Multi-supplier transaction and payment programmed processing approach with at least one supplier
First Claim
1. An automated transaction arrangement comprising:
- a database that stores contract data for parties to a transaction, the contract data including a transaction identifier (ID) and information relating to a contract for an exchange of merchant offerings involving a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, the contract including a plurality of sub-parts for fulfillment, each of the suppliers fulfilling at least one of the sub-parts of the contract; and
an automatic transaction processor circuit configured to;
receive order information from the buyer, the order information identifying merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, the order information indicating quantities of the merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, and the order information indicating a monetary amount that the buyer expects to pay for the merchant offerings,receive an invoice from each of the suppliers as the suppliers fulfill the sub-parts of the contract, wherein for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, the invoice from the respective supplier includes the transaction ID,for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, determine a condition of payment authorization for the invoice from the respective supplier by auditing the invoice from the respective supplier against the received order information and against the stored contract data associated with the transaction ID, andfor each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, respond to the condition of payment authorization for the invoice from the respective supplier indicating that payment to the respective supplier is appropriate by facilitating settlement processing of the invoice from the respective supplier as a function of the invoice from the respective supplier and at least a subpart of the contract to which the invoice from the respective supplier applies.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an example embodiment, a computer-based contract-management approach processes transactions involving at least one supplier (i.e., seller or sellers) fulfilling one or more sub-components of the transaction. Each of the suppliers (e.g., as well as other transaction parties) reference the transaction when communicating transaction information such as invoices, regardless of which sub-component of the transaction the seller is involved with. The invoices are associated with the transaction using the transaction referenced in each invoice and each supplier is accordingly paid for its performance of the sub-component of the transaction with which it is involved. From a buyer'"'"'s perspective, the transaction is processed in accordance with the sub-components associated with the at least one supplier. Per each supplier, the transaction is processed generally two-dimensionally (via buyer and via suppliers), thus generally isolating (where desirable) each supplier from the sub-components of the transaction for which it is not a participant.
489 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An automated transaction arrangement comprising:
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a database that stores contract data for parties to a transaction, the contract data including a transaction identifier (ID) and information relating to a contract for an exchange of merchant offerings involving a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, the contract including a plurality of sub-parts for fulfillment, each of the suppliers fulfilling at least one of the sub-parts of the contract; and an automatic transaction processor circuit configured to; receive order information from the buyer, the order information identifying merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, the order information indicating quantities of the merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, and the order information indicating a monetary amount that the buyer expects to pay for the merchant offerings, receive an invoice from each of the suppliers as the suppliers fulfill the sub-parts of the contract, wherein for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, the invoice from the respective supplier includes the transaction ID, for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, determine a condition of payment authorization for the invoice from the respective supplier by auditing the invoice from the respective supplier against the received order information and against the stored contract data associated with the transaction ID, and for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, respond to the condition of payment authorization for the invoice from the respective supplier indicating that payment to the respective supplier is appropriate by facilitating settlement processing of the invoice from the respective supplier as a function of the invoice from the respective supplier and at least a subpart of the contract to which the invoice from the respective supplier applies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A processor-implemented method comprising:
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storing contract data for parties to a transaction, the contract data including a transaction identifier (ID) and information relating to a contract for an exchange of merchant offerings involving a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, the contract including a plurality of sub-parts for fulfillment, each of the suppliers fulfilling at least one of the sub-parts of the contract; receiving, at an automated transaction processor, order information from the buyer, the order information identifying merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, the order information indicating quantities of the merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, and the order information indicating a monetary amount that the buyer expects to pay for the merchant offerings; receiving, at the automated transaction processor, an invoice from each of the suppliers, wherein for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, the invoice from the respective supplier includes the transaction ID; for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, auditing, by the automated transaction processor, the invoice from the respective supplier against the received order information and against the stored contract data associated with the transaction ID; and for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, facilitating, by the automated transaction processor, settlement of at least a sub-part of the contract involving merchant offerings provided by the respective supplier as a function of the invoice from the respective supplier and the contract. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An automated transaction arrangement comprising:
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means for storing contract data for parties to a transaction, the contract data including a transaction identifier (ID) and information relating to a contract for an exchange of merchant offerings involving a buyer and a plurality of suppliers, the contract including a plurality of sub-parts for fulfillment, each of the suppliers fulfilling at least one of the sub-parts of the contract; means for receiving order information from the buyer, the order information identifying merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, the order information indicating quantities of the merchant offerings that the buyer desires to purchase, and the order information indicating a monetary amount that the buyer expects to pay for the merchant offerings; means for receiving an invoice from each of the suppliers, wherein for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, the invoice from the supplier includes the transaction ID; means for determining, for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, a condition of payment authorization for the invoice from the respective supplier by auditing the invoice from the respective supplier against the received order information and against the stored contract data associated with the transaction ID; and means for facilitating, for each respective supplier in the plurality of suppliers, responsive to the condition of payment authorization indicating that payment to the respective supplier is appropriate, settlement processing of the invoice from the respective supplier as a function of the invoice from the respective supplier and at least a sub-part of the contract to which the invoice from the respective supplier applies.
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Specification