A method and apparatus for generating bills

Abstract

This invention discloses a method and apparatus for generating invoices, relating to the field of computer technology. One specific embodiment of the method includes: in response to receiving an invoice generation request, determining the type of invoice to be generated from the generation request; if the type of the invoice to be generated is a first type, obtaining the item cost details of the invoice to be generated, filtering the item cost details by attribute according to preset filtering rules to obtain fixed item costs and unconfirmed item costs, and confirming the unconfirmed item costs; generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item costs and the fixed item costs. This embodiment achieves automated, intelligent, and flexible billing and settlement, not only improving the efficiency of invoice generation but also supporting more billing and settlement scenarios, better meeting practical needs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for generating invoices. Background Technology

[0002] In daily transactions, settlement between the transacting parties relies heavily on invoices. Currently, in conventional billing systems, when the billing period for a periodic invoice (e.g., monthly or weekly) arrives, or when a specified billing period arrives, the system automatically executes the invoice task to generate the necessary invoice for settlement.

[0003] In the process of realizing this invention, the inventors discovered the following problems in the prior art:

[0004] Existing billing generation methods are suitable for transaction scenarios where the item costs in the bill are relatively stable. However, for transaction scenarios with higher requirements for billing flexibility, there may be situations where the item costs in the bill to be generated need to be reconfirmed. Existing billing generation methods cannot meet these requirements and can only be carried out manually offline, which consumes human resources, affects the efficiency of billing generation, and consequently impacts settlement operations. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for generating invoices, which can be better applied to business transactions with fluctuating project costs, eliminate the need for manual invoice adjustments, realize automated, intelligent, and flexible settlement and billing, improve invoice generation efficiency, and better meet actual needs.

[0006] To achieve the aforementioned objective, according to one aspect of the present invention, a method for generating an invoice is provided, comprising:

[0007] In response to receiving a bill generation request, the type of bill to be generated is determined from the generation request;

[0008] If the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated, filter the item cost details by attribute according to the preset filtering rules, obtain the fixed item cost and the item cost to be confirmed, and confirm the item cost to be confirmed.

[0009] An invoice is generated based on the confirmation results of the pending project expenses and the fixed project expenses.

[0010] Optionally, confirming the expenses of the project to be confirmed includes: storing the expenses of the project to be confirmed in an expense resource pool and generating an expense verification task; within a preset confirmation time, checking whether the verification result of the expense verification task has been received; if the verification result of the expense verification task has been received, using the verification result as the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed; if the verification result of the expense verification task has not been received, defining the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed as a null value.

[0011] Optionally, generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost includes: determining the invoice task to be generated based on a preset billing strategy; if the confirmation result is null, executing the invoice task based on the fixed item cost to generate an invoice; if the confirmation result is not null, executing the invoice task based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost to generate an invoice.

[0012] Optionally, before generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed project expenses and the fixed project expenses, the method further includes: pushing the confirmation result and the fixed project expenses to the settlement personnel and recipient of the invoice for verification and review, and confirming that the verification and review have passed.

[0013] Optionally, the method further includes: if the receipt time of the verification result of the expense verification task exceeds the confirmation time, in response to the detection of attribute filtering of a new bill with the same business information as the bill, updating the verification result to the expense to be confirmed item and tagging it into the expense details of the new bill, so that the settlement personnel of the new bill can determine whether to include it in the new bill business.

[0014] Optionally, the method further includes: if the type of the bill to be generated is the second type, determining the billing task of the bill according to a preset billing strategy; generating the bill by executing the billing task, and pushing the bill to the billing personnel and the recipient for verification and review; and confirming the bill in response to receiving the review approval information from the billing personnel and the recipient.

[0015] Optionally, the bill generation request is triggered by a preset billing period or manually; determining the type of the bill to be generated from the generation request includes: determining the type of the bill to be generated based on the business type in the generation request, wherein the business type includes merchant type and user type.

