on the server, and the second such database is located on the purchaser'"'"'s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

35. A method for effecting an electronic financial transaction between a first entity and a second entity, the method comprising:

storing an payment identification for the first entity;

associating the payment identification with a public identification of the payment identification;

receiving a request from the second entity to make payment to the first entity, the request including a second public identification of the payment identification which approximately corresponds to the first public identification;

associating the second public identification with the first public identification; and

based on such associating, effecting the payment electronically from the second entity to first entity in accordance with the payment identification for the first entity.

36. A system for effecting electronic payment between a set of entities associated with vendors and a set of entities associated with purchasers, the system comprising:

a database including,

for a respective entity associated with a purchaser, a set of records including public payment identifications of vendors,

for a respective entry associated with a vendor, a set of records each including a public payment identification and a payment identification, and

links between (a) the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser and (b) the respective records associated with vendors, the links linking records with corresponding public payment identifications;

computer readable code that establishes the links based on correspondence between the public payment identifications in the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser and the respective entities associated with vendors;

computer readable code that receives a request from an entity associated with a purchaser to make payment to a vendor, the request including a selection of a public payment identification from among the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser;

computer readable code that effects payment to in accordance with the payment identification based on the link between (a) the respective record for the entity associated with the purchaser, the record corresponding to the public payment identification and (b) the respective entity for the entity associated with the vendor, the record having a public payment identification corresponding to the selected public payment identification and a payment identification.

37. A system for effecting electronic payment between a set of entities associated with vendors and a set of entities associated with purchasers, the system comprising:

a server;

a first database coupled with the server including, for a respective entity associated with a purchaser, a set of records including public payment identifications of vendors,

a second database coupled with the server including, for entries associated with vendors, a set of records each including a public payment identification and a payment identification;

links between (a) the respective entries in the first database and (b) respective entries in the second database, the links linking records with corresponding public payment identifications;

computer readable code that establishes the links based on correspondence between the public payment identifications in the respective records in the first database and the second database;

computer readable code that receives a request from an entity associated with a purchaser to make payment to a vendor, the request including a selection of a public payment identification from among the respective records for the entity associated with the purchaser; and

computer readable code that effects payment to in accordance with the payment identification based on the link between (a) the respective entry in the first database and (b) the respective entry in the second database, the entry in the second database having (i) a public payment identification corresponding to the selected public payment identification and (ii) a payment identification.

38. The system of claim 37, including computer readable code that synchronizes entries in the first database with entries in a third database coupled to a purchaser'"'"'s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

39. The system of claim 37, including computer readable code that generates matches between entries in the first database and the second database based on correspondence between public payment identifications in the respective entries.

40. The system of claim 37, including computer readable code that enrolls entries in the second database from the first database.