Claim management system and claim management method

Abstract

To discount a target debt based on an undetermined claim.SOLUTION: A claim management system 100 is configured to: store commercial distribution information 332 which is information on tasks that each person concerned belonging to a predetermined commercial distribution performed on each product or service, and product information 331 which is information on dependency between products and services; calculate, when a secondary company 003 receives, from a primary company 002, an order for a first task related to a predetermined product or service, if determining that an order reception for a second task to be conducted by the primary company 002 has not been fixed based on the commercial distribution information 332 and the product information 331, the second task relating to another product or service and being required for processing the predetermined product or service, the amount of prospect claim which is expected to be owned by the secondary company 003 for the order reception related to the second task on the basis of the commercial distribution information 332 and the product information 331; and output information on the calculated amount of prospect claim.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a credit management system and a credit management method. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to facilitate the financing of businesses, electronically recorded claims, which require electronic recording in the record master of an electronic claim recording institution as a requirement for the creation and transfer of claims, were established under the Electronically Recorded Claims Act. Conventional nominative claims such as accounts receivable can be transferred with the consent of the parties, which means there is a risk of double transfer. On the other hand, electronically recorded claims require electronic recording as a requirement for their creation and transfer, so they cannot be transferred with the consent of the parties alone, which has the advantage of eliminating the risk of double transfer.

[0003] In the relationship between a parent company and a subcontractor who undertakes manufacturing work from the parent company, the subcontractor who has a long payment term from the parent company may have a long period from receiving the order from the parent company to collecting payment. In this case, the subcontractor's cash flow may worsen because of the costs of purchasing raw materials and labor costs necessary to manufacture the product during that period. In particular, if the subcontractor is a small or medium-sized enterprise, its creditworthiness is low, and interest rates are set high when it lends money, or it is often difficult to obtain sufficient loans from financial institutions, making it difficult to improve cash flow.

[0004] As a result, financing that allows small and medium-sized subcontractors upstream to utilize the creditworthiness of large companies (parent companies) by dividing and transferring electronically recorded claims generated by them downstream in the supply chain is becoming popular. Discounting electronically recorded claims is a fundraising method in which electronically recorded claims are converted into cash before the payment due date by transferring all or part of the claims to financial institutions, etc.

[0005] In relation to this point, Patent Document 1 (International Publication No. 2017 / 038696) discloses an electronic claim system and method for managing the transfer and pledge of a conditionally precedent (with defense) electronically recorded claim, which is intended to be the subject of financing at the time of receipt of an order by a subcontractor by generating an electronically recorded claim with a purchase order. This patent document describes that when an order registration of a conditionally precedent electronically recorded claim from receipt of an order to delivery and inspection is received from the first terminal and a first approval registration for the order registration is received from the second terminal, or when an order registration of the conditionally precedent electronically recorded claim is received from the second terminal and a second approval registration for the order registration is received from the first terminal, the accrual record request data at the time of receipt of the order of the conditionally precedent electronically recorded claim is transmitted to the original ledger recording device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2017 / 038696 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Here, assuming a supply chain consisting of a parent company, a first-tier subcontractor, and a second-tier subcontractor, if the first-tier subcontractor operates on a made-to-order production basis, if the parent company generates an Electronically Recorded Receivable at the time of placing an order, then after placing an order with the second-tier subcontractor, the first-tier subcontractor can divide or transfer the Electronically Recorded Receivable, allowing the second-tier subcontractor to utilize the creditworthiness of the parent company at an early stage and discount the Electronically Recorded Receivable.

[0008] However, if a first-tier subcontractor operates under the make-to-stock production method, it is highly likely that at the time the second-tier subcontractor receives an order and delivers the product to the first-tier subcontractor, the parent company has not placed an order with the first-tier subcontractor and electronically recorded claims have not yet accrued (confirmed). Therefore, if a first-tier subcontractor operates under the make-to-stock production method, there is a challenge in that it is difficult to utilize the parent company's creditworthiness to raise funds at low interest rates at a time when the second-tier subcontractor's cash outflow is increasing due to increased manufacturing costs due to orders from the first-tier subcontractor.

[0009] In this regard, according to Patent Document 1, electronically recorded claims can arise at the time a first-tier subcontractor receives a Purchase Order from a parent company; however, in cases where an order from a first-tier subcontractor to a second-tier subcontractor occurs before an order from a parent company to a first-tier subcontractor (make-to-stock production method), the second-tier subcontractor cannot discount claims that the parent company may potentially accrue in the future before the parent company places an order with the first-tier subcontractor.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above background, and its object is to provide a claim management system and a claim management method that are capable of discounting a target debt based on an undetermined claim. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] One of the present inventions for solving the above problem is a receivable management system that includes a storage device that stores commercial flow information, which is information regarding the work performed by each party belonging to a specified commercial flow regarding each product or service, and product information, which is information regarding the dependency between each of the products or services, and a control device that executes a forecast production determination process that, when a second party receives an order for a first work related to a specified product or service from a first party, determines whether an order for a second work related to another product or service necessary for processing the specified product or service that should be performed by the first party has been definitively placed, based on the commercial flow information and the product information, and a forecast receivable generation process that, when it is determined that the order for the second work has not been definitively placed, calculates the amount of forecast receivable, which is the receivable that the second party is predicted to have regarding the order for the second work, based on the commercial flow information and the product information, and outputs information on the calculated amount of forecast receivable. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to discount the target obligation based on an undetermined claim. Configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the parties involved in the claim management system according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a claim management system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of hardware included in each information processing device. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of functions possessed by and information stored in each information processing device in the debt management system of the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data items contained in a record master; [Figure 6]FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of product information. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of commercial flow information. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of corporate discount rate information. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of predicted amount information. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of expected claim discount rate information. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of expected claim information. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of bond information. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of cash conversion information. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a claim management process. [Figure 15] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a bond conversion process. [Figure 16] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a transfer amount prediction process. [Figure 17] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a process for calculating a projected claim discount rate. [Figure 18] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a prospective claim generation process. [Figure 19] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a bond conversion process. [Figure 20] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a prediction error adjustment process. [Figure 21] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a cash conversion process. [Figure 22] 13 is a flowchart illustrating details of a cashable amount calculation process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown in the drawings.

[0015] In the following embodiment, it is assumed that a multi-stage business outsourcing (supply chain) is formed in sequence from downstream to upstream, such as (1) a parent company outsources the manufacturing or processing of a part of the parts that constitute the product manufactured by the parent company to a primary company, or the product itself, and (2) the primary company outsources the manufacturing or processing of a part of the parts that constitute the product manufactured by the primary company to a secondary company. The parent company is not necessarily the most downstream outsourcing company, and there are outsourcing companies and outsourcing recipients at each stage.

[0016] In this specification, the terms "parent company", "primary company", "secondary company", etc. are used to identify components, and do not necessarily limit the number, order, or content. In addition, in many cases, "user" refers to an accountant or procurement staff member.

[0017] In addition, in this embodiment, the present invention is described as being applied to the manufacturing industry, but the present invention can also be applied to other industries besides the manufacturing industry, such as service industries such as the construction industry and the transportation industry, as long as the outsourcing structure is multi-stage.

[0018] [Example 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the parties involved in the claim management system 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0019] The claim management system 100 involves a parent business 001 (third party), a primary company 002 (first party), a secondary company 003 (second party), and a financial institution 004. A supply chain (commercial flow) is formed by the parent business 001, the primary company 002, and the secondary company 003, and the primary company 002 operates using a make-to-stock production method. The claim management system 100 is an information processing system in which information on claims of each party (creation, transfer, extinction, etc. of claims) is electronically registered in a specified database (details will be described later).

[0020] Specifically, first, the primary company 002 places an order for the secondary company 003 to outsource a specified task (first task) (step S011), and after the secondary company 003 completes the task, it delivers the product to the primary company 002 (step S012). After that, as payment for the first task, a registration is made to generate a payment claim from the secondary company 003 against the primary company 002 in the electronic claim recording system 120 described below, or a registration is made to divide the claim held by the primary company 002 and transfer it to the secondary company 003 (step S013).

[0021] Thereafter, the parent business entity 001 orders work (second work) from the primary business entity 002 (step S014), and after the primary business entity 002 completes the work, it delivers the product to the parent business entity 001 (step S015). Then, as payment for the second work, a payment claim (hereinafter referred to as the second claim) from the primary business entity 002 to the parent business entity 001 is registered in the electronic claim recording system 120 (step S016).

[0022] Thereafter, the primary company 002 and the secondary company 003, whose claims have been registered in the electronic claim recording system 120, can receive discounts at an appropriate time. That is, the primary company 002 and the secondary company 003 can transfer their claims to financial institutions (steps S017 and S019), respectively, and receive cash from the financial institutions (steps S018 and S020). If the creditor (primary company 002 or secondary company 003) does not discount the claim by the due date, money may be automatically transferred from the debtor's account to the creditor's account when the due date arrives.

[0023] Note that step S013 may be performed after step S011, i.e., before step S012. Similarly, step S016 may be performed after step S014, i.e., before step S015.

