Expense tracking, electronic ordering, invoice presentment, and payment system and method
First Claim
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1. A method for performing automated commerce ordering, comprising:
- creating a budget for a transaction, the budget including a total price and at least one line item, each line item including an approved work order price, wherein one or more of the line items is created via a bidding process among a plurality of vendors; and
upon verifying that the budget is within a budget maximum limit;
automatically approving the budget subsequent to the verification;
automatically creating a work order related to automated commerce for each line item, each work order specifying a vendor from the plurality of vendors to complete the work order;
transmitting the work order to the vendor electronically;
receiving invoice information from the vendor, the invoice information being received in response to the transmitted work order and including an invoiced price;
automatically approving the invoiced price upon verifying that the invoiced price is within the approved work order price or a preset overage tolerance; and
automatically initiating payment of the approved invoice price to the vendor.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for tracking and billing expenses throughout a transaction, such as the sale or management of a real estate property. In one embodiment, a budget is created that details expected incomes on the property and costs associated with the sale or management of the property. The budget may be developed in accordance with specifications, such as line item maxima or total budget maxima, developed by the owner of the property. After a vendor has delivered goods or services described in the budget, the vendor creates an electronic invoice. Payment is delivered to the vendor through an Automated Clearing House system.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for performing automated commerce ordering, comprising:
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creating a budget for a transaction, the budget including a total price and at least one line item, each line item including an approved work order price, wherein one or more of the line items is created via a bidding process among a plurality of vendors; and upon verifying that the budget is within a budget maximum limit; automatically approving the budget subsequent to the verification; automatically creating a work order related to automated commerce for each line item, each work order specifying a vendor from the plurality of vendors to complete the work order; transmitting the work order to the vendor electronically; receiving invoice information from the vendor, the invoice information being received in response to the transmitted work order and including an invoiced price; automatically approving the invoiced price upon verifying that the invoiced price is within the approved work order price or a preset overage tolerance; and automatically initiating payment of the approved invoice price to the vendor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to perform electronic expense tracking, the control logic comprising:
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first computer readable program code means for creating a budget for a transaction, the budget including a total price and at least one line item, each line item including an approved work order price, wherein one or more of the line items is created via a bidding process among a plurality of vendors; second computer readable program code means for verifying that the budget is within a budget maximum limit; third computer readable program code means for automatically approving the budget subsequent to the verification; fourth computer readable program code means for automatically creating a work order relating to automated commerce for each line item after approval of the budget, each work order specifying a vendor from the plurality of vendors to complete the work order; fifth computer readable program code means for transmitting the work order to the vendor electronically; sixth computer readable program code means for receiving invoice information from the vendor, the invoice information being received in response to the transmitted work order and including an invoiced price; seventh computer readable program code means for automatically approving the invoiced price upon verifying that the invoiced price is within the approved work order price or a preset overage tolerance; and eighth computer readable program code means for automatically initiating payment of the approved invoice price to the vendor.
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25. A system for electronic expense tracking, comprising:
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a processor; a user interface functioning via the processor; a transmitter accessible by the processor for transmitting information; and a receiver accessible by the processor for receiving information; wherein a budget is created via the processor using information input into the user interface, the budget including at least one line item, each line item including an approved work order price, wherein one or more of the line items is created via a bidding process among a plurality of vendors; and wherein, upon verifying that the budget is within a budget maximum limit; the budget is automatically approved via the processor subsequent to the verification; a work order relating to automated commerce is automatically created for each line item via the processor, each work order specifying a vendor from the plurality of vendors to complete the work order; the work order is transmitted to the vendor via the transmitter, invoice information is received from the vendor via the receiver, the invoice information being received in response to the transmitted work order and including an invoiced price; the invoiced price is automatically approved via the processor upon verifying that the invoiced price is within the approved work order price or a preset price overage tolerance; and payment of the approved invoice price to the vendor is automatically initiated via the processor. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification