Method, system, and program for managing transaction

Abstract

To automate the payment generated by a transaction among plural vendors and automate the recording of a ledger sheet regarding the payment among plural vendors.SOLUTION: The present invention includes: a charge information storage unit 14 for linking a common chain identifier with a plurality of pieces of charge information related to one another and generated among a series of transaction vendors by a supply chain and storing them; and a vendor information storage unit 18 for storing a set payment condition. A computer performs processing for making a payment flag of the plurality of pieces of charge information provided with the charge information for which the payment has been done and the common chain identifier "a payment target", and processing for arranging the payment regarding charge information in which the payment flag has been made "a payment target" and the payment condition is satisfied. The present invention also includes a ledger sheet storage unit for storing an account leder sheet of each transaction vendor. The computer performs the processing for storing a journal of payments in the account ledger sheet of a payment source of the completed payment after the arranged payment is completed, and processing for storing a journal of money reception in the account ledger sheet of a payment recipient of the completed payment.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transaction management system, and more particularly to a transaction management system that automates transactions between multiple traders. [Background technology]

[0002] The applicant of this application has obtained patents for an invention that automates the generation of invoices and delivery slips generated in transactions between multiple vendors (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3).

[0003] On the other hand, it is also preferable to automate payments that arise from transactions between multiple vendors and the recording of documents related to the payments. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-178147 A [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 5887965 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 6675598 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automate payments that arise from transactions between multiple traders, and to automate the recording of forms related to payments between multiple traders. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve this problem, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, it has a billing information storage unit that stores multiple related billing information that arise among a series of trading companies due to a supply chain, linking them with a common chain identifier. It also has a trader information storage unit that stores set payment conditions. Then, a computer performs a process of setting the payment flags of the multiple billing information that have been assigned a common chain identifier to "subject to payment" as with the billing information that has been deposited, and a process of arranging payment for the billing information whose payment flag has become "subject to payment" and which satisfies the payment conditions.

[0007] The present invention may also have the following configuration: A form storage unit is provided for storing accounting forms of each trading company, and a computer performs processing for recording an entry for a payment in the accounting form of the payer of the completed payment after the payment has been arranged, and for recording an entry for the receipt of the payment in the accounting form of the payee of the completed payment.

[0008] In the above, "accounting documents" include ledgers and vouchers. "Ledgers" generally include journals, general ledgers, deposit ledgers, accounts payable ledgers (supplier ledgers), accounts receivable ledgers (customer ledgers), etc. "Vouchers" generally include cash slips, invoices, delivery notes, etc. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to automate payments occurring in transactions between multiple traders, and also to automate the recording of forms relating to payments between multiple traders. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a transaction management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of each computer shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the overall operation of the configuration shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a first configuration diagram of the report update unit included in the transaction management system of FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the invoice matching unit included in the transaction management system of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the distribution unit included in the transaction management system of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of a transfer instruction unit included in the transaction management system of FIG. [Figure 8] 8 is a flowchart of the process of the transfer instruction unit shown in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of a report update unit included in the transaction management system of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] [Overall configuration] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In Fig. 1, a transaction management system 10 is connected to computers 20 to 80 of multiple traders and consumers via a computer network N so as to be capable of data communication. The multiple traders include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, material suppliers, banks, and other traders involved in the trading of goods. Hereinafter, these traders may be collectively referred to as "transaction parties."

[0012] Retailers provide products to consumers. Wholesalers provide products to retailers or consumers. Manufacturers provide products to wholesalers, retailers, or consumers. Material suppliers provide materials necessary for production or manufacturing to producers. When multiple vendors are involved in the provision of a product, payments occur between multiple vendors. Traditionally, each vendor has made individual arrangements for payment, and each vendor has also independently recorded accounting forms related to the payment. The present invention automates the arrangements for payments and recording of accounting forms that occur between these multiple vendors.

[0013] There are a large number of trading parties and consumers participating in this system, and a plurality of computers 20 to 80 of each trading party and consumer are also connected to a computer network N.