[0024] In this embodiment, when the primary company 002 operates under a make-to-stock production system, the secondary company 003 can generate a receivable (first receivable or prospective receivable) against the primary company 002 at the time when the secondary company 003 delivers a product to the primary company 002 (at the time when the order is confirmed) even before the primary company 002 generates a receivable (second receivable) against the parent company 001. This first receivable is a receivable that the secondary company 003 can discount at a predetermined discount rate depending on the creditworthiness of the parent company 001. Then, the prospective receivable becomes a confirmed receivable after the second receivable is confirmed.

[0025] In addition, make-to-order production is a production form in which a certain amount of products is produced based on demand forecasts and sales plans before receiving an order, as opposed to made-to-order production, in which production of products begins after receiving an order.

[0026] The prospective claim is a claim that the secondary company 003 has against the primary company 002, which is generated by predicting, before the first claim arises, that a claim related to the second business will be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 in the future, and which the secondary company 003 can discount by utilizing the creditworthiness of the parent company 001.

[0027] The discount rate is the interest rate that must be paid to financial institutions that purchase receivables when discounting the receivables before the due date. The discount rate is determined by various factors, such as the creditworthiness of the company that generates the receivables, the face value, or the number of days remaining until the due date.

[0028] <Debt Management System> 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the claim management system 100 of the first embodiment. The claim management system 100 is configured to include one or more terminals 110, an electronic claim recording system 120 managed by a financial institution, and a claim processing management system 130. The terminals 110, the electronic claim recording system 120, and the claim processing management system 130 are communicatively connected to each other via a wireless or wired communication network 140 such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN, or a dedicated line.

[0029] Each terminal 110 is an information processing device operated by a user such as an accountant of each company (parent company 001, primary company 002, secondary company 003, etc.). For example, the terminal 110 managed by the secondary company 003 communicates with the claims processing management system 130 to transmit information on a request for cashing via the electronic claims recording system 120 (hereinafter referred to as cashing application information) based on the claims held by the secondary company 003 to the claims processing management system 130. The terminal 110 may transmit approval information for the application contents of the claims processing management system 130 before the claims processing management system 130 applies to the electronic claims recording system 120 for recording in the record master ledger 320.

[0030] The electronic claim recording system 120 is an information processing system that manages claim information for corporations or individuals. The claim processing management system 130 is used by an institution (electronic claim recording institution) that can realize the processing of the claim processing management system 130. The electronic claim recording system 120 records information on each process, such as the occurrence, transfer, or extinction of electronically recorded claims of each company, in the record master 320. Electronically recorded claims are claims for which electronic recording (registration) in the record master 320 is a requirement for the occurrence, transfer, etc. of claims.

[0031] The claim processing management system 130 receives cash application information from the terminal 110, requests the electronic claim recording system 120 to record the electronic claim processing in the record master 320, and generates prospective claims and confirmed claims, which are claims for discounting.

[0032] <Example of hardware configuration for delivery performance management system> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of hardware provided in each of the information processing devices of the terminal 110, the electronic claim recording system 120, and the claim processing management system 130. As shown in FIG.

[0033] Each information processing device includes a storage unit 210, a control unit 220, an input unit 230, an output unit 240, and a communication unit 250.

[0034] The storage unit 210 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor storage device, a magnetic disk device, a ROM which is a nonvolatile storage element, a RAM which is a volatile storage element, or a combination thereof, and includes a nonvolatile storage area and a volatile storage area. The storage unit 210 stores programs executed by the control unit 220, data referenced during processing by the control unit 220, and data output during processing by the control unit 220. The terminal 110 does not have the storage unit 210, and information input to and output from the terminal 110 may be stored in the storage unit 210 of the electronic claim recording system 120 or the claim processing management system 130.

[0035] The control unit 220 is connected to the storage unit 210, the input unit 230, the output unit 240, and the communication unit 250, and is a calculation device that executes various processes described below in accordance with commands written in a program stored in the storage unit 210. For example, in the case of the debt processing management system 130, it reads product information, commercial distribution information, and the like from the storage unit 210, writes forecast information, debt information, and the like to the storage unit 210, and searches for data stored in the storage unit 210 using data received from the terminal 110 as a query.

[0036] The input unit 230 is an input device such as a touch panel, keyboard, or mouse, and in the case of the terminal 110, is used to input cash application information and the like.

[0037] The output unit 240 is a device that outputs information, such as an image display device (display), and in the case of the terminal 110, it displays on the screen a screen for inputting cash application information, as well as debt balance information received from the debt processing management system 130.

[0038] The communications unit 250 is an interface device that connects to the communications network 140 via wired or wireless means, and transmits and receives information such as cash application information, claims information, and application information for recording in the master record book the occurrence, transfer, and extinction of electronic claims between the terminal 110, the electronic claims recording system 120, and the claims processing management system 130.

[0039] The electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130 may not have the input unit 230 and the output unit 240. Alternatively, a client device capable of communicating with the electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130 via the communication network 140 and having an input unit, an output unit, and a communication unit may be provided separately, and this client device may output information transmitted from the electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130, or may transmit information inputted thereto to the electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130. In this case, the electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130 may have a web server function, and the client device may access the electronic claim recording system 120 and the claim processing management system 130 via a predetermined protocol (e.g., http).

[0040] <Functions of the credit management system> FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of functions possessed by and information stored in each information processing device in the claim management system 100 of the first embodiment.

[0041] First, the terminal 110 has a display unit 311 that displays various information, and an input unit 312 that accepts input of various information from users of the company. For example, the input unit 312 of the terminal 110 of the secondary company 003 accepts input of the amount to be converted into cash based on expected or confirmed claims by the user of the secondary company 003. When the display unit 311 accepts the input of this amount, it then displays information on the claims that can be converted into cash, the amount that can be converted into cash, and information on the remaining claims after the conversion, which are received from the claims processing management system 130. The display unit 311 may display information on the application for disposition before the claims processing management system 130 applies to the electronic claims recording system 120 to record the disposition such as the creation, transfer, or extinction of the electronic claims in the record ledger 320. The input unit 312 may accept input of approval or disapproval of the application for disposition from the user.

[0042] The electronic claim recording system 120 stores the record ledger 320.

[0043] (Record Book) Here, Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data items held by the record master 320. The record master 320 records information (information on electronically recorded claims) such as the occurrence, assignment, and extinction of each claim (electronic claim) managed by the electronic claim recording institution.

[0044] Record ledger 320 has the data items of Debtor 321, in which the name (identification information) of the debtor of each claim is set, Creditor 322, in which the name (identification information) of the creditor of each claim is set, Payment Amount 323, in which the amount of each claim is set, and Payment Date 324, in which the payment date for each claim is set.

[0045] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the receivable processing management system 130 has various functional units including a trade flow management unit 334, a projected production determination unit 335, a transfer amount prediction unit 336, a discount rate calculation unit 337, a projected receivable generation unit 338, a receivable conversion unit 339, a cash application management unit 340, and a forecast error adjustment unit 341.

[0046] The make-to-stock production determination unit 335 determines whether the primary company 002 is manufacturing products using a make-to-stock production method. Specifically, the make-to-stock production determination unit 335 determines whether, when the secondary company 003 receives an order for a first operation related to a specific product from the primary company 002, the primary company 002 has definitely received an order for a second operation related to another product necessary for manufacturing the above-mentioned product (order placement between the parent company 001 and the primary company 002) based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331 described later.

[0047] When it is determined that the primary company 002 is manufacturing products using a make-to-stock production method, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicts the transfer amount, which is the amount of receivables in this commercial flow that will be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 in a predetermined period (for example, one month), based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331. The transfer amount is the amount of receivables (transferred receivables) transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 out of the first receivables (receivables of the primary company 002 against the parent company 001 that were generated by the parent company 001) that arose during a certain period. The transfer amount is the upper limit of the receivable amount of the expected receivables, which will be described below.

[0048] When the expected receivable generation unit 338 determines that the primary company 002 is manufacturing products using a make-to-stock production method, it calculates the amount of expected receivables (for example, accounts receivable for products from the parent business operator 001 of the secondary company 003) which are receivables that the secondary company 003 is predicted to hold (to be transferred from the primary company 002) in relation to orders for the second business, based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331, and outputs information on the calculated expected receivable amount to expected receivable information 344 described later.

[0049] The discount rate calculation unit 337 calculates the discount rate for the expected claim whose amount has been calculated by the expected claim generation unit 338, and outputs the calculated discount rate to expected claim discount rate information 343. The discount rate is the interest rate that needs to be paid to the financial institution or the like that purchases the claim when discounting the claim before the payment due date.

[0050] The claim conversion unit 339 converts the expected claim into a confirmed claim. Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 calculates the amount of the consideration generated as a result of the execution of the business of the product related to the secondary company 003 (for example, the manufacturing business of the product for which the secondary company 003 received an order from the parent company 001) based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331, and outputs the calculated amount to the claim information 345 as the amount of the confirmed claim (confirmed claim) out of the amount of the expected claim calculated by the expected claim generation unit 338.

[0051] The cash application management unit 340 cashes the prospective claims and the confirmed claims. Specifically, when the cash application management unit 340 receives a request for cashing in a part or all of the amount of the prospective claims or the confirmed claims output by the prospective claim generation unit 338 or the claim conversion unit 339 from the terminal 110 related to the secondary company 003, the cash application management unit 340 transmits a request for processing the cashing in corresponding to the request to the electronic claim recording system 120 of the financial institution, and outputs information on the amount of the prospective claims obtained by deducting the amount indicated by the request from the amount of the prospective claims, or information on the amount of the confirmed claims obtained by deducting the amount indicated by the request from the amount of the confirmed claims, to the prospective claim information 344 or the claim information 345, respectively.

