ENHANCED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCANNING AND PROCESSING OF PAYMENT DOCUMENTATION

• US 20150012442A1
• Filed: 06/04/2014
• Published: 01/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Bill.com, Inc. (Bill.com Holdings, Inc.), Bill.com, LLC (Bill Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bill.com, Inc. (Bill.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ceribelli, Henrique Pedreira de Freitas, Chan, Eric, Orttung, Mark, Linscott, Darren
• Application Number:
  US14/295,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20150012442A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0425 the cheque being electronic only
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to scan a check or other payment instrument into an image file and apply a credit to one or more invoices associated with the entity, such as invoices issued by a business partner of the entity originating the check. Where there are multiple invoices outstanding invoices, embodiments of the present disclosure can selectively apply credits to such invoices based on input from the entity and/or based on rules defining how such credit are to be applied to the invoices.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

scanning, by a computer system, an image of a payment instrument;

identifying, by the computer system and based on the scanned image, an entity originating the payment instrument;

identifying, by the computer system, an invoice associated with the entity; and

applying, by the computer system, a credit from the payment instrument to the identified invoice.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of invoices associated with the entity; and

applying the credit from the payment instrument to at least two of the plurality of invoices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein applying the credit from the payment instrument includes prompting a user to identify the invoices to which the credit is to be applied.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the prompts are provided to the user via a second computer system in communication with the computer system.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating a set of rules for applying payments to future invoices based on responses by the user to the prompts.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein applying the credit from the payment instrument includes:

retrieving a set of rules for applying the credit from a database; and

applying the credit in accordance with the retrieved rules.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of rules are generated based on previous input from the entity used to apply credits to previous invoices.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the scanned image in a database for later retrieval.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing the applied credit with an accounting system associated with the entity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein synchronizing the applied credit includes closing out an open invoice in the accounting system of the entity.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the entity includes comparing information in the scanned image to information regarding the entity that is stored in a database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the information in the scanned image is determined using an optical character recognition analysis of the scanned image.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment instrument is a paper check, and wherein scanning the image of the check includes scanning the front of the check.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment instrument is a paper check, and wherein scanning the image of the check includes scanning the back of the check.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment instrument is a paper check, and wherein scanning the image of the check includes scanning the front of the check and the back of the check.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment instrument is a paper check, and wherein scanning the image of the check includes scanning the front of the check and retrieving, from a database, a standard endorsement image associated with the entity.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining viability metrics for the scanned image.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising re-scanning the image in response to the viability metrics being below a predetermined threshold.

19. A tangible non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:

scan an image of a payment instrument;

identify, based on the scanned image, an entity originating the payment instrument;

identify an invoice associated with the entity; and

apply a credit from the payment instrument to the identified invoice.

20. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory in communication with the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to;

scan an image of a payment instrument;

identify, based on the scanned image, an entity originating the payment instrument;

identify an invoice associated with the entity; and

apply a credit from the payment instrument to the identified invoice.