[0014] The transaction management system 10, the computers 20 to 70 of the transaction parties, and the consumer's computer 80 all basically have a general computer hardware configuration. That is, as shown in Fig. 2, they are equipped with an input device 110 such as a keyboard, and a display device 120 such as a liquid crystal display. They also have a communication device 130 such as a NIC that enables data communication between computers via a computer network N. They also have a storage device 140 such as a memory that stores information necessary for computer processing, and a processor 150 such as a CPU that realizes various functions by executing programs.

[0015] Here, the appearance of the computer does not matter. Server type, desktop type, notebook type, tablet type, mobile terminal type, etc. may be adopted. Also, a form in which distributed computing is performed by multiple computers may be adopted.

[0016] [Overall operation] The flow of operation of the entire system is shown in Figure 3. The operation of all computers 10 to 80, including the transaction management system 10, is realized by processor 150 executing a specified program. A product involving multiple transaction parties is sold to a consumer, and the product price is transferred by the consumer to a deposit account at a specified bank. The deposit account is the account of the operator of the transaction management system 10. Hereinafter, the operator of the transaction management system 10 may be simply referred to as the "system operator". That is, as shown in Figure 3, first, a transfer procedure for the product price is carried out from the consumer's computer 80 to the bank's computer 20, and the product price is transferred to the system operator's account managed by the bank (S1).

[0017] Bank computer 20 receives the transfer and transmits a transfer notification of the product price to transaction management system 10 (S2).

[0018] Upon receiving this transfer notification, transaction management system 10 records the transaction of this deposit in the system operator's accounting documents (ledgers, slips) through processing by the accounting document update unit described below (S3).

[0019] The transaction management system 10 also searches for billing information corresponding to the transfer notice through processing by the billing matching unit described below, and extracts the chain identifier contained in the corresponding billing information (S4). A chain identifier is an identifier that uniquely identifies a series of traders related to the transferred bill. For example, billing information between a series of retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, material suppliers, and other traders involved in the provision of a product provided to a consumer is automatically generated by the invention described in the aforementioned Patent Document 1, etc., and each piece of billing information between this series of traders is linked to the same chain identifier and stored.

[0020] Next, the transaction management system 10 searches for multiple billing information items linked to the same chain identifier as the extracted chain identifier through the processing of the sorting unit described below, and sets the payment flag of each corresponding billing information item to "payment target" (S5).

[0021] Then, the transaction management system 10 instructs the bank computer 20 to transfer the amount of the billing information whose payment flag has become "subject to payment" through the processing of the transfer instruction section described below (S6) so that the amount is paid either each time or in total, in accordance with the payment conditions set for each vendor.

[0022] The bank computer 20 which receives the transfer instruction sends a request for confirmation of the withdrawal to the transaction parties' computers 30-70 which hold the withdrawal accounts for the indicated transfer (S7).

[0023] The transaction parties' computers 30 to 70, which have received this confirmation request, and upon receiving an input of transfer approval from the input device 110, return a notice of transfer approval to the bank's computer 20 (S8). Here, the input of the transfer approval may be performed automatically by the computers 30 to 70 of the transaction parties when a preset payment condition is met. The preset condition may be, for example, a transfer due date such as end of month payment. When the input of the transfer approval is performed automatically, the input of the transfer approval (by pressing a button, etc.) described above does not need to be performed.

[0024] The bank computer 20, which has received the transfer approval from the transaction parties' computers 30 to 70, executes the approved transfers, of those for which it received instructions to make in S6, in sequence to the accounts of the internal or external transaction parties (S9).

[0025] In this way, the product price transferred by the consumer is automatically distributed and paid to the multiple transaction parties. Each transaction party connects from its own computer 30 to 70 to the computer that manages its own transaction party account and inquires about the details of deposits and withdrawals and the balance (S10).

[0026] Bank computer 20 sequentially transmits a transfer completion notice to transaction management system 10 for each completed transfer (S11).

[0027] Upon receiving the transfer completion notification, the transaction management system 10 records the withdrawal entry in the ledger of the company from which the transfer was made, and records the deposit entry in the ledger of the company to which the transfer was made, through the processing of the ledger update section described below (S12).

[0028] The computers 30 to 70 of the transaction parties can access their own accounting forms managed by the transaction management system 10 and view the contents of the forms (S13).

[0029] This process flow makes it possible to automate the recording of payments and payment-related documents that occur in transactions between multiple vendors.

