System and method for processing travel expense vouchers

• US 8,571,953 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2008
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Ramalingam, Periaswamy, Kumar, Sharat, Gopalakrishnan, Nitya
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaikh, Mohammad Z
• Application Number:
  US12/107,474
• Publication Number:
  US 20090265232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,016 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 45
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

This invention relates to reimbursement of travel expenses. In a first embodiment of the present invention, a computer-implemented method processes a travel expense voucher. The method determines whether the travel expense voucher satisfies a condition. If the travel expense voucher satisfies the condition, the method allows a payment corresponding to the travel expense voucher. If the travel expense voucher does not satisfy the condition, the method provides an interface to perform an audit of the travel expense voucher.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computer based system for processing reimbursement requests, a reimbursement request, wherein the reimbursement is based on a transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense;

receiving, by the computer based system, indicia that a late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on an unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

automatically performing, by the computer based system, an audit of the reimbursement request in response to receiving the indicia that the late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on the unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

verifying, by the computer based system, that the reimbursement request conforms to a preset condition, wherein the preset condition comprises an amount of the transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense exceeding a threshold; and

authorizing, by the computer based system, a reimbursement of the late fee in response to the audit finding that the reimbursement request conforms to the preset condition.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying a customer that the reimbursement request has been received.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the notifying comprises sending a communication to the customer indicating that the reimbursement request has been received.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the audit comprises providing an interface to verify compliance with a travel expense policy.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording the reimbursement request and the result of the audit.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a report corresponding to the reimbursement request and the result of the audit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transactional account is associated with a transaction instrument.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising authorizing, by the computer based system, a reimbursement of the reimbursement request in response to a finding that the reimbursement request conforms to a preset condition.

9. A computer based system, comprising:

a computer network communicating with a memory;

the memory communicating with a processor for processing a reimbursement request; and

the processor, when executing a computer program is configured to;

receive, by the processor a reimbursement request, wherein the reimbursement is based on a transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense;

receive, by the processor, indicia that a late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on an unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

automatically perform, by the processor, an audit of the reimbursement request in response to receiving indicia that the late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on the unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

verify, by the processor, that the reimbursement request conforms to a preset condition, wherein the preset condition comprises an amount of the transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense including a threshold; and

authorize, by the processor, a reimbursement of the late fee in response to the audit finding that the reimbursement request conforms to the preset condition.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a notification module that notifies a customer that the reimbursement request has been received.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the notification module may send a communication to a customer indicating that the reimbursement request has been received.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein an interface is provided to verify compliance with a travel expense policy.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a tracking module that records the reimbursement request and a result of the audit.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a reporting module that provides a report corresponding to the reimbursement request and the result of the audit.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon sequences of instruction, the sequences of instruction including instructions which, when executed by a computer based system for processing reimbursement requests, causes the computer based system to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the computer based system, a reimbursement request, wherein the reimbursement is based on a transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense;

receiving, by the computer based system, indicia that a late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on an unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

automatically performing, by the computer based system, an audit of the reimbursement request in response to receiving indicia that the late fee has been assessed to the transaction account based on based on the unpaid reimbursement request transaction expense;

verifying, by the computer based system, that the reimbursement request conforms to a preset condition, wherein the preset condition comprises an amount of the transaction account based reimbursement request transaction expense exceeding a threshold; and

authorizing, by the computer based system, a reimbursement of the late fee in response to the audit finding that the reimbursement request conforms to the preset condition.

16. The medium of claim 15, further comprising notifying a customer that the reimbursement request has been received.

17. The medium of claim 16, wherein notifying comprises sending a communication to a customer indicating that the reimbursement request has been received.

18. The medium of claim 15, wherein an interface is provided to verify compliance with a travel expense policy.

19. The medium of claim 15, further comprising recording the reimbursement request and a result of the audit.

20. The medium of claim 19, further comprising providing a report corresponding to the reimbursement request and the result of the audit.