A commercial financing
payment planning
system and associated method provide commercial financing customers the ability to retrieve and monitor account activity, track scheduled
payment dates, and create / submit remittance instructions online. The
system provides numerous functions to a customer, such as customer
payment control, access to multiple payment sources by the customer, automatic funds transfer, customized user access, a customer dispute process for disputing supplier invoices, automatic dispute response, and credit tracking. With payment control, the customer specifies which and on what date the invoices will be paid, and the source of funds for the payments. The customer can make these payments from one or a combination of sources. By creating a remittance advice document, the customer can specify in
advance payment details and give
authorization for automatic payment by the
system. The customer can also customize access to control features of the system of the invention for each of the customer's accounts / receivable employees. In the event that the customer has an issue with a supplier's delivery, product, or pricing, the customer can submit a dispute to a supplier. The customer, supplier, and finance company can view a payment dispute and dispute status through the entire dispute process. The system automatically e-mails the customer a response when the dispute is resolved, informing the customer of the result of the resolution. Both the finance company and the customer can track credits applied to the customer's account through the entire dispute process.