[0052] The forecast error adjustment unit 341 checks whether the secondary company 003 has cashed in an amount greater than the amount actually transferred from the primary company 002 by cashing in the prospective claims (whether the prospective claims have not been cashed in more than necessary), and if a larger amount has been cashed, it reduces the amount of the confirmed claims. Specifically, the forecast error adjustment unit 341 determines whether the total amount of the cashed amounts based on the prospective claims and the confirmed claims output by the cash application management unit 340 is greater than the amount of the confirmed claims output by the cash application management unit 340, and if it determines that the total amount is greater than the amount of the confirmed claims, it outputs the amount obtained by subtracting the total amount from the amount of the confirmed claims to the claim information 345 as the new amount of the confirmed claims. The process of the prediction error adjustment unit 341 is executed at a prediction error adjustment start date and time, which will be described later.

[0053] The debt processing management system 130 stores product information 331 , commercial flow information 332 , corporate discount rate information 333 , forecast amount information 342 , expected debt discount rate information 343 , expected debt information 344 , debt information 345 , and cash information 346 .

[0054] <Input data> (Product Information) 6 is a diagram showing an example of the product information 331. The product information 331 is information that records the dependency relationships between products (parts). Specifically, the product information 331 is information that records the relationship between a certain product or part (parent product) and another product or part (child part) that is required to manufacture the parent product.

[0055] The product information 331 includes data items such as parent company name 3311 in which the name (identification information) of the company that manufactures the parent product is set, parent product name 3312 in which the name (identification information) of the parent product is set, child company name 3313 in which the name (identification information) of the company that manufactures the child part is set, child part name 3314 in which the name (identification information) of the child part is set, and quantity 3315 in which the quantity (number) of child parts required to manufacture the parent product is set. Note that the number refers to the number of child parts required to manufacture the parent product. When a parent company outsources the manufacture of its products to a child company, 1 is entered in the quantity field.

[0056] (Commercial flow information) 7 is a diagram showing an example of the commercial distribution information 332. The commercial distribution information 332 is information on each business that is ordered or received between companies belonging to a specific commercial distribution (here, a supply chain related to the manufacture of a specific product).

[0057] The commercial flow information 332 includes the following data items: order number 3321, in which an identifier for the order / receive business is set; orderer 3322, in which the name (identification information) of the orderer in the business is set; contractor 3323, in which the name (identification information) of the contractor in the business is set; product name 3324, in which the name (identification information) of the product to be manufactured in the business is set; unit price 3325, in which the unit price of the product is set; quantity 3326, in which the order / receive quantity of the product is set; amount 3327, in which the amount paid in consideration for the manufacture of the product in the business is set; creation date 3328, in which the date the record was created is set; and flag 3329.

[0058] In addition, the order number 3321 is a different value from the order number related to the business between the parent business 001 and the primary company 002 and the order number in the commercial flow information 332 related to the business between the primary company 002 and the secondary company 003. In addition, the flag 3329 is set with information for identifying whether the purchaser has requested the recipient to deliver the product using make-to-stock production. Make-to-stock production refers to a form of producing products before receiving an order in anticipation of demand, and shipping them according to the order. For example, if the flag 3329 of the commercial flow information 332 with the primary company 002 and the secondary company 003 is "make-to-stock production," this means that the product from the secondary company 003 required to deliver the product for the order is not ordered in response to the order from the parent business 001, but rather an order is placed with the secondary company 003 in anticipation of demand before receiving the order from the parent business 001.

[0059] The commercial flow information 332 may be ordering information when the purchaser makes a request to the contractor, billing information in which the contractor requests the purchaser to pay the price for the work requested by the purchaser by a due date, or accounts payable details information that clearly states the content of the work requested by the purchaser from the contractor and the payment amount.

[0060] (Corporate discount rate information) 8 is a diagram showing an example of corporate discount rate information 333. Corporate discount rate information 333 is information relating to a company's discount rate. Corporate discount rate information 333 has data items of company name 3331 in which the name of the company (identification information) is set, and discount rate 3332 in which the discount rate of the company is set. In discount rate 3332, a discount rate value determined by financial institution 004 or the like based on the creditworthiness of each company is set.

[0061] (Forecast amount information) 9 is a diagram showing an example of the predicted amount information 342. The predicted amount information 342 is information on the prediction result of the amount of the transferred claim, which is output by the transfer amount prediction process S402.

[0062] The predicted amount information 342 includes the following data items: parent business company name 1101, in which the name (identification information) of the parent business 001 is set; parent business product name 1102, in which the name (identification information) of the product manufactured by the parent business 001 is set; secondary company company name 1103, in which the name (identification information) of the secondary company 003 is set; secondary company product name 1104, in which the name (identification information) of the product manufactured by the secondary company 003 is set; period 1105, in which the period for which the transfer amount is predicted (prediction period) is set; and predicted transfer amount 1106, in which the predicted amount of the claim amount of the first claim is set.

[0063] (Prospective receivable discount rate information) FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the expected claim discount rate information 343. The expected claim discount rate information 343 is information relating to the discount rate of expected claims, which is output by the expected claim discount rate calculation process S403.

[0064] The expected receivable discount rate information 343 includes the following data items: secondary company name 3431, in which the name (identification information) of the product related to the secondary company 003 is set; secondary company product name 3432, in which the name (identification information) of the product manufactured by the secondary company 003 is set; period 3433, in which the discount period for which the discount rate applies is set; discount rate 3434, in which the discount rate is set; and discount upper limit amount 3435, in which the upper limit (discount upper limit amount) of the total amount that the secondary company can discount the expected receivable during the discount period is set.

[0065] Output Data (Prospective credit information) 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of the expected claim information 344. The expected claim information 344 is information on a right (expected claim) at a prospective stage that the secondary company 003 can discount by utilizing the credit of the parent company 001, that is, can request a specific person or company to fulfill the payment of the amount.

[0066] The expected claim information 344 includes each of the data items: expected claim ID 1201 in which identification information of the expected claim is set; information order number 1202 (corresponding to order number 3321 in supply flow information 332) in which identification information of the order-receiving transaction between the purchaser and the seller, which is the cause of the expected claim, is set; name of the transferor company 1203, name of the transferee company 1205, name of the transferee product 1206, period 1105 in which the period during which secondary company 003 can discount the expected claim (discountable period) is set; amount 1207, creation date 1208 in which the date on which the record was created is set; total amount transferred within period 1209 in which the total amount of expected claims incurred during the discountable period as of the date indicated by creation date 1208 (total discount amount) is set; flag 1210 in which the status to which the expected claim currently belongs ("expected claim", "claim" where the expected claim has been confirmed, or "cashing" where the confirmed expected claim has been converted into cash) is set; and notes 1211.

[0067] In the assignor company name 1203, when the flag 1210 is "prospective claim" or "claim", the name (identification information) of the company that is the assignor of the prospective claim is set.

[0068] In the recipient company name 1205, if flag 1210 is set to "prospective claim" or "claim," the name (identification information) of the company to which the prospective claim is to be transferred is set; if flag 1210 is set to "cashing," the name (identification information) of the company to which the prospective claim to be cashed is to be transferred is set.

[0069] Information on the item produced by the company indicated by the transferee company name 1205 is set in the transferee product name 1206. Specifically, when flag 1210 is "prospective receivable" or "receivable", the name (identification information) of the product item related to the order transaction that is the cause of the prospective receivable is set in the transferee product name 1206 (product name 3324 in commercial flow information 332). When flag 1210 is "cashing", the name (identification information) of the product item related to the prospective receivable that is the subject of cashing is set in the transferee product name 1206. The name of the item or the identification information of the item may be set in the transferee product name 1206.

[0070] If flag 1210 is "prospective claim", the calculated expected claim amount is set in amount 1207. If flag 1210 is "claim", the claim amount of the claim converted from the expected claim (called the converted amount) is set in amount 1207. If flag 1210 is "cashing", the amount of the expected claim that is the subject of cashing is set in amount 1207.

[0071] In the note 1211, if the flag 1210 is "claim", the ID of the claim converted from the expected claim is set, and if the flag 1210 is "cashing", the ID assigned to each cash (cashing application information) is set.

[0072] (Credit information) 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of the claim information 345. The claim information 345 is information on claims that the secondary company 003 can discount by utilizing the credit of the parent company 001, that is, information on claims that the secondary company 003 can request a specific person or company to fulfill the payment of the amount.

[0073] The claim information 345 includes the following data items: claim ID 1300 in which identification information of the claim is set; division ID 1301 in which identification information is set to distinguish between the claim that the primary company 002 has against the parent business 001 and each of these claims to be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003; order number 1202 (corresponding to order number 3321 in commercial flow information 332) in which identification information of the purchase / sale transaction between the purchaser and the seller that is the cause of the cashed claim is set; parent business company name 1101, transferor company name 1203, transferee company name 1205, transferee product name 1206, amount 1207, creation date 1208 in which the date the record was created is set; flag 1210 in which the status to which the claim currently belongs ("claim" before cashing, "cashing" when the claim has been cashed, or "error correction" after the forecast error adjustment process S409 described below) is set; and notes 1211.

