System and Method for Payment Reconciliation Against Expressive Contracts

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method of conducting expressive payment reconciliation, a purchase transaction is stored in a computer storage accessible to a processor. The processor identifies a contract against which the purchase transaction is made and a first payment amount for the purchase transaction. Contract data is stored in the computer storage and the processor determines a second payment amount for the purchase transaction based on at least one good or service associated with the purchase transaction and the data about the contract. In response to a difference in the first and second payments, the processor either stores computer storage a modified invoice with a modified payment amount, stores in the computer storage a reconciliation payment equal to the payment difference; outputs over a computer network an explanation of the modified payment; or outputs over a computer network a dispute notification.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of conducting expressive payment reconciliation for a buyer against expressive contracts on goods or services comprising:
 (a) storing in a computer storage accessible to a processor of a computer data associated with a purchase transaction, wherein the purchase transaction data includes information about at least the following:
 a seller and 
 a set of at least one good or service, each of which has a quantity associated therewith; 
   (b) the processor identifying a contract against which the purchase transaction is made and a first payment amount for the purchase transaction;   (c) storing in the computer storage data about the contract, where this contract data specifies at least one good or service, a seller, and a payment rule to determine the payment for the purchase of at least one quantity of at least one good or service that includes at least one of the following:
 a within-order package price; 
 a within-order tiered multi-item average unit price; and 
 a within-order tiered multi-item marginal unit price; 
   (d) the processer of the computer determining a second payment amount for the purchase transaction in step (a) based on the set of the at least one good or service in step (a) and the data about the contract in step (c);   (e) in the event that the first payment amount and second payment amount are different, and in response to the processor automatically approving a reconciliation action subject to one or more predetermined rules or the processor receiving an external approval of a reconciliation action, the processor taking one of the following actions:
 storing in the computer storage a modified invoice with a modified payment amount; 
 storing in the computer storage a reconciliation payment equal to the payment difference; 
 outputting over a computer network an explanation of the modified payment; and 
 outputting over a computer network a dispute notification. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least part of the data stored about the purchase transaction in step (a) is based on at least one of the following sources:
 a purchase order;   an invoice;   a bill of lading; and,   a record of payment.   
     
     
         3 . A computer-implemented method of conducting expressive payment calculation against expressive contracts on goods or services, comprising:
 (a) storing in computer storage accessible to a processor of a computer data associated with a plurality of purchase transactions, wherein the data includes information about at least a quantity of at least one good or service;   (b) for each purchase transaction in the plurality of purchase transactions in (a), the processor identifying a contract against which the purchase transaction is made;   (c) for each contract identified in step (b), storing in computer storage data about at least the following: one good or service and a payment rule to determine the payment for the purchase of at least one quantity of the at least one good or service;   (d) storing in computer storage additional data about a first contract from the set of at least one contract identified in step (b), where this data includes at least the following: information about a plurality of purchases made against the contract, and a trigger condition and associated effect, wherein the trigger condition is responsive to the information about the plurality of purchases, and the effect is to cause an immediate paymen t, change a payment associated with a purchase transaction, change a future payment or a future payment contingent on a future purchase transaction, or change a constraint on allowable purchases;   (e) responsive to the data associated with the plurality of purchase transactions in step (a), the data associated with each contract identified in step (c), and the data about the first contract in step (d), the processor determining a first payment amount for each or all purchase transactions in the plurality of purchase transactions in (a);   (f) responsive to the processor automatically approving a payment action subject to one or more predetermined rules or the processor receiving an external approval of a payment action, the processor taking one of the following payment actions:
 (i) storing in the computer storage an invoice with a payment amount based on the first payment amount determined in step (e) for at least one purchase transaction; 
 (ii) storing in the computer storage a payment whose amount is based on the first payment amount determined in step (e) for at least one purchase transaction; and 
 (iii) outputting over a computer network an explanation of the payment. 
   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 step (b) includes the processor identifying a second payment amount for each purchase transaction;   in response to taking the payment action in step (f)(i), the processor determining the payment amount in the invoice based on the second payment amount on at least one purchase transaction,   in response to taking the payment action in step (f)(ii), the processor determining the payment amount based on the second payment amount on at least one purchase transaction.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the trigger condition of the first contract of step (d) includes one of the following:
 a condition that is satisfied in the event that the volume quantity of at least one good or service, summed over a plurality of purchase transactions associated with the first contract exceeds a quantity threshold,   a condition that is satisfied in the event that the monetary value of at least one good or service, summed over the payments of each of a plurality of purchase transactions associated with the first contract exceeds a value threshold, where the payment in a purchase transaction is specified in a purchase transaction or determined by the payment rule associated with the first contract,   a condition that is satisfied in the event that the volume quantity of a first set of at least one good or service, summed over a first plurality of purchase transactions associated with the first contract, when calculated as a fraction of the volume quantity of a second set of at least one good or service, summed over a second set of at least one purchase transaction, exceeds a fractional-quantity threshold,   a condition that is satisfied in the event that the monetary value of a first set of at least one good or service, summed over a first plurality of purchase transactions associated with the first contract, when calculated as a fraction of the monetary value of a second set of at least one good or service, summed over a second set of at least one purchase transaction, exceeds a fractional-value threshold.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the effect associated with a trigger condition for the first contract of step (d) is at least one of the following:
 a one-time payment due by the buyer to the seller associated with the first contract or from the seller associated with the first contract to the buyer,   a one-time payment between the buyer and the seller associated with the first contract, where the amount and due date of this payment are responsive to the history of purchases made in connection with the first contract,   a one-time payment between the buyer and the seller associated with the first contract, where the amount and due date of this payment are responsive to the history of purchases made in connection with the first contract, and to external data that is available to both the buyer and the seller and whose origin is specified within the first contract, a modification of the payment for future purchases on at least one good or service,   a modification of the payment for future purchases on at least one good or service, where the modification is responsive to the payment amount for the good or service when the trigger condition is satisfied, and responsive to the history of purchases made in connection with the first contract,   a modification of the payment for future purchases on at least one good or service, where the modification is responsive to the payment amount for the good or service when the trigger condition is satisfied, and responsive to the history of purchases made in connection with the first contract, and to external data that is available to both the buyer and the seller and whose origin is specified within the first contract,   a modification of the payment to be made for a purchase transaction that is associated with the trigger condition,   a modification to a capacity constraint that limits the quantity volume that a buyer can purchase on at least one good or service for future purchases.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , where the plurality of purchase transactions in step (a) is one of the following:
 all purchase transactions on at least one good or service completed over a fixed period in time; or   all purchase transactions to at least one seller completed over a fixed period in time.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first contract in step (d) is generated in a sourcing event in which a plurality of sellers compete through a bidding process to enter into contracts with the buyer for future procurement of at least one good or service. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3 , where step (e), storing in computer storage, and determining a first payment amount for each purchase transaction that is in addition responsive to, a first forecast of a future quantity of at least one good or service to be purchased against at least one contract in the set of at least one contract identified in step (b). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the purchase transaction data is determined by the computer processor in response to storing in the computer storage data about at least one of the following:
 a purchase order;   an invoice;   a bill of lading; and,   a record of payment.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contract identified in step (b) is generated in a sourcing event in which a plurality of sellers compete through a bidding process to enter into contracts with the buyer for future procurement of at least one good or service.