[0030] [Operation details of transaction management system 10] Next, a detailed description will be given of the operation of the above-mentioned transaction management system 10. In transaction management system 10, processor 150 executes a program to realize the operation of each of the following units.

[0031] [Report update section (first process)] First, the process of the document update unit 11 mentioned in S3 will be explained with reference to Fig. 4. The transfer notification received from the bank computer 20 contains at least the identifier of the consumer who made the transfer (consumer identifier) ​​and the transfer amount. The consumer identifier may be the name or title of the consumer, or it may be a unique code for each consumer.

[0032] Meanwhile, the storage device 140 of the transaction management system 10 is provided with a form storage unit 12. The form storage unit 12 stores data of accounting forms (ledgers and vouchers) of a trader in association with each trader identifier.

[0033] In the process of S3 described above, the document update unit 11 records the payment journal entry of the transfer amount from the consumer indicated in the transfer notice in the document linked to the business identifier of the system operator.

[0034] [Billing Matching Department] Next, the processing of the bill matching unit 13 mentioned in S4 will be explained with reference to Fig. 5. The transfer notification received from the bank computer 20 may contain at least the identifier (consumer identifier) ​​of the consumer (customer) who made the transfer, the transfer amount, and also a deposit account identifier. The deposit account identifier is, for example, a transfer account number assigned to each invoice for deposit purposes.

[0035] The storage device 140 of the transaction management system 10 is provided with a billing information storage unit 14. The billing information storage unit 14 stores, for each billing identifier, a chain identifier, a consumer identifier, a product identifier, a billing amount, and, if necessary, a deposit account identifier, etc., in association with each other. These billing information items are recorded in the billing information storage unit 14 every time an invoice (billing slip) is issued, according to the inventions of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 and the like. The billing identifier is a unique code for each issued invoice. The chain identifier is an identifier that uniquely identifies a series of traders related to the product related to this bill. The consumer identifier is a name, title, or code unique to each consumer who purchases the product. Here, the term "consumer" is used assuming a BtoC transaction, but the purchaser of the product may also be a trader, and "consumer" may be replaced with "purchaser". The product identifier is a unique code for each product, and different product identifiers are assigned to products that are the same product but are handled by different transaction parties, or have different payment routes between the transaction parties, or have different payment allocations between the transaction parties. One billing information item may include multiple product identifiers.

[0036] The billing matching unit 13 searches the billing information storage unit 14 for a record of billing information that matches the consumer identifier and transfer amount indicated in the transfer notice. In addition, the billing information storage unit 14 may be searched for a record of billing information that matches the deposit account identifier indicated in the transfer notice. If a matching record of billing information is found, the chain identifier contained in that record is extracted.

[0037] [Distribution section] Next, the process of the distribution unit 15 mentioned in S5 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The storage device 140 of the transaction management system 10 is provided with the billing information storage unit 14 as described above. The billing information storage unit 14 records billing information every time an invoice (billing slip) between a series of trading companies is issued according to the invention of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 and the like. The billing information between each trading company is configured by linking a chain identifier, a billing date, a billing source identifier, a billing destination identifier, a product identifier, a billing amount, a deposit account identifier, and a payment flag for each billing identifier. The billing source identifier is the trader identifier of the trading company that is the billing source (payee). The billing destination identifier is the trader identifier of the trading company that is the billing destination (payer). As an example of an invoice between a series of trading companies, for example, when a price of 10,000 yen is transferred for a product with a certain product identifier, the system operator receives 500 yen and pays 8,400 yen to retailer A from the system operator. Retailer A pays 6,000 yen to manufacturer B, and manufacturer B pays 2,000 yen to material supplier C. The system operator also pays 100 yen to Bank D and 1,000 yen to Other Business E. This allocation of money between the parties in the transaction is done in the billing information between the parties who share a common chain identifier. Here, Other Business E can be any party to the transaction, and could be, for example, a television station that introduced the product or an affiliate site. The business identifier is the name of the business or a unique code for each business. Bank D is the bank indicated by reference number 20 in FIG. 3, and receives payment as compensation for processing in cooperation with the transaction management system 10.

