Ensuring the accurateness and currentness of information provided by the submitter of an electronic invoice throughout the life of a matter using tentative electronic invoice submission
First Claim
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1. A method in computing system for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice on behalf of a vendor, comprising:
- providing a mechanism usable by users associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
receiving the invoice from a user associated with the vendor;
accepting the received invoice without imposing conditions on such acceptance;
after the invoice has been accepted, determining whether the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
if the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information, making the received invoice available for payment;
if the mechanism has not been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
providing a notification to at least one user associated with the vendor that identifies specified information that must be provided before the received invoice will be made available for payment; and
making the received invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information.
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Abstract
A facility for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice by submitter is described. The facility provides a mechanism usable by the submitter to provide the specified information. When the facility receives the invoice from the submitter, the facility makes the invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by the submitter to provide the specified information.
49 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method in computing system for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice on behalf of a vendor, comprising:
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providing a mechanism usable by users associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
receiving the invoice from a user associated with the vendor;
accepting the received invoice without imposing conditions on such acceptance;
after the invoice has been accepted, determining whether the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
if the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information, making the received invoice available for payment;
if the mechanism has not been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information;
providing a notification to at least one user associated with the vendor that identifies specified information that must be provided before the received invoice will be made available for payment; and
making the received invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by a user associated with the vendor to provide the specified information.
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2. A method in computing system for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice by a submitter, comprising:
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providing a mechanism usable by the submitter to provide the specified information;
receiving the invoice from the submitter; and
after the invoice has been received from the submitter, making the received invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by the submitter to provide the specified information. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing system to perform a method for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice by a submitter, the method comprising:
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providing a mechanism usable by the submitter to provide the specified information;
receiving the invoice from the submitter; and
after the invoice has been received from the submitter, making the received invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by the submitter to provide the specified information. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A computing system for collecting specified information in conjunction with the submission of an invoice by a submitter, comprising:
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a user interface component usable by the submitter to provide the specified information;
an invoice receiving component that receives the invoice from the submitter; and
a payment gating component that, after the invoice has been received from the submitter, makes the received invoice available for payment only after the mechanism has been used by the submitter to provide the specified information. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. One or more generated data signals collectively conveying to a user associated with a vendor that has submitted an invoice a notification data structure relating to the submitted invoice, the notification data structure comprising:
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information identifying one or more required information items; and
information indicating that the submitted invoice will only be made available for processing after the identified required information items are provided by the vendor.
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Specification