[0074] If flag 1210 is "claim", the name (identification information) of the company that issued the claim is set in parent business company name 1101. If flag 1210 is "cashing", the name (identification information) of the company that issued the claim to be cashed (data corresponding to parent business company name 1101) is set in parent business company name 1101. If flag 1210 is "error correction", the name (identification information) of the company that issued the record with flag 1210 being "claim", which was added immediately after the record in question was recorded (data corresponding to parent business company name 1101) is set in parent business company name 1101.

[0075] In the assignor company name 1203, when the flag 1210 is "claim", the name (identification information) of the company that is the assignor of the claim is set.

[0076] In the recipient company name 1205, if the flag 1210 is "claim", the name (identification information) of the recipient of the claim is set; if the flag 1210 is "cashing", the name (identification information) of the recipient of the claim to be cashed is set; and if the flag 1210 is "error correction", the name (identification information) of the recipient of the claim when it is converted from a prospective claim (data corresponding to the recipient company name 1205) is set.

[0077] Information on the item produced by the transferee company name 1205 is set in the transferee item name 1206. Specifically, when the flag 1210 is "claim", the name of the product related to the order transaction that caused the conversion of the expected claim to claim (data corresponding to the item name 3324 in the commercial flow information 332) is set in the transferee item name 1206, when the flag 1210 is "cashing", the name (identification information) of the item of the product related to the expected claim used in the cashing application is set (corresponding to the transferee item name 1206), and when the flag 1210 is "error correction", the name (identification information) of the item of the product related to the claim that was the target of conversion to claim (data corresponding to the transferee item name 1206) is set.

[0078] In the amount 1207, if the flag 1210 is "claim", the amount of claim converted from the expected claim is set, if the flag 1210 is "cashing", the amount of the expected claim to be cashed is set, and if the flag 1210 is "error correction", the amount obtained by further correcting the cash converted from the expected claim (hereinafter, the correction amount) is set. The correction amount is the amount by which the expected claim amount is corrected when the secondary company 003 has cashed in an amount greater than the amount actually transferred from the primary company 002 by cashing in the expected claim.

[0079] In the note 1211, when the flag 1210 is "cashing", information on the ID (cashing application information) assigned to each cashing of the prospective claim is set.

[0080] <Output data> (cash information) 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of the cashing information 346. The cashing information 346 is information on the cashing history of the prospective claims or claims by the secondary company 003.

[0081] The cash information 346 includes each data item of cash ID 3461 in which an ID assigned to each cash (cash application information) is set, applicant 3462 in which the name (identification information) of the applicant (secondary company 003) who applied for the cash is set, expected claim ID 3463 (corresponding to expected claim ID 1201 in expected claim information 344) in which the ID of the expected claim to be used for the cash application is set, claim ID 3464 (corresponding to claim ID 1300 in claim information 345) in which the ID of the claim to be used for the cash application is set, claim usage amount 3465 in which information on the expected claim or claim amount to be cashed in the cash application is set, cash amount 3466 in which the amount of the amount cashed in the cash application to be transferred to the applicant from financial institution 004 is set, and creation date 3467 in which the date and time the record was created is set.

[0082] The functions of each information processing device in the claim management system 100 described above are realized by the hardware of each information processing device, or by the control unit 220 of each information processing device reading and executing each program stored in the storage unit 210. In addition, these programs are stored in a storage device such as a secondary storage device, a non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD, or a recording medium readable by each information processing device, such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD. Note that all or a part of the functions of each information processing device may be realized using virtual information processing resources provided using virtualization technology, process space separation technology, or the like, such as a virtual server provided by a cloud system. In addition, all or a part of the functions provided by each information processing device may be realized by a service provided by a cloud system via an API (Application Programming Interface), or the like. Next, each process performed by the claim management system 100 will be described.

[0083] <Accounts management processing> First, FIG. 14 is a flowchart outlining the claim management process which is a process related to expected claims and confirmed claims.

[0084] The claim management system 100 executes a claim generation process S1 for predicting an assignment amount and generating a prospective claim and a confirmed claim based on the assignment amount. The claim generation process S1 is repeatedly executed at each prediction time, which will be described later.

[0085] The claim management system 100 also executes a cash conversion process S2 for converting the expected claim or confirmed claim generated in the claim generation process S1 into cash (updating the expected claim information 344 and claim information 345, and generating or updating the cash conversion information 346). The cash conversion process S2 is executed when the claim processing management system 130 receives cash conversion application information from the terminal 110 of the secondary company 003, as described below. The bond generation process S1 and the cashing process S2 will be described in detail below.

[0086] <Debt conversion processing> FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the bond generation process S1.

[0087] The transfer amount prediction unit 336 of the claim processing management system 130 determines whether the current time is the prediction time for predicting the transfer amount for a specified period (step S401). The above period and prediction time are, for example, a specified time on the first day of one month and each month, respectively. The above period and prediction time may be set in advance, or may be based on a user's specification on each occasion. For example, the input unit 312 of the terminal 110 may receive an instruction from the user to predict the transfer amount.

[0088] If the current time is the predicted time of the transfer amount (step S401: Yes), the transfer amount prediction unit 336 starts the process of step S402 and after. If the current time is not the predicted time of the transfer amount (step S401: No), the transfer amount prediction unit 336 repeats step S401.

[0089] In step S402, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 executes a transfer amount prediction process S402, which is a process of predicting a transfer amount and recording it in the predicted amount information 342. The transfer amount prediction process S402 will be described later.

[0090] Next, the discount rate calculation unit 337 of the claim processing management system 130 executes the expected claim discount rate calculation process S403, which is a process of calculating the discount rate of the expected claim and registering it in the expected claim discount rate information 343. The expected claim discount rate calculation process S403 will be described in detail later.

[0091] Here, the commercial distribution management unit 334 of the debt processing management system 130 updates the product information 331 and commercial distribution information 332 at a predetermined timing (for example, at a predetermined time interval or at a predetermined time) independently of this process.

[0092] The forecast production determination unit 335 of the debt processing management system 130 determines whether information regarding the order-taking and ordering transactions (order-taking and ordering related to the first business) between the first company 002 and the second company 003 has been added to the commercial flow information 332 (step S404).

[0093] For example, if there exists a record in which the purchaser 3322 in the commercial distribution information 332 of the added record is the supplier 3323 in the past commercial distribution information 332, and there exists no other record in the past commercial distribution information 332 in which the purchaser 3322 of the record in question is the supplier 3323, the forecast production determination unit 335 determines that the purchaser of the added order-supply transaction is the primary company 002 and the supplier is the secondary company 003. This process is repeatedly executed at regular intervals set in advance.

[0094] If information on the order-placing transactions between the first-tier company 002 and the second-tier company 003 has been added to the commercial distribution information 332 (step S404: Yes), the make-to-stock production determination unit 335 starts processing from step S405 onwards. If information on the order-placing transactions between the first-tier company 002 and the second-tier company 003 has not been added to the commercial distribution information 332 (step S404: No), the make-to-stock production determination unit 335 starts processing from step S406 onwards.

[0095] In step S405, the expected claim generation unit 338 executes the expected claim generation process S405 for generating the expected claim information 344 based on the added order / placement transaction information. The expected claim generation process S405 will be described in detail later.

[0096] In step S406, the claim conversion unit 339 of the claim processing management system 130 determines whether information regarding the order transaction (order placement related to the second business) between the parent company 001 and the first company 002 has been added to the commercial flow information 332.

[0097] Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 refers to the commercial flow information 332, and if there is no record in the past commercial flow information 332 in which the purchaser 3322 of the additional record in the commercial flow information 332 is the contractor 3323, it determines that the purchaser is the parent company 001 and the contractor is the primary company 002.

[0098] If information regarding the order transaction between the parent company 001 and the first company 002 has been added (step S406: Yes), the claim conversion unit 339 starts processing from step S407 onwards. If information regarding the order transaction between the parent company 001 and the first company 002 has not been added (step S406: No), the forecast error adjustment unit 341 starts processing from step S408 onwards.

[0099] In step S407, the claim conversion unit 339 executes a claim conversion process S407 for converting the expected claim into a confirmed claim based on the added information on the order / placement transaction, outputting the converted claim to the claim information 345, and updating the expected claim information 344. The claim conversion process S407 will be described in detail later.

[0100] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 of the debt processing management system 130 determines whether the current date and time is the prediction error adjustment start date and time (step S408). If the current date and time is the prediction error adjustment start date and time (step S408: Yes), the prediction error adjustment unit 341 starts the processing of step S409 and subsequent steps. If the current date and time is not the prediction error adjustment start date and time (step S408: No), the processing of step S404 and subsequent steps is repeated.

[0101] In step S409, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 executes a prediction error adjustment process S409 for reducing the claim amount in the claim information 345 by referring to the expected claim information 344 and the claim information 345. The prediction error adjustment process S409 will be described in detail later. After that, the claim management process S1 ends.

[0102] The prediction error adjustment start date and time is, for example, a certain time at the end of the month. The prediction error adjustment start date and time may be set in advance or may be specified by the user. For example, the prediction error adjustment process S409 may be executed by the input unit 312 of the terminal 110 accepting an input of an instruction to execute the prediction error adjustment process S409 from the user. The prediction error adjustment process S409 may also be executed after the end of the prediction target period input by the user. Next, the transfer amount prediction process S402, the expected claim discount rate calculation process S403, the expected claim generation process S405, and the prediction error adjustment process S409 will be described in detail.