[0038] The allocating unit 15 searches the billing information storage unit for multiple billing information having the same chain identifier as the chain identifier output by the bill matching unit 13, and sets the payment flag of each corresponding billing information to "payment target" to indicate that it is a payment target. The payment flag can take the value of "unpaid", "payment target" or "paid".

[0039] [Transfer Instructions] Next, the processing of the transfer instruction unit 17 mentioned in S6 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The storage device 140 of the transaction management system 10 is provided with a business operator information storage unit 18. The business operator information storage unit 18 stores authentication information, contact information, withdrawal account, deposit account, payment terms, etc., linked to each business operator identifier. The authentication information is a user ID and password used when the business operator logs in to the transaction management system 10 to view a document. The contact information is the business operator's contact information, such as an email address. The withdrawal account is the business operator's withdrawal account number, etc., when the business operator is the source of payment. The deposit account is the business operator's deposit account number, etc., when the business operator is the recipient of payment. The payment terms are the payment terms when the business operator is the source of payment. Payment terms include payment each time a deposit is made, closing at the end of the month and payment at the end of the following month, etc.

[0040] The transfer instruction unit 17 performs the process of Fig. 8. First, one vendor identifier and the payment terms associated therewith are read from the vendor information storage unit 18 (S11). If the payment terms are payment upon receipt (S12), the process proceeds to S15. If the payment terms are closing date, payment on a certain date (S13), the process determines whether the closing date has arrived (S14), and if the closing date has arrived, the process proceeds to S15. If the closing date has not arrived, the process repeats from S11 for the next vendor. When a payment is made each time a deposit is made or when the closing date arrives, billing information whose payment flag is set to "subject to payment" among billing information whose vendor identifier being processed matches the billing destination identifier is read from the billing information storage unit 14, and the billing amounts of the read billing information are tallied for each billing source identifier (S15). Next, the withdrawal account corresponding to the business identifier being processed, the deposit account corresponding to the billing source identifier, the totaled transfer amount to the billing source, and the transfer date are linked, and transfer instruction information is generated for each billing source (S16). The transfer date is set to the same day in the case of payment each time a deposit is made, and to a certain day in the case of a certain day closing and payment on a certain day. The transfer instruction unit 17 then transmits the generated transfer instruction information to the computer 20 of the bank where the withdrawal account is located. Thereafter, the next business is selected and the process from S11 is repeated. The transfer instruction unit 17 changes the payment flag of the billing information that was the subject of the transfer instruction to "paid". As described above, according to this embodiment, payments occurring in transactions between multiple businesses can be automated.

[0041] [Report update section (second process)] Next, the process of the document update unit 11 mentioned in S12 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Based on the transfer instruction from the transfer instruction unit 17, the bank's computer 20 that has completed the transfer returns multiple transfer completion notices to the transaction management system 10. Each transfer completion notice includes at least the payer's company identifier, the payee's company identifier, the transfer amount, and the transfer execution date. The document update unit 11 extracts this information from the transfer completion notice and records the payment journal entry in the document in the document storage unit 12 linked to the payer's company identifier as payment information. It also records the deposit journal entry in the document in the document storage unit 12 linked to the payee's company identifier as deposit information. For each transfer completion notice, the deposit or payment journal entry is recorded in the document of each transaction party.

[0042] That is, when a payment is received, the amount is automatically recorded in the sales ledger and displayed on the computer screen, the amount is subtracted from the unpaid balance, and the new balance is displayed in the ledger on the screen. The paying party records the date, amount, details, etc. of the payment and automatically enters this in the purchase ledger, subtracts this amount from the previous unpaid balance to calculate the new unpaid balance, and displays these in the purchase ledger on the screen. If a transfer fee is charged, the amount received and the transfer fee charged are subtracted to calculate the post-transfer balance and displayed on the screen. In addition, the same process is carried out not only on the paying side but also on the receiving side.

[0043] In this way, the accounting forms for each party involved in the transaction are recorded automatically. The transaction details on the receiving side and the paying side, such as the amount, product name, unit price, and quantity, are all the same, and are two sides of the same coin. Therefore, the same content (data) may be displayed on the screen as two sides of the same coin. However, even in this case, the words "Deposited" on the receiving side are displayed as "Paid" on the paying side.