[0016] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for generating a bill is provided, comprising:

[0017] A type determination module is used to determine the type of the invoice to be generated from the received invoice generation request.

[0018] The attribute filtering module is used to obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated when the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, filter the item cost details according to preset filtering rules, obtain fixed item costs and item costs to be confirmed, and confirm the item costs to be confirmed.

[0019] The billing generation module is used to generate a bill based on the confirmation results of the fees for the items to be confirmed and the fees for the fixed items.

[0020] According to a third aspect of the present invention, an electronic device for generating bills is provided, comprising:

[0021] One or more processors;

[0022] Storage device for storing one or more programs.

[0023] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the method provided in the first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0024] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method provided in the first aspect of the present invention.

[0025] One embodiment of the invention has the following advantages or beneficial effects: In response to receiving a bill generation request, the type of the bill to be generated is determined from the generation request; if the type of the bill to be generated is a first type, the item cost details of the bill to be generated are obtained, and the item cost details are filtered by attributes according to preset filtering rules to obtain fixed item costs and item costs to be confirmed, and the item costs to be confirmed are confirmed; based on the confirmation results of the item costs to be confirmed and the fixed item costs, the technical solution for generating the bill achieves automated, intelligent, and flexible settlement and billing. In cases where item costs are variable, the step of manually adjusting the bill is eliminated, which not only improves the efficiency of bill generation but also supports more settlement and billing scenarios, better meeting actual needs. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The accompanying drawings are provided to better understand the invention and are not intended to unduly limit the scope of the invention. Wherein:

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the main flow of the bill generation method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a detailed flowchart of the bill generation and settlement process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the main modules of an invoice generation device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 This is an exemplary system architecture diagram in which embodiments of the present invention can be applied;

[0031] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system suitable for implementing terminal devices or servers of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0032] It should be noted that the collection, updating, analysis, use, transmission, and storage of user personal information involved in the technical solution of this invention all comply with relevant laws and regulations, are used for legitimate and reasonable purposes, and are not shared, disclosed, or sold outside of these legitimate uses, and are subject to supervision and management by national regulatory authorities. Necessary measures should be taken to selectively block the use or access to personal information data to prevent unauthorized access to such personal information data, ensure that personnel authorized to access personal information data comply with relevant laws and regulations, and ensure the security of user personal information. Furthermore, once this user personal information data is no longer needed, the risk should be minimized by restricting or even prohibiting data collection and / or deleting the data.

[0033] The following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrates exemplary embodiments of the present invention, including various details to aid understanding. These details should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Similarly, for clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

[0034] Existing billing generation methods are suitable for transaction scenarios where the item costs in the bill are relatively stable. However, for transaction scenarios with higher requirements for billing flexibility, there may be situations where the item costs in the bill to be generated need to be reconfirmed. Existing billing generation methods cannot meet these requirements and can only be carried out manually offline, which consumes human resources, affects the efficiency of billing generation, and consequently affects settlement business, thus failing to meet the needs of practical applications.

[0035] To address the aforementioned problems in the existing technology, this invention proposes a method for generating invoices. When the type of the invoice to be generated is a first type, the method filters the item expense details of the invoice according to preset filtering rules, and confirms at least a portion of the expenses in the item expense details based on the attribute filtering results to generate the invoice. This flexible invoice generation method is better suited to business transactions with fluctuating item expenses, eliminating the need for manual invoice adjustments and achieving automated, intelligent, and flexible settlement and billing. It not only improves invoice generation efficiency but also supports more settlement and billing scenarios, better meeting practical needs.

[0036] In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, the terms involved and their meanings are as follows:

[0037] 2C: Business to Customer means the business dealings with the customer;

[0038] 2B: Business to Business means business to business;

[0039] Billing: The system correctly generates the bill, forming a detailed bill file;

[0040] Billing period: from the start date of the billing statement to the end date of the billing statement.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the main flow of the bill generation method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown below. Figure 1 As shown, the bill generation method of this embodiment includes the following steps S101 to S103.