[0103] <Transfer amount prediction processing> FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the transfer amount prediction process S402.

[0104] The transfer amount prediction unit 336 searches for products of the secondary company 003 (product information 331 of the products of the secondary company 003) for which the transfer amount in the prediction target period has not been calculated (step S501).

[0105] If there is a product of the secondary company 003 for which the transfer amount in the prediction target period has not been calculated (step S502: Yes), the transfer amount prediction unit 336 starts the process of step S503 and after. If there is no product of the secondary company 003 for which the transfer amount in the prediction target period has not been calculated (step S502: No), the transfer amount prediction process S402 ends.

[0106] In step S503, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 extracts products (the products of the parent company 001 and the products of the primary company 002) that directly or indirectly utilize the grandchild products (hereinafter referred to as grandchild products in the transfer amount prediction process S402) of the secondary company 003 extracted in step S501 as parts.

[0107] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the product information 331 and extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of a record in which the child part name 3314 is a grandchild product (e.g., product C) (e.g., product B, which is a product of the primary company 002, is extracted). Furthermore, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the product information 331 and extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of a record in which the child part name 3314 is the extracted parent product name 3312 (e.g., product B) (e.g., product A of the parent company 001 is extracted) (step S503).

[0108] Then, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the average value of the total order quantity of the product (hereinafter, referred to as the child product in the transfer amount prediction process S402. For example, product B of the primary company 002) related to the order from the parent company 001 to the primary company 002 during a predetermined period in the past (for example, the prediction target period for the past few years) (step S504). If the transfer amount is predicted for each month, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the average value of the total order quantity traded in the same month as the prediction target period for several years. Also, if the target month for calculating the order quantity is the order quantity in April and the commercial flow information 332 has data for the past five years, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the total order quantity in April for each year and calculates the average value of the order quantity in April for the five years.

[0109] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 references the commercial flow information 332, extracts records in which the parent company 001 is set as the purchaser 3322, the primary company 002 is set as the seller 3323, a product of the primary company 002 is set as the product name 3324, and the same month as the prediction target period for each year is set as the production date 3328, and calculates the total number of values ​​in the quantity 3326 of the extracted records. The transfer amount prediction unit 336 then calculates the average number for each year of the calculated total number for that month.

[0110] Next, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the transaction quantity (second quantity) of the grandchild product (e.g., product C) required to produce the average value of the total order quantities of the child products (e.g., product B) calculated in step S504 (step S505).

[0111] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the product information 331, extracts records in which the parent product name 3312 is set to the product (child product) of the primary company 002 and the child part name 3314 is set to the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003, and calculates the quantity value of the extracted records.

[0112] Thereafter, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the quantity of the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003 required to produce the product of the primary company 002 (child product) of that quantity by multiplying the average value of the total order quantity of the product (child product) of the primary company 002 by the number of units. For example, if the average value of the order quantity of product B over five years in April calculated in step S504 is 50 units, and the number of product C for product B is 3 units, then the quantity of product C required to produce the average value of the total order quantity of product B calculated in step S504 will be 150 units.

[0113] Next, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the average value of the total order quantity of the grandchild product (e.g., product C) in a specified past period (e.g., the prediction target period of the past few years) (step S506). If the transfer amount is predicted on a monthly basis, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 calculates the average value of the total order quantity traded in the same month as the prediction target period in the past few years.

[0114] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the commercial flow information 332, extracts records in which the first company 002 is set as the purchaser 3322, the second company 003 is set as the seller 3323, a product of the first company 002 is set as the product name 3324, and the same month as the month of the prediction target period for each year is set as the production date 3328, and calculates the total number of values ​​in the quantity 3326 of the extracted records. The transfer amount prediction unit 336 then calculates the average value of the calculated total number for each month for each year.

[0115] Next, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicts the transaction quantity (first quantity) used in the products manufactured by the parent company 001 from among the product quantities (average values) calculated in step S506 (step S507). The reason for executing this process is that, for example, if the product C of the secondary company 002 is a part used only in the product B of the primary company 002, and the product B of the secondary company 002 is a part used only in the product A of the parent company 001, the entire quantity of the product C of the primary company 002 calculated in step S506 is used in the product A, but the product B of the secondary company 002 may be a common part used in the products of other parent companies, or the product C of the secondary company 002 may be a common part used in products other than the product B of the primary company 002.

[0116] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the product information 331 related to the products of the primary company 002, and calculates the proportion of the number of units based on the values ​​of the parent product name 3312 and the quantity 3315 of the records in which the primary company 001 is set, extracted from each record in which the product of the secondary company 002 is set in the child part name 3314, and the values ​​of the parent product name 3312 and the quantity 3315 of the records in which the product of the parent company 001 is set, extracted from each record in which the child part name 3314 is set in the secondary company 002, and calculates the quantity ratio, and predicts the quantity to be used for the products of the parent company 001 out of the average total order quantity of the secondary company 002 for a certain month calculated in step S506.

[0117] For example, assume that there are products B and F that use product C as a part, and the number of products C is 3 and 2, respectively. In addition, there are products A, D, and E that use product B as a part, and the number of products B is 3, 4, and 5, respectively. In addition, there are products H, I, and J that use product F as a part, and the number of products F is 3, 4, and 5, respectively. In this case, the number of products C used in products A, D, E, H, I, and J is 9, 12, 15, 6, 8, and 10. Therefore, if the average value of the order quantity of product C from primary company 002 to secondary company 003 in April calculated in step S506 is 1200, the quantity of product C used in product A can be calculated as 1200×9 / (9+12+15+6+8+10)=180.

[0118] Here, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicted the quantity of product C used in product A by utilizing the number of product B relative to product A, but the quantity of product C used in product A may also be predicted by utilizing the ratio of order quantities from parent business 001 for each product that uses product C.

[0119] Next, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 determines whether the quantity calculated in step S505 (second quantity) is equal to or less than the quantity calculated in step S507 (first quantity) (step S508). If the quantity calculated in step S505 is equal to or less than the quantity calculated in step S507 (step S508: Yes), the transfer amount prediction unit 336 starts the process in step S509 and after. If the quantity calculated in step S505 is greater than the quantity calculated in step S507 (step S508: No), the transfer amount prediction unit 336 starts the process in step S510 and after.

[0120] In step S509, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicts the transfer amount based on the order quantity of the product of the secondary company 002 and its unit price calculated in step S505.

[0121] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the commercial flow information 332, extracts the value of unit price 3325 from a record in which the first company 002 is set as the purchaser 3322, the second company 003 is set as the seller 3323, a product of the first company 002 is set as the product name 3324, and the latest date is set as the creation date 3328, and calculates the product of the extracted unit price 3325 and the quantity calculated in step S505.

[0122] In this case, the transfer amount is, for example, the amount of the first claim generated by a parent company 001 that manufactures product A against a primary company 002 that manufactures product B, which is to be partially transferred from the primary company 002 to a secondary company 003 that manufactures product C.

[0123] The transfer amount prediction unit 336 records the transfer amount calculated in step S509 in the predicted amount information 342. Thereafter, the processes from step S501 onwards are repeated.

[0124] In step S510, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicts the transfer amount based on the order quantity and unit price of the product of the first company 002 calculated in step S507.

[0125] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the commercial flow information 332, extracts the value of unit price 3325 from a record in which the first company 002 is set as the purchaser 3322, the second company 003 is set as the seller 3323, a product of the first company 002 is set as the product name 3324, and the latest date is set as the creation date 3328, and calculates the product of the extracted unit price 3325 and the quantity calculated in step S507.

[0126] In this case, the transfer amount is, for example, the amount of the first claim that the parent company 001 has generated against the primary company 002, which is transferred in part from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003.

[0127] The transfer amount prediction unit 336 sets the transfer amount calculated in step S510 to the transfer prediction amount 1106 of the new record in the prediction amount information 342, and sets the parent business name 1101, parent business product name 1102, secondary business name 1103, secondary business product name 1104, and period 1105 of the record to the parent business 001, the name of the product manufactured by the parent business 001, the secondary business 003 that manufactures the grandchild product, the name of the grandchild product, and the prediction target period set in step S402, which were acquired in step S503 (step S510).Then, the process of step S501 is repeated.

[0128] <Calculation of expected receivable discount rate> FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the expected claim discount rate calculation process S403.

[0129] The discount rate calculation unit 337 refers to the product information 331 and searches for products of the secondary company 003 for which the discount rate of the expected credit in the forecast period set in step S402 has not been calculated (step S601).

[0130] If a product of the secondary company 003 for which the expected claim discount rate has not been calculated is found (step S602: Yes), the discount rate calculation unit 337 executes step S603, and if a product of the secondary company 003 for which the expected claim discount rate has not been calculated is not found (step S602: No), the expected claim discount rate calculation process S403 ends.

[0131] In step S603, the discount rate calculation unit 337 searches for products of the primary company 002 (hereinafter referred to as child products in the expected receivable discount rate calculation process S403) and products of the parent company 001 (hereinafter referred to as parent products in the expected receivable discount rate calculation process S403) that utilize the products of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601 as parts (hereinafter referred to as grandchild products in the expected receivable discount rate calculation process S403).

