Commission management system

Abstract

A computer system and method for managing commissions, including: a storage device containing a database having commission data and a periodic extract of sales transactions stored therein; a user interface for inputting the commission data into the database and viewing the commission data stored in the database; and a processor for calculating commissions for sales representatives and agents associated with a business enterprise based on the commission data, and forwarding the calculated commissions to a payroll department within the business enterprise; wherein the processor executes: a first software module for retrieving billing, inventory, corporate, and affiliated sales information for the sales representatives, and for calculating the commissions based on a predetermined rules set; and a second software module for retrieving billing and affiliated sales information for the agents, and for calculating the commissions based on the terms of a contract between the agent and the business enterprise.

1 . A commission management system, comprising: 
 a first computer including one or more clients and browsers in communication with a plurality of remotely located computers;    wherein the first computer collects commission data from the plurality of remotely located computers and executes: 
 a first software for retrieving billing, inventory, corporate, and affiliated sales information for sales representatives associated with a business enterprise via the remotely located computers, and for calculating commissions based on a predetermined rules set; and  
 a second software for retrieving billing and affiliated sales information for agents associated with the business enterprise, via the remotely located computers and for calculating the commissions based on the terms of a contract between the agent and the business enterprise.  
   
     
     
         2 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , wherein the first software is a Direct Module.  
     
     
         3 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , wherein the second software is an Agent Module.  
     
     
         4 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , wherein the first computer executes a third software for providing administrative functions for interacting with the first software and the second software.  
     
     
         5 . The commission management system of  claim 4 , wherein the third software is an Other Module.  
     
     
         6 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second software reside in the first computer in the form of a CORBA application executing on one or more servers.  
     
     
         7 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of remotely located computers comprise a plurality of external systems forming a distributed computing environment residing in various geographic locations.  
     
     
         8 . The commission management system of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of external systems include any of a billing/pricing system, an inventory system, a payroll and accounting system, an affiliate system, and an ad-hoc reporting system.  
     
     
         9 . The commission management system of  claim 1 , further comprising a web server in communication with the first computer.  
     
     
         10 . A computer system for managing commissions, comprising: 
 a storage device containing a database having commission data and a periodic extract of sales transactions stored therein;    a user interface for inputting the commission data into the database and viewing the commission data stored in the database;    wherein the commission data is date-sensitive and has both an effective date and an expiration date associated with the commission data stored in the database; and    a processor for calculating commissions for sales representatives and agents associated with a business enterprise based on the commission data, and forwarding the calculated commissions to a payroll department within the business enterprise;    wherein the processor provides a snapshot of historical data for an effective period measured according to the effective date; and    wherein the processor executes: 
 a first software for retrieving billing, inventory, corporate, and affiliated sales information for the sales representatives, and for calculating the commissions based on a predetermined rules set;  
 a second software for retrieving billing and affiliated sales information for the agents, and for calculating the commissions based on the terms of a contract between the agent and the business enterprise; and  
 a third software for providing administrative functions for interacting with the first software and the second software.