[0042] Step S101: In response to receiving a bill generation request, determine the type of bill to be generated from the generation request.

[0043] Specifically, in daily transactions, bills are used to record detailed information on consumption and expenditure. Bills are generated by summarizing eligible expense information. Based on different classification dimensions, bills can be categorized into different types, such as weekly, monthly, and yearly bills based on the generation cycle; or detailed bills and summary bills based on the content. When the billing system receives a bill generation request, it determines the type of bill to be generated based on the type information contained in the request or by parsing the request.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation request is triggered by a preset billing period or manually; determining the type of the bill to be generated from the generation request includes: determining the type of the bill to be generated based on the business type in the generation request, wherein the business type includes merchant type and user type.

[0045] Specifically, the billing system uses a preset billing period as the trigger condition for generating a bill. The bill generation request is triggered when the system time reaches the preset billing period. Typically, the preset billing period is a periodic time interval, including the bill start date and end date. Of course, to improve billing flexibility, the system also supports manual triggering of the bill generation request, which can be done through the corresponding functional buttons on the interface.

[0046] Furthermore, this embodiment of the invention is based on general transaction activities, classifying the types of invoices to be generated according to business type. Specific business types include Merchant Type 2B (transactions with merchants) and User Type 2C (transactions with users). Different business types have different transaction characteristics, and correspondingly, different invoice generation needs. Specifically, 2C business project costs are relatively stable; when the periodic billing cycle arrives, project cost details are summarized to generate an invoice as needed. 2B business involves larger transaction volumes, especially export business, where product damage due to sea freight is frequent. For example, if the international freight cost for a product is 100,000 yuan, due to damage claims, the actual freight cost may be 90,000 yuan. Therefore, for the international freight cost included in the invoice, business personnel need to first assess and negotiate the loss with the merchant before proceeding with settlement and other subsequent operations. Invoices originally scheduled for settlement in the current billing cycle can only be settled in the next billing cycle because the international freight cost included in the invoice needs to be confirmed. Thus, different business types correspond to different invoice generation needs, requiring the corresponding business type to be obtained from the generation request, and determining whether the invoice to be generated is a Merchant Invoice or a User Invoice based on the business type.

[0047] Step S102: If the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated, filter the item cost details by attribute according to the preset filtering rules, obtain the fixed item cost and the item cost to be confirmed, and confirm the item cost to be confirmed.

[0048] Specifically, the bill generation method provided in this embodiment of the invention can select the corresponding bill generation process according to the type of bill. The type of the bill to be generated that requires confirmation of the item cost details in the bill is defined as the first type. Based on the characteristics of the current business type, this embodiment of the invention uses the aforementioned merchant bill type—that is, the type of the bill to be generated when the business type is merchant—as the first type. When the type of the bill to be generated is determined to be the first type, the system obtains the filtering conditions for the item cost details of the bill to be generated based on the merchant's identifier, such as the specific payee, payee, and transaction time. The system then obtains the item cost details of the bill to be generated from the system's cost resource pool according to the filtering conditions. Then, attribute filtering is performed according to preset filtering rules. These filtering rules can enumerate the item names corresponding to each fixed item and / or the item names corresponding to the item to be confirmed, or they can use regular expressions to define the item names corresponding to fixed items and / or the item names corresponding to the item to be confirmed, or they can use logical operations on specified fields to determine whether it is a fixed item or an item to be confirmed. For example, if a specific project name is designated as a fixed project name, then in the project cost details of the bill to be generated, the project name that matches the preset fixed project name is the fixed project cost, and the other project costs are the project costs to be confirmed.

[0049] According to one embodiment of the present invention, confirming the expenses of the project to be confirmed includes: storing the expenses of the project to be confirmed in an expense resource pool and generating an expense verification task; within a preset confirmation time, checking whether the verification result of the expense verification task has been received; if the verification result of the expense verification task has been received, using the verification result as the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed; if the verification result of the expense verification task has not been received, defining the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed as a null value.