[0132] Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 refers to the product information 331 and extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of the record in which the child part name 3314 is set to the product of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601. Furthermore, the discount rate calculation unit 337 refers to the product information 331 and extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of the record in which the child part name 3314 is set to the above extracted value. For example, if the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601 is product C, product B (child product) which is a product of the primary company 002 is extracted. Furthermore, product A (parent product) of the parent company 001 is extracted.

[0133] The discount rate calculation unit 337 determines whether or not a product of the parent business 001 was found in step S603 (step S604). If a product of the parent business 001 was found (step S604: Yes), the discount rate calculation unit 337 starts the process of step S605 and onwards. If a product of the parent business 001 was not found (step S604: No), the discount rate calculation unit 337 starts the process of step S607 and onwards.

[0134] In step S605, the discount rate calculation unit 337 acquires a predicted amount (transfer predicted amount) of receivables to be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003, which is derived from the second business that the primary company 002 received an order for from the parent company 001, for the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601.

[0135] Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 refers to the predicted amount information 342 and extracts the value of the predicted transfer amount 1106 of a record in which the parent business company name 1101 is set to parent business 001 that manufactures the parent product, the parent business product name 1102 is set to the parent product, the secondary company 003 that manufactures the grandchild product is set to secondary company company name 1103, the grandchild product is set to secondary company product name 1104, and the prediction period is set to period 1105.

[0136] The discount rate calculation unit 337 acquires the discount rate set for the parent business operator 001 related to the predicted transfer amount acquired in step S605 (step S606). Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 references the company discount rate information 333 and acquires the discount rate 3332 of the record in which the parent business operator 001 that manufactures the parent product is set in the company name 3331. Then, the process of step S603 is repeated.

[0137] In step S607, the discount rate calculation unit 337 calculates the total value of the transfer forecast amount obtained in the process of S605 for the products of the secondary company 003 searched in step S601. Then, the discount rate calculation unit 337 registers the calculated total value in the expected claim discount rate information 343.

[0138] Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 creates a new record in the expected credit discount rate information 343, records the total value in the discount upper limit amount 3435 of the created record, and registers the secondary company 003 related to the product searched for in step S601, the name of the product searched for in step S601, and the forecast period set in step S402 in the secondary company name 3431, secondary company product name 3432, and period 3433, respectively.

[0139] Then, the discount rate calculation unit 337 calculates the discount rate of the expected claims of the secondary company 003 for the products of the secondary company 003 searched for in step S601 (step S608). The discount rate calculation unit 337 registers the calculated discount rate in the expected claims discount rate information 343.

[0140] Specifically, first, the discount rate calculation unit 337 defines x(i, k) as the predicted transfer amount of the receivables held by each secondary company 003k (k = 1, 2, 3, ...) related to each parent company 001i (i = 1, 2, 3, ...) obtained in step S605 executed so far, defines the discount rate of each parent company 001i obtained in step S606 as r(i), defines the total of the predicted transfer amounts x(i, k) calculated in step S607 as X(k), and calculates the discount rate p(k) of the expected receivables held by the secondary company 003k for the products of the secondary company 003 searched in step S601 using the following formula (1).

[0141] p(k)=Σ(i=1, 2, 3...){r(i)×x(ik) / X(k)}...(1)

[0142] The method of calculating the discount rate of the expected claims described here is merely an example, and is not limited to this method. For example, instead of calculating a common discount rate when discounting the total amount X(k) of the predicted transfer amounts x(i,k) as in formula (1), when discounting the predicted transfer amount x(i,k) from the parent company 001i, it is also possible to discount it using the discount rate r(i) of the parent company 001i.

[0143] Thereafter, the discount rate calculation unit 337 registers the calculated discount rate in the expected claim discount rate information 343. Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 records the discount rate of the expected claim of the secondary company 003 calculated in step S608 in the discount rate 3434 of the above record in the expected claim discount rate information 343. Thereafter, the process of step S601 is repeated.

[0144] <Expected receivables generation process> FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the expected claim generation process S405.

[0145] The make-to-stock production determination unit 335 refers to the commercial distribution information 332 and determines whether or not an order-receiving transaction involving make-to-stock production has occurred (step S700). Specifically, the make-to-stock production determination unit 335 determines whether or not “make-to-stock production” is set in the flag 3329 of a newly created record in the commercial distribution information 332.

[0146] If an order transaction involving make-to-stock production has occurred (step S700: Yes), the make-to-stock production determination unit 335 starts the process from step S701 onwards. If an order transaction involving make-to-stock production has not occurred (step S700: No), the make-to-stock claim generation process S405 ends.

[0147] In step S701, the forecast production judgment unit 335 acquires the information on the order / sale transaction acquired in step S404. Specifically, the forecast claim generation unit 338 acquires values ​​such as the creation date 3328, the product name 3324, the seller 3323, and the amount 3327 from the record of the commercial distribution information 332 acquired in step S404.

[0148] The expected claim generation unit 338 searches for a discount rate related to the order transaction based on the information of the order transaction acquired in step S701 (step S702).

[0149] Specifically, the expected claim generation unit 338 refers to the expected claim discount rate information 343, and searches for a record in which the values ​​of the supplier 3323 and product name 3324 of the commercial flow information 332 acquired in step S701 are set to the secondary company name 3431 and the secondary company product name 3432, respectively, and the date indicated by the creation date 3328 of the commercial flow information 332 is included in the period indicated by the period 3433.

[0150] The expected claim generation unit 338 determines whether or not the discount rate was found in step S702 (step 703). If the discount rate was found in step S702 (step S703: Yes), the expected claim generation unit 338 starts the process from step S704 onwards. If the discount rate was not found in step S702 (step S703: No), the expected claim generation process S405 ends.

[0151] In step S704, the expected claim generation unit 338 obtains the upper discount limit corresponding to the discount rate found in step S702, and searches for the latest expected claim.

[0152] Specifically, the expected claim generation unit 338 obtains the value of the discount upper limit 3435 from the record of the expected claim discount rate information 343 searched in step S702. Then, the expected claim generation unit 338 references the expected claim information 344 and searches for a record in which the seller 3323 and the product name 3324 of the commercial distribution information 332 obtained in step S701 are set to the transferee company name 1205 and the transferee product name 1206, respectively, and the date indicated by the creation date 3328 of the commercial distribution information 332 is included in the period indicated by the period 1105, and the latest date is set to the creation date 1208.

[0153] The expected claim generation unit 338 determines whether or not the expected claim has been found (step S705). If the expected claim has been found (step S705: Yes), the expected claim generation unit 338 starts the process from step S706 onwards. If the expected claim has not been found (step S705: No), the expected claim generation unit 338 starts the process from step S707 onwards.

[0154] In step S706, the expected claim generation unit 338 acquires the total amount of the transfer amounts corresponding to the expected claims searched in step S705, and calculates the total amount acquired and the transaction amount of the order transaction acquired in step S701 as the amount S (expected claim amount S). After that, the process of step S708 is executed.

[0155] Specifically, the expected claim generation unit 338 obtains the value of the total amount transferred within the period 1209 from the record of the expected claim information 344 searched in step S704, calculates the sum of the obtained value and the amount indicated by the amount 3327 of the supply flow information 332 obtained in step S701, and sets this sum as S.

[0156] Meanwhile, in step S707, the expected claim generation unit 338 sets the transaction amount of the order transaction acquired in step S701 as the amount S (expected claim amount). After that, the process of step S708 is executed.

[0157] In step S708, the expected claim generation unit 338 determines whether the amount S calculated in step S706 or step S707 is equal to or less than the discount upper limit amount acquired in step S704. If the amount of S is equal to or less than the discount upper limit amount (step S708: Yes), the expected claim generation unit 338 starts processing from step S709 onwards. If the amount of S is greater than the discount upper limit amount (step S708: No), the expected claim generation processing S405 ends.

[0158] In step S709, the expected claim generation unit 338 records, in the expected claim information 344, information on each expected claim calculated in the process of step S706 or step S707.

[0159] Specifically, the expected claim generation unit 338 records the order number 3321, purchaser 3322, contractor 3323, product name 3324, and amount 3327 of the record of the commercial flow information 332 acquired in step S701 in the order number 1202, transferor company name 1203, transferee company name 1205, transferee product name 1206, and amount 1207 of the newly created record of expected claim information 344. The expected claim generation unit 338 also records the expected claim ID numbered to be unique, the forecast target period set in step S402, the current date, and the amount of S calculated in step S706 or step S707 in the expected claim ID 1201, period 1105, creation date 1208, and total amount transferred within period 1209 of the above record, respectively. Thereafter, the expected claim generation process S405 ends.

[0160] <Debt conversion processing> FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the bond conversion process S407.

[0161] The claim conversion unit 339 acquires information on the order transaction (transaction related to the second business) between the parent company 001 and the first company 002 identified in step S406 (step S801). Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 acquires values ​​of the product name 3324, quantity 3326, etc. of the corresponding record from the commercial flow information 332.

[0162] The claim conversion unit 339 records the information about the first company 002 from the information about the order transaction acquired in step S801 in the claim information 345 (step S802).

[0163] Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the order number 3321, purchaser 3322, contractor 3323, product name 3324, amount 3327, uniquely numbered claim ID, current date, and ``claim'' of the record of the commercial flow information 332 acquired in step S801 to the order number 1202, transferor company name 1203, transferee company name 1205, transferee product name 1206, amount 1207, claim ID 1300, creation date 1208, and flag 1210 of the newly created record in the claim information 345, respectively.