[0044] [Variations] The aforementioned "payment conditions" may be "the invoiced amount has been paid by the invoice recipient to our company." For example, assume that invoice information with the same chain identifier is a invoice from company A to company B for p yen, a invoice from company C to company B for q yen, and a invoice from company B to company D for r yen. In this case, when r yen is transferred from D to company B, the payment conditions from company B to company A and the payment conditions from company B to company C are satisfied. As a result, p yen is automatically transferred from company B to company A, and q yen is automatically transferred from company B to company C. The transfer fee is displayed in the aforementioned transfer completion notice and recorded in the journal entry of each company.

[0045] Therefore, for example, when a retailer receives 10,000 yen for a product from a consumer, the retailer can automatically transfer the purchase price of 6,000 yen to the supplier, as well as a system fee of 500 yen to the system operator. This series of payment processes can be automated, and the recording of each company's transactions, including transfer fees incurred, can also be automated.

[0046] Here, the scope of the present invention is the scope of the constituent elements described in the claims, and is not limited to the above-described embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10. Transaction Management System 11 Report Update Section 12 Document storage section 13. Claims Matching Department 14 Billing information storage unit 15 Sorting section 16 Allocation memory unit 17 Transfer Instructions 18 Vendor information storage section 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 Computers of transaction parties 80 Consumer Computers N Computer Network 110 Input Device 120 Display device 130 Communication Equipment 140 Storage device 150 processors

Claims

1. A billing information storage unit that stores multiple billing information items generated in transactions based on a supply chain involving multiple trading companies, in association with a chain identifier that uniquely identifies the supply chain; a business information storage unit for storing a business identifier corresponding to each business, and remittance source account information and remittance destination account information of the business; A transaction management method in a transaction management system comprising: The computer (1) receiving a payment notification, identifying corresponding billing information from the billing information storage unit based on identification information included in the payment notification, and extracting a chain identifier included in the billing information; (2) acquiring, from a billing information storage unit, a plurality of billing information items associated with the extracted chain identifier, and setting the plurality of billing information items as items to be processed for payment; (3) for each billing information subject to payment processing, read out the remittance destination account information corresponding to the billing company and the remittance source account information corresponding to the billing company from the business information storage unit, generate remittance instruction information based on the read account information and the billing amount, and send the remittance instruction information to the computer that manages the remittance source account information; A transaction management method, including:

2. A billing information storage unit that stores multiple billing information items generated in transactions based on a supply chain involving multiple trading companies, in association with a chain identifier that uniquely identifies the supply chain; a business information storage unit for storing a business identifier corresponding to each business, and remittance source account information and remittance destination account information of the business; A transaction management system comprising: The computer (1) receiving a payment notification, identifying corresponding billing information from the billing information storage unit based on identification information included in the payment notification, and extracting a chain identifier included in the billing information; (2) acquiring, from a billing information storage unit, a plurality of billing information items associated with the extracted chain identifier, and setting the plurality of billing information items as items to be processed for payment; (3) for each billing information subject to payment processing, read out the remittance destination account information corresponding to the billing company and the remittance source account information corresponding to the billing company from the business information storage unit, generate remittance instruction information based on the read account information and the billing amount, and send the remittance instruction information to the computer that manages the remittance source account information; A transaction management system that executes the above.

3. A billing information storage unit that stores multiple billing information items generated in transactions based on a supply chain involving multiple trading companies, in association with a chain identifier that uniquely identifies the supply chain; a business information storage unit for storing a business identifier corresponding to each business, and remittance source account information and remittance destination account information of the business; A transaction management program for a transaction management system comprising: On the computer, (1) receiving a payment notification, identifying corresponding billing information from the billing information storage unit based on identification information included in the payment notification, and extracting a chain identifier included in the billing information; (2) acquiring, from a billing information storage unit, a plurality of billing information items associated with the extracted chain identifier, and setting the plurality of billing information items as items to be processed for payment; (3) for each billing information subject to payment processing, read out the remittance destination account information corresponding to the billing company and the remittance source account information corresponding to the billing company from the business information storage unit, generate remittance instruction information based on the read account information and the billing amount, and send the remittance instruction information to the computer that manages the remittance source account information; A transaction management program that executes the above.

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