[0050] Specifically, for the pending project expenses obtained through the above attribute filtering, these expenses can be deleted from the obtained project expense details. Simultaneously or subsequently, these deleted pending project expenses are stored in the system's expense resource pool. To better distinguish these expenses from other project expenses in the expense resource pool, they can be identified, and expense verification tasks can be generated and distributed to the corresponding verification interface. The verification interface then distributes the expense verification tasks and receives the verification results. Considering the varying verification times for pending project expenses (some with shorter verification times), to ensure that the generated invoices for the current period contain complete project expense details, a confirmation time can be set, such as 8 hours, meaning the confirmation time is within 8 hours of generating the verification task. Within this confirmation time, the verification interface is monitored to see if it receives the verification result of the expense verification task. If it does, the verification result is used as the confirmation result for the pending project expenses. If no verification result is received, the confirmation result for the pending project expenses is defined as null, indicating that no confirmation result has been received yet.

[0051] Step S103: Generate an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost.

[0052] Specifically, based on the confirmation results of the project expenses to be confirmed and the fixed project expenses, the project expense details that the invoice to be generated can be determined. These project expense details are then used to generate an invoice with the project expense details that can be confirmed at the current time, according to the invoice generation format and necessary additional information (such as electronic seals, signatures, etc.).

[0053] According to one embodiment of the present invention, generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost includes: determining the invoice task to be generated based on a preset billing strategy; if the confirmation result is null, executing the invoice task based on the fixed item cost to generate an invoice; if the confirmation result is not null, executing the invoice task based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost to generate an invoice.

[0054] Specifically, upon receiving an invoice generation request, the recipient information can be determined based on the request. A preset billing strategy is then retrieved from the system based on this information. This strategy may include the invoice template, reconciliation channel, settlement channel, and settlement method, thus generating the invoice task. Understandably, the invoice task can be generated after the project expense details are confirmed, or it can be generated after the type of invoice to be generated is determined. A project expense detail list is added to the invoice task to store and display the obtained project expense details for the invoice to be generated. The invoice task is then paused to filter the project expense details by attribute and confirm the project expenses to be confirmed. After the confirmation time arrives, the invoice task is restarted to generate the invoice.

[0055] Furthermore, if the confirmation result for the aforementioned pending project expenses is null, it indicates that the confirmation of these expenses is not yet complete. Therefore, the current invoice cannot include these pending project expenses; instead, the invoice task should be performed based on the fixed project expenses to generate an invoice that includes them. If the confirmation result is not null, it means that at least some of the pending project expenses have been obtained. The obtained at least some pending project expenses and fixed project expenses are then aggregated, and the invoice task is performed based on these expenses to generate an invoice that includes both fixed project expenses and at least some of the pending project expenses.

[0056] According to another embodiment of the present invention, before generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item cost and the fixed item cost, the method further includes: pushing the confirmation result and the fixed item cost to the settlement personnel and the recipient of the invoice for verification and review, and determining that the verification and review have passed.

[0057] Specifically, this embodiment of the invention displays the detailed expense list of the items to be billed before the billing task is executed. This not only allows for attribute filtering of the expense details to flexibly and automatically generate bills that meet the requirements, but also brings forward the expense verification (reconciliation) process. While the expenses of the items to be confirmed are being confirmed, the billing personnel and the recipient can verify and check the fixed expenses. Fixed expenses typically constitute a large proportion of the total expense list. After obtaining the confirmation results of the expenses to be confirmed, only the confirmation results of the items to be confirmed need to be verified and reviewed. This not only effectively improves the efficiency of bill verification and review (reconciliation), but also allows the recipient to estimate revenue / costs before billing and conduct revenue analysis in advance, solving the problem of reconciliation delays and improving the recipient's experience.

[0058] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes: if the receipt time of the verification result of the expense verification task exceeds the confirmation time, in response to the detection of attribute filtering of a new bill with the same business information as the bill, updating the verification result to the expense to be confirmed item, and tagging and inserting it into the expense details of the new bill, so that the settlement personnel of the new bill can determine whether to include it in the new bill business.