[0164] The receivable conversion unit 339 searches for a product (hereinafter referred to as a grandchild product in the receivable conversion process S407, for example, product C) of the secondary company 003 that is used for a product (hereinafter referred to as a child product in the receivable conversion process S407, for example, product B) that the primary company 002 has received an order for manufacture from the parent company 001 in the order-making transaction whose information was registered in step S801 (step S803).

[0165] Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 refers to the product information 331 and searches for a record in which the parent product name 3312 has the name of the child product acquired in step S801 set therein.

[0166] The claim conversion unit 339 determines whether the grandchild product found in step S803 is a product that has been found in the currently executing claim conversion process S407 (whether it is a new product) (step S804). If the product found in step S803 is a new product (step S804: Yes), the claim conversion unit 339 starts the process from step S805 onwards. If the product found in step S803 is not a new product (step S804: No), the claim conversion process S407 ends.

[0167] In step S805, the claim conversion unit 339 calculates the quantity of the grandchild product (eg, product C) searched for in step S803 that is required to produce the order quantity of the child product (eg, product B) acquired in step S801.

[0168] Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 refers to the product information 331, extracts records in which the name of a parent product is set in the parent product name 3312 and the name of a grandchild product is set in the child part name 3314, and calculates the value of the quantity of the extracted records. The claim conversion unit 339 multiplies the calculated quantity by the order quantity of the child product acquired in step S801.

[0169] Then, the claim conversion unit 339 calculates the claim amount of the claim (confirmed claim) to be converted from the expected claim based on the quantity of the sub-products calculated in step S805 (step S806).

[0170] Specifically, the receivable conversion unit 339 refers to the commercial flow information 332, extracts the value of unit price 3325 from a record in which the purchaser (primary company 002) related to the information acquired in step S801 is set as the purchaser 3322, the secondary company 003 related to the grandchild product searched for in step S803 is set as the purchaser 3323, the grandchild product is set as the product name 3324, and the latest date is set as the production date 3328, and calculates the product of the extracted value and the quantity of the grandchild product calculated in step S805.

[0171] The claim conversion unit 339 records the confirmed claim amount calculated in step S806 in the claim information 345, and updates the expected claim information 344 (step S807). After that, the process of step S803 is executed.

[0172] Specifically, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the order number, parent business operator 001 of the purchaser, and primary company 002 of the contractor in the record of the commercial flow information 332 acquired in step S801 in the order number 1202, parent business company name 1101, and transferor company name 1203 of the newly created record in the claim information 345, respectively, and sets the secondary company 003 and the name of the sub-child product searched in step S803 in the transferee company name 1205 and transferee product name 1206, respectively. In addition, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the claim amount of the confirmed claim calculated in step S806 and the current date in the amount 1207 and creation date 1208 of the newly created record.

[0173] Furthermore, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the claim ID numbered in step S802 to claim ID 1300 of the newly created record, and sets a consecutive number in division ID 1301 according to the number of times the claim ID has been divided or transferred to secondary company 003 so that the claim ID and division ID will be unique. For example, if this is the first time that a claim with claim ID B001 is transferred to secondary company 003, the value is set to 001, and if it is the fifth time, the value is set to 005. Note that the value set in division ID 1301 is merely an example, and is not limited as long as the claim ID and division ID are unique.

[0174] Furthermore, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the order number and the primary company 002 of the record in the commercial flow information 332 acquired in step S801 to the order number 1202 and the transferor company name 1203 of the record newly created in the expected claim information 344, respectively, and sets the secondary company 003 and the name of the sub-child product searched in step S803 to the transferee company name 1205 and the transferee product name 1206, respectively. Also, the claim conversion unit 339 sets the forecast target period set in step S402, the value obtained by subtracting the confirmed claim amount calculated in step S806 from 0, the current date, and the claim ID 1300 of the record in the claim information 345 registered in step S807 to the period 1105, amount 1207, creation date 1208, and remarks 1211 of the record, respectively.

[0175] <Prediction error adjustment process> FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the prediction error adjustment process S409.

[0176] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 repeatedly executes the following processes from step S1001 to step S1006 for each transferee of each prospective claim and confirmed claim (transferee company name 1205 and transferee product name 1206 in prospective claim information 344 and claim information 345) for each target product of each claim. In the following explanation, the transferee of each claim is Company M and the target product is Product C.

[0177] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 calculates the total amount of the expected claims that have been converted into cash (step S1001). Specifically, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 extracts from the expected claims information 344 records in which the prediction target period set in step S402 includes the date indicated by the creation date 1208, in which the recipient company name 1205 is set to Company M, in which the recipient product name 1206 is set to Product C, and in which the flag 1210 is set to "cashed in," and calculates the total value of the amount 1207 of each of the extracted records.

[0178] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 calculates the total amount of confirmed claims that have been converted to cash (step S1002). Specifically, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 extracts from the claim information 345 records in which the prediction target period set in step S402 includes the date indicated by the creation date 1208, in which the recipient company name 1205 is set to Company M, in which the recipient product name 1206 is set to Product C, and in which the flag 1210 is set to "cashed," and calculates the total value of the amount 1207 of each extracted record.

[0179] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 calculates the sum of the value calculated in step S1001 and the value calculated in step S1002 (step S1003).

[0180] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 calculates the total amount of confirmed claims that have not been converted into cash (step S1004). Specifically, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 extracts from the claim information 345 records in which the prediction target period set in step S402 includes the date indicated by the creation date 1208, in which the recipient company name 1205 is set to Company M, in which the recipient product name 1206 is set to Product C, and in which the flag 1210 is set to "claim," and calculates the total value of the amount 1207 of each extracted record.

[0181] The prediction error adjustment unit 341 judges whether the amount calculated in step S1003 is greater than the amount calculated in step S1004 (step S1005). If the amount calculated in step S1003 is greater than the amount calculated in step S1004 (step S1005: Yes), the prediction error adjustment unit 341 starts the process of step S1006 and subsequent steps. If the amount calculated in step S1003 is equal to or less than the amount calculated in step S1004 (step S1005: No), the prediction error adjustment unit 341 repeats the process of step S1001 and subsequent steps for other combinations of transferees and products. If there are no other combinations of transferees and products, the prediction error adjustment process S409 ends.

[0182] In step S1006, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 registers in the bond information 345 the amount calculated in step S1004 minus the amount calculated in step S1003.

[0183] Specifically, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 sets the amount 1207 of the new record in the claim information 345 to the reduced value, and sets the name of company M, the name of product C, the current date, and “error correction” to the recipient company name 1205, the recipient product name 1206, the creation date 1208, and the flag 1210, respectively.

[0184] In addition, the prediction error adjustment unit 341 subsequently sets the value of the parent business operator company name 1101 of the record in question if a record with flag 1210 set to “claim” is added immediately after recording the record in question.

[0185] In this way, when calculating the amount that can be converted into cash in the next target period, by adding the amount 1207 of the record for which flag 1210 is set to "error correction," it is possible to calculate the amount of claims that can be converted into cash by deducting the amount that was converted into cash in the current target period.

[0186] The reason for executing the forecast error adjustment process S409 is that by comparing the amount of receivables actually transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 during the forecast period set in step S402 with the amount of receivables cashed by the secondary company 003 during the forecast period, if it is determined that more receivables have been cashed than the amount actually transferred, this means that the secondary company 003 has received more cash than the actual order amount, so that by registering a record of the negative amount of the difference in the receivables information 345 on the last day of the forecast period, the difference between the amount of receivables transferred during the current forecast period and the amount cashed can be reflected in the amount that can be cashed in the next forecast period.

[0187] <Cash Processing> FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the cashing process S2.

[0188] The cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 executes a cashable amount calculation process S900 for deriving information on the claim amount and discount rate that the secondary company 003 can cash.

[0189] Next, the cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 transmits information on the cashable claim amount and discount rate derived in the cashable amount calculation process S900 to the terminal 110 related to the secondary company 003 (step S901).

[0190] The input unit 312 of the terminal 110 accepts login by a user of the secondary company 003 via a web browser or a specified program, and displays on the screen the amount of cashable claims and the discount rate derived in the cashable amount calculation process S900 (step S902).

[0191] Then, the input unit 312 of the terminal 110 accepts input of cash application information from the user of the secondary company 003 (step S903). The cash application information includes, for example, information on the prospective claims and confirmed claims that the user wishes to cash, and information on the amount to be cashed.

[0192] The terminal 110 transmits the inputted cash application information to the cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 (step S904).

[0193] In addition, the input unit 312 of the terminal 110 may only accept input of the amount from the user as the cash conversion application information, and the cash conversion application management unit 340 of the receivables processing management system 130 may identify the prospective or confirmed receivables to be cashed by extracting prospective or confirmed receivables with low discount rates based on the cash conversion application information received from the terminal 110.

[0194] Based on the cash application information received in step S904, the cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 sends a claim generation request (a request for transfer of the claim from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003) to the electronic claim recording system 120 (step S905).

[0195] When the electronic claim recording system 120 receives the claim generation request, it records the information on the transfer of claim corresponding to the received claim generation request in the record ledger 320. The electronic claim recording system 120 sends a notification that the recording of the transfer of claim has been completed to the cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 (step S906).

