Expense tracking, electronic ordering, invoice presentment, and payment system and method

• US 8,266,028 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2009
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Altisource Holdings, S.A.R.L. (Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA), Andrei Iancu, Ashley Moody Florida Office of The Attorney General and Successors Thereto, Jeanette Nunez Lieutenant Governor of Florida and Successors Thereto, Joan D. Heuer, Laurel M Lee Florida Secretary of State and Successors Thereto, Steven Mnuchin United States Secretary of The Treasury and Successors Thereto, Timothy E Gribben Commissioner For Bureau of The Fiscal Service Agency of The United States Department of The Treasury and Successors and Assigns Thereto
• Original Assignee: Altisource Solutions S.A R.L. (Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA)
• Inventors: Bulman, Russell G., Blum, Sandra R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jagdish
• Application Number:
  US12/404,958
• Publication Number:
  US 20090248467A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,275 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/37, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for electronic invoice presentment and payment processing. Requestors may place an order to purchase goods or services from one or more vendors. Invoice processing includes approval routing and dispute resolution.

Claims

1. An electronic invoice presentment and payment system, comprising:

a registration and order fulfillment module for receiving orders from one or more requestors to purchase goods or services from one or more vendors; and

an invoice processing module for routing and automatically approving invoices for orders completed by the one or more vendors;

wherein the invoice processing module comprises one or more custom invoice approval rules, the invoice approval rules being customized for each of the one or more requestors.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration and order fulfillment module further comprises:

a vendor registration module for registering vendors to provide goods or services, the registration including obtaining banking information for automatic payment remittal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the invoice processing module comprises:

an invoice approval routing module for electronically routing an invoice to one or more approvers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the invoice processing module comprises:

a dispute resolution module for electronically reviewing one or more problems associated with an invoice that has been rejected by a requestor.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the dispute resolution module provides notification to a vendor that an invoice has been rejected and provides means for responding to the rejection.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein an invoice, a purchase order associated with the invoice, and a receive report associated with the invoice are evaluated using the one or more custom approval rules.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a data handling module for logging data errors and re-transmitting data associated with an error upon resolution of the error.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the invoice processing module is further configured to initiate the automatic payment of an invoice upon approval.

9. A method for invoice processing via a computer, the computer comprising a processor, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a requestor to purchase goods or services from a vendor;

generating, by the requestor, a purchase order reflecting the requested purchase;

generating, by the vendor, an invoice for the requested purchase;

determining, via the processor, based on one or more requestor-defined rules, whether the invoice can be approved; and

upon approval of the invoice, initiating an automated payment to the vendor.

10. A system for invoice processing, the system comprising:

a processor;

a user interface functioning via the processor; and

a repository accessible by the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

receive a request from a requestor to purchase goods or services from a vendor;

generate a purchase order reflecting the requested purchase;

receive an invoice for the requested purchase from the vendor;

determine, based on one or more requestor-defined rules, whether the invoice can be approved; and

upon approval of the invoice, automatically initiate payment to the vendor.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is housed on a terminal.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the terminal is selected from a group consisting of a personal computer, a minicomputer, a main frame computer, a microcomputer, a hand held device, and a telephonic device.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is housed on a server.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the server is selected from a group consisting of a personal computer, a minicomputer, a microcomputer, and a main frame computer.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the server is coupled to a network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the network is the Internet.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the server is coupled to the network via a coupling.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the coupling is selected from a group consisting of a wired connection, a wireless connection, and a fiber optic connection.

19. The system of claim 10 wherein the repository is housed on a server.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the server is coupled to a network.

21. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to process an invoice, the control logic comprising:

first computer readable program code means to receive a request from a requestor to purchase goods or service from a vendor;

second computer readable program code means to generate a purchase order reflecting the requested purchase;

third computer readable program code means to generate an invoice for the requested purchase;

fourth computer readable program code means to determine, based on one or more requestor-defined rules, whether the invoice can be approved; and

fifth computer readable program code means to initiate automatic payment to the vendor upon approval of the invoice.