[0059] Specifically, when the verification result of the aforementioned expense reconciliation task is later than the confirmation time, that is, when the verification result received through the verification interface is later than the time that can be waited for the bill generation, when the attribute filtering of the new bill for the next billing period is detected, the verification result is updated to the pending confirmation item expenses, and the corresponding bill mark is added to insert the item expense details of the new bill. This prompts the settlement personnel of the new bill to indicate that these item expenses are the verification results of the pending confirmation item expenses of the previous bill, so that the settlement personnel can determine whether to include these item expenses in the new bill business. If included, they are deleted from the expense resource pool; if not included, they are retained in the expense resource pool so that the settlement personnel can perform separate settlement or add them to the agreed bill later.

[0060] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes: when the type of the bill to be generated is a second type, determining the billing task of the bill according to a preset billing strategy; generating the bill by executing the billing task, and pushing the bill to the billing personnel and the recipient for verification and review; and confirming the bill in response to receiving the review approval information from the billing personnel and the recipient.

[0061] Specifically, considering typical 2C business, since its project costs are relatively stable, there is no need to filter and confirm the project cost details. In this embodiment of the invention, when the type of the bill to be generated is the second type, i.e., the 2C user bill type, attribute filtering can be omitted. Based on the recipient user information of the bill included in the generation request, a preset billing strategy is obtained from the system to generate the bill task. Then, the bill task is executed, the project cost details of the bill to be generated are obtained from the cost resource pool, the bill is generated directly, and then the generated bill is pushed to the bill settlement personnel and the recipient user for verification and review (reconciliation). Finally, after receiving the approval information, the bill confirmation is completed.

[0062] Figure 2This is a detailed flowchart of the bill generation and settlement process according to an embodiment of the present invention. When the set billing period arrives, a billing task is generated based on the bill recipient information, retrieving the billing strategy from the system, and determining the type of bill to be generated. For the second type (2C user bill type), the bill is generated by executing the billing task; it is then pushed to the bill settlement personnel and the recipient for verification and review. Based on the received approved information, the bill is confirmed (reconciliation); subsequently, it is pushed to the settlement interface for payment / receipt processing, completing the bill generation, reconciliation, and settlement process for the 2C bill business.

[0063] For the first type (B2B merchant invoice type), enable the flexible billing process, add a list of project expense details to the billing task; pause the execution of this billing task; store the project expenses to be generated for the invoice obtained from the expense resource pool in the project expense detail list, and display the project expense details of the invoice to be generated; filter the project expense details by attribute according to preset filtering rules to obtain fixed project expenses and project expenses to be confirmed; delete the project expenses to be confirmed from the project expense detail list of the billing task, store them in the expense resource pool, and generate an expense reconciliation task; when the reconciliation result of the expense reconciliation task is received within the preset confirmation time, the reconciliation will be performed. The result serves as the confirmation of the pending project expenses and is included in the project expense details list stored in the fixed project expense storage. Based on the confirmation result and the fixed project expenses, an invoicing task is initiated to verify and review the confirmation result of the pending project expenses and the fixed project expenses. After the verification and review are passed, the invoicing task continues to be executed to generate an invoice. The subsequent process is similar to the second type of process, where the generated invoice is pushed to the settlement personnel and the recipient for verification and review. Based on the received and approved information, the invoice is confirmed (reconciliation). After that, it is pushed to the settlement interface to carry out the receipt / payment business, completing the invoice generation, reconciliation, and settlement process for the invoice 2B business.

[0064] It should be noted that if the verification results of the fee verification task are not received within the preset confirmation time, this... Figure 2 Unless otherwise specified, the relevant methods in this application shall be followed: Upon receiving the verification results, the verification results shall be stored in the expense resource pool, and when the attribute filtering of the new bill for the next billing period is detected, the verification results shall be updated to the pending confirmation item expenses and marked and inserted into the item expense details list of the new bill for the new bill to be filtered.

[0065] The billing generation method provided in this invention can simultaneously support both B2B and B2C business types, perfectly integrating the mixed B2B and B2C business processes. It achieves the separation of project expense details within the billing period, facilitating more flexible bill generation. Furthermore, the reconciliation process is pre-processed within this flexible billing generation workflow, allowing the bill recipient to estimate revenue / costs before bill generation. In business transaction scenarios with fluctuating project expenses, it eliminates the need for manual bill adjustments, achieving automated and intelligent billing generation, reconciliation, and settlement throughout the entire process. This not only improves billing and settlement efficiency but also supports more settlement and billing scenarios, better meeting actual needs.

[0066] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the main modules of a bill generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the bill generation device 300 mainly includes a type determination module 301, an attribute filtering module 302, and a bill generation module 303.

[0067] The type determination module 301 is used to determine the type of the invoice to be generated from the generated request in response to receiving the invoice generation request;

[0068] The attribute filtering module 302 is used to obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated when the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, perform attribute filtering on the item cost details according to the preset filtering rules to obtain fixed item costs and item costs to be confirmed, and confirm the item costs to be confirmed.

[0069] The bill generation module 303 is used to generate a bill based on the confirmation result of the fee confirmation for the item to be confirmed and the fixed item fee.

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the attribute filtering module 302 is further configured to: store the expenses of the project to be confirmed into an expense resource pool and generate an expense verification task; within a preset confirmation time, check whether the verification result of the expense verification task has been received; if the verification result of the expense verification task has been received, use the verification result as the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed; if the verification result of the expense verification task has not been received, define the confirmation result of the expenses of the project to be confirmed as a null value.

[0071] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation module 303 is further configured to: determine the billing task of the bill to be generated according to a preset billing strategy; if the confirmation result is null, execute the billing task according to the fixed item cost to generate the bill; if the confirmation result is not null, execute the billing task according to the confirmation result of the item cost to be confirmed and the fixed item cost to generate the bill.

[0072] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation device 300 further includes a verification module (not shown in the figure), which is used to: before generating the bill, based on the confirmation result of the confirmation of the item to be confirmed and the fixed item cost, push the confirmation result and the fixed item cost to the bill settlement personnel and the recipient for verification and review, and determine that the verification and review has passed.

[0073] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation apparatus 300 further includes a pending confirmation item expense update module (not shown in the figure), which is used to: when the receipt time of the verification result of the expense verification task exceeds the confirmation time, in response to the detection of attribute filtering of a new bill with the same business information as the bill, update the verification result to the pending confirmation item expense, and mark and insert it into the item expense details of the new bill, so that the settlement personnel of the new bill can determine whether to include it in the new bill business.

[0074] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation device 300 further includes a second type bill generation module (not shown in the figure), configured to: determine the billing task of the bill according to a preset billing strategy when the type of the bill to be generated is the second type; generate the bill by executing the billing task, and push the bill to the billing personnel and the recipient for verification and review; and confirm the bill in response to receiving the review approval information from the billing personnel and the recipient.

[0075] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the bill generation request is triggered by a preset billing period or manually; the type determination module 301 is further configured to: determine the type of the bill to be generated according to the business type in the generation request, wherein the business type includes merchant type and user type.

[0076] Figure 4 This is an exemplary system architecture diagram in which embodiments of the present invention can be applied.

[0077] like Figure 4As shown, system architecture 400 may include terminal devices 401, 402, and 403, a network 404, and a server 405. Network 404 serves as the medium for providing communication links between terminal devices 401, 402, and 403 and server 405. Network 404 may include various connection types, such as wired or wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables, etc.

[0078] Users can use terminal devices 401, 402, and 403 to interact with server 405 via network 404 to receive or send messages, etc. Various communication client applications, such as bill generation applications, can be installed on terminal devices 401, 402, and 403 (for example only).

[0079] Terminal devices 401, 402, and 403 can be various electronic devices with displays that support web browsing, including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.

[0080] Server 405 can be a server providing various services, such as a backend management server supporting bill generation by users using terminal devices 401, 402, and 403 (for example only). The backend management server can, in response to receiving a bill generation request, determine the type of bill to be generated from the request; if the type of the bill to be generated is a first type, obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated, filter the item cost details according to preset filtering rules to obtain fixed item costs and unconfirmed item costs, and confirm the unconfirmed item costs; based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item costs and the fixed item costs, generate the bill, and so on, and feed back the processing result (e.g., the bill – for example only) to the terminal device.

[0081] It should be noted that the bill generation method provided in this embodiment of the invention is generally executed by server 405, and correspondingly, the bill generation device is generally located in server 405.

[0082] It should be understood that Figure 4 The number of terminal devices, networks, and servers shown is merely illustrative. Depending on implementation needs, any number of terminal devices, networks, and servers can be included.

[0083] The following is for reference. Figure 5 It shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system 500 suitable for implementing terminal devices or servers of the present invention. Figure 5 The terminal device or server shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitation on the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0084] like Figure 5As shown, the computer system 500 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 501, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes based on programs stored in read-only memory (ROM) 502 or programs loaded from storage section 508 into random access memory (RAM) 503. The RAM 503 also stores various programs and data required for the operation of the system 500. The CPU 501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 are interconnected via a bus 504. An input / output (I / O) interface 505 is also connected to the bus 504.

[0085] The following components are connected to I / O interface 505: an input section 506 including a keyboard, mouse, etc.; an output section 507 including a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and speakers, etc.; a storage section 508 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 509 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, modem, etc. The communication section 509 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 510 is also connected to I / O interface 505 as needed. A removable medium 511, such as a disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, semiconductor memory, etc., is installed on drive 510 as needed so that computer programs read from it can be installed into storage section 508 as needed.

[0086] In particular, according to the embodiments disclosed in this invention, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts can be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments disclosed in this invention include a computer program product comprising a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, the computer program containing program code for performing the methods shown in the flowcharts. In such embodiments, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network via communication section 509, and / or installed from removable medium 511. When the computer program is executed by central processing unit (CPU) 501, it performs the functions defined above in the system of this invention.

[0087] It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in this invention can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium, or any combination of the two. A computer-readable storage medium can be, for example,—but not limited to—an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In this invention, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In this invention, a computer-readable signal medium can include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying computer-readable program code. Such propagated data signals can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. Computer-readable signal media can also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, which can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the computer-readable medium can be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0088] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment, or portion of code containing one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions indicated in the blocks may occur in a different order than those indicated in the drawings. For example, two consecutively indicated blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in a block diagram or flowchart, and combinations of blocks in a block diagram or flowchart, may be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or operation, or using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0089] The units described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in software or hardware. The described units can also be housed in a processor; for example, a processor can be described as including: a type determination module, an attribute filtering module, and a bill generation module.

[0090] In some cases, the names of these modules do not constitute a limitation on the module itself. For example, the type determination module can also be described as "a module for determining the type of the invoice to be generated from the invoice generation request in response to receiving the invoice generation request".

[0091] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device described in the embodiments or may exist independently without being assembled into the device. The computer-readable medium carries one or more programs that, when executed by the device, cause the device to include: in response to receiving a request to generate an invoice, determining from the generation request the type of the invoice to be generated; if the type of the invoice to be generated is a first type, obtaining the item cost details of the invoice to be generated, filtering the item cost details by attributes according to a preset filtering rule to obtain fixed item costs and unconfirmed item costs, and confirming the unconfirmed item costs; and generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item costs and the fixed item costs.

[0092] The technical solution of the present invention has the following advantages or beneficial effects: by responding to the received invoice generation request, the type of invoice to be generated is determined from the generation request; if the type of the invoice to be generated is a first type, the item cost details of the invoice to be generated are obtained, and the item cost details are filtered by attributes according to preset filtering rules to obtain fixed item costs and item costs to be confirmed, and the item costs to be confirmed are confirmed; the technical solution of generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the item costs to be confirmed and the fixed item costs realizes automated, intelligent and flexible settlement and billing. In the case of variable item costs, the step of manually adjusting the invoice is eliminated, which not only improves the efficiency of invoice generation, but also supports more settlement and billing scenarios and better meets actual needs.

[0093] The specific embodiments described herein do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions can occur depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this invention should be included within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. A method for generating invoices, characterized in that, include: In response to receiving a bill generation request, the type of bill to be generated is determined from the generation request; If the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated, filter the item cost details by attribute according to the preset filtering rules, obtain the fixed item cost and the item cost to be confirmed, and confirm the item cost to be confirmed. The confirmation process for the pending project expenses includes: storing the pending project expenses in an expense resource pool, identifying the pending project expenses stored in the expense resource pool, and generating an expense verification task; within a preset confirmation time, checking whether the verification result of the expense verification task has been received; if the verification result of the expense verification task has been received, using the verification result as the confirmation result of the pending project expenses; if the verification result of the expense verification task has not been received, defining the confirmation result of the pending project expenses as a null value. Based on the confirmation results of the pending project expenses and the fixed project expenses, an invoice is generated; The process of generating an invoice based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item expenses and the fixed item expenses includes: determining the invoice task to be generated based on a preset billing strategy; if the confirmation result is null, executing the invoice task based on the fixed item expenses to generate an invoice; if the confirmation result is not null, executing the invoice task based on the confirmation result of the unconfirmed item expenses and the fixed item expenses to generate an invoice.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before generating an invoice based on the confirmation results of the pending project expenses and the fixed project expenses, the method further includes: The confirmation result and the fixed item fee are sent to the billing personnel and the recipient for verification and review, and the verification and review are confirmed to be successful.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the receipt time of the verification result of the expense verification task exceeds the confirmation time, in response to the detection of the attribute filtering of a new bill with the same business information as the bill, the verification result is updated to the expense to be confirmed item and tagged and inserted into the expense details of the new bill so that the settlement personnel of the new bill can determine whether to include it in the new bill business.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the type of the bill to be generated is the second type, the billing task of the bill is determined according to the preset billing strategy; The billing task is executed to generate a bill, which is then pushed to the billing personnel and the recipient for verification and review. In response to receiving approval information from the settlement personnel and the recipient, the bill is confirmed.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bill generation request is triggered either by a preset billing period or manually. Determining the type of invoice to be generated from the generation request includes: The type of bill to be generated is determined based on the business type in the generation request, and the business type includes merchant type and user type.

6. An apparatus for generating bills, characterized in that, include: A type determination module is used to determine the type of the invoice to be generated from the received invoice generation request. The attribute filtering module is used to obtain the item cost details of the bill to be generated when the type of the bill to be generated is the first type, filter the item cost details according to preset filtering rules, obtain fixed item costs and item costs to be confirmed, and confirm the item costs to be confirmed. The attribute filtering module is also used to store the project expenses to be confirmed into the expense resource pool, and to identify the project expenses to be confirmed stored in the expense resource pool to generate an expense verification task. Within a preset confirmation time, check whether the verification result of the cost verification task has been received. If the verification result of the cost verification task has been received, the verification result shall be used as the confirmation result of the cost of the item to be confirmed. If the verification result of the fee verification task is not received, the confirmation result of the fee to be confirmed is defined as null. The billing generation module is used to generate a bill based on the confirmation results of the expenses to be confirmed for the items to be confirmed and the expenses for the fixed items. The bill generation module is further configured to determine the billing task of the bill to be generated according to a preset billing strategy; if the confirmation result is null, execute the billing task and generate the bill according to the fixed item cost; if the confirmation result is not null, execute the billing task and generate the bill according to the confirmation result of the item cost to be confirmed and the fixed item cost.

7. A mobile electronic device terminal, characterized in that, include: One or more processors; Storage device for storing one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-5.

8. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the program is executed by the processor, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1-5.

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