[0196] In addition, when the electronic claim recording system 120 receives a claim generation request, it may send a notification of a request for approval of the claim transfer to each of the terminals 110 of the primary company 002 and the secondary company 003, and record information about the claim transfer in the record ledger 320 only when approval information is received from each terminal 110.

[0197] In addition, the cash application management unit 340 transmits a transfer request for the claim registered (created) in step S905 from the secondary company 003 to the financial institution 004 (step S907).

[0198] When the electronic claim recording system 120 receives the claim transfer request, it records the details of the claim transfer indicated in the received transfer request (the details of the claim transferred from the secondary company 003 to the financial institution 004) in the record ledger 320. The electronic claim recording system 120 sends a notice that the recording is complete (claim transfer completion notice) to the cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 (step S908).

[0199] In addition, when the electronic claim recording system 120 receives a request for the transfer of a claim, it may send an approval request notification to each terminal of the secondary company 003 and the financial institution 004, and record information about the content of the claim transfer in the record ledger 320 only when it receives approval information from each terminal.

[0200] The cash application management unit 340 of the claim processing management system 130 records the cash application information entered by the user in step S903 in the cash information 346. Furthermore, when a confirmed claim is cashed, the cash application management unit 340 records the details of the cashing in the claim information 345. Furthermore, when a prospective claim is cashed, the cash application management unit 340 records a new record in the prospective claim information 344 (step S909).

[0201] Specifically, the cash application management unit 340 sets a unique numbering string, the secondary company 003 that requested the cash application, the ID of the expected claim applied for cashing, the ID of the confirmed claim applied for cashing, the amount of the claim used in the cash application, the amount cashed by the financial institution, and the current date for the cash ID 3461, applicant 3462, expected claim ID 3463, claim ID 3464, claim usage amount 3465, cash amount 3466, and creation date 3467 of the newly created record in the cash information 346.

[0202] The cash application management unit 340 also sets the values ​​of the record linked to the ID of the claim used for cash in the division ID 1301, parent business company name 1101, transferee company name 1205, and transferee product name 1206 of the newly created record in the claim information 345. The cash application management unit 340 also sets the value obtained by subtracting the claim usage amount used for the cash application from 0 in the amount 1207 of the record, records the current date in the creation date 1208, sets the flag 1210 to "cashed", and sets the cash ID of the corresponding cash information 346 in the notes 1211.

[0203] The cash application management unit 340 also sets the values ​​of the record linked to the ID of the expected claim used in the cash application in the recipient company name 1205, recipient product name 1206, and period 1105 of the newly created record in the expected claim information 344. The cash application management unit 340 also sets the amount 1207 to a value obtained by subtracting the claim usage amount used in the cash application from 0, sets the creation date 1208 to the current date, sets the flag 1210 to "cashed", and sets the cash ID of the corresponding cash information 346 in the notes 1211.

[0204] The cash application management unit 340 transmits the cash application information received in step S904 and the claim transfer completion notice received in step S908 to the financial institution 004 (step S910).

[0205] A predetermined system (such as an accounting system) managed by the financial institution 004 transfers the cash indicated in the cash application information to a designated account of the secondary company 003, which is the requester of the cash application, in accordance with the received cash application information (step S911).

[0206] The claim management system 100 may automatically execute the processes of steps S905 to S911 at a predetermined timing. For example, for a prospective claim that is currently beyond the period 1105 related to the prospective claim information 344 or the due date of the contract between the first company 002 and the second company 003 and for which a cash conversion application has not yet been made, the claim management system 100 may automatically execute the processes of S905 to S911, and cash may be transferred to the second company 003.

[0207] <Calculation of cashable amount> FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the cashable amount calculation process S900.

[0208] The cash application management unit 340 calculates all cashable prospective claims and the total amount of all prospective claims for each product (step S9001).

[0209] Specifically, the cash application management unit 340 refers to the expected claims information 344, extracts all records in which the period 1105 is set to a period including the current date and the transferee company name 1205 is set to secondary company 003, and calculates the total value T1 of the amount 1207 for each transferee product name 1206 for the extracted records.

[0210] The cash application management unit 340 acquires the discount rate for each expected claim for each secondary company 003 (step S9002). Specifically, the cash application management unit 340 refers to the expected claim discount rate information 343, extracts records in which the period indicated by the period 3433 includes the current date and in which the secondary company 003 is set in the secondary company name 3431, and acquires the value of the discount rate 3434 (discount rate R1) for each secondary company 003 for the extracted records.

[0211] The cash application management unit 340 subtracts the total transfer amount of claims whose transferor is the applicant from the total transfer amount of claims whose transferee is the applicant (secondary company 003) (step S9003).

[0212] Specifically, the cash application management unit 340 refers to the claim information 345 and calculates an amount T2 by subtracting the total value of the amount 1207 of all records in which the secondary company 003 is set in the transferor company name 1203 from the total value of the amount 1207 of all records in which the period 1105 is the period including the current date and in which the secondary company 003 is set in the transferee company name 1205 for each parent business entity 001 indicated by the parent business entity company name 1101. The reason for the subtraction is that it takes into account the possibility that the secondary company 003 has transferred a claim to a tertiary company.

[0213] The cash application management unit 340 acquires the discount rate R2 of each parent business 001 in step S9003 (step S9004).

[0214] Specifically, for each parent business operator 001 indicated by the parent business operator company name 1101 of the record extracted in step 9013, the cash conversion application management unit 340 obtains the discount rate 3332 (discount rate R2) of the record in which the parent business operator 001 is set in the company name 3331 from the company discount rate information 333.

[0215] The cash application management unit 340 calculates the amount T1 of cashable claims for each product of the secondary company 003 based on the total amount calculated in step S9001 and the discount rate R1 obtained in step S9002, and calculates the amount T2 of cashable claims for each parent company 001 based on the total amount calculated in step S9003 and the discount rate R2 obtained in step S9004 (step S9005).

[0216] [Example 2] Next, a description will be given of Example 2. Example 1 describes the processing of the claim management system 100 in a case where the parent business 001 manufactures its own products and requests the delivery of parts required for its products from the primary company 002. Example 2 describes the processing of the claim management system in a case where the parent business 001 does not manufacture its own products but entrusts the primary company 002 with the manufacture of the parent business 001's products.

[0217] In the second embodiment, differences from the first embodiment described above will be mainly described, and the same configurations and processes as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0218] <Transfer amount prediction process in Example 2> The transfer amount prediction process of the second embodiment will be described based on the transfer amount prediction process S402 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

[0219] In step S503, if the transfer amount prediction unit 336 determines that there is a product for which the transfer amount for the prediction period has not been calculated in step S502, it refers to the product information 331 related to the grandchild product for the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003 extracted in step S501, and extracts the product (parent product) of the parent company 001 and the product (child product) of the primary company 002 that utilizes the grandchild product as a part.

[0220] For example, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 (here, product B of the primary company 002) of the record in which product C is set in the child part name 3314 of the product information 331. After that, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of the record in which product B is set in the child part name 3314 of the product information 331.

[0221] Here, if the value of the extracted parent product name 3312 is the same as the name of product B, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 determines that the parent company 001 outsources the manufacturing of its products to the primary company 002.

[0222] In step S507, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 predicts the quantity to be used for product B (child product) among the average value of the total order quantity of product C (grandchild product) in a certain month calculated in step S506. The reason for performing this process is that if product C is a part used only in product B, the entire quantity is used for product B, but if product C is a common part used in other products of the primary company 002, there is a possibility that it will be used in products other than product B. Therefore, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the product information 331 related to product C, and calculates the ratio of the number of parts based on the value of parent product name 3312 including product B and the value of quantity 3315 extracted from the record in which product C is set in child part name 3314, and predicts the quantity to be used for product B among the average value of the total order quantity of product C in a certain month calculated in step S506.

[0223] For example, assume that products B, F, and G use product C as a part, and the quantities of product C are 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Therefore, if the average order quantity of product C in April calculated in step S506 is 1200, the quantity of product C used for product B can be calculated as 300, using 1200×3 / (3+4+5).

[0224] Note that, here, the quantity of product C used for product B out of the average total order quantity of product C in a certain month is predicted using the quantity of product C in products B, F, and G. However, the quantity of product C used for product B may also be predicted using the proportion of the order quantity from parent business operator 001, which is outsourced to manufacture products B, F, and G.

[0225] If the transfer amount prediction unit 336 determines in step S510 that the quantity calculated in step S505 is greater than the quantity calculated in step S507, it predicts the transfer amount based on the order quantity and its unit price calculated in step S507.

[0226] Specifically, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 refers to the commercial flow information 332, extracts the value of the unit price 3325 of a record in which the first company 002 is set as the orderer 3322, the second company 003 is set as the seller 3323, product C is set as the item name 3324, and the latest date is set as the production date 3328, and calculates the multiplication value of the value of the unit price 3325 and the quantity calculated in step S507. The transfer amount prediction unit 336 sets this amount (multiplication value) in the transfer prediction amount 1106 of the new record in the prediction amount information 342 as the amount (transfer amount) of the credit that the parent business operator 001 has generated at the first company 002 and that is to be partially transferred from the first company 002 to the secondary company 003. In addition, the transfer amount prediction unit 336 sets the parent business company name 1101, parent business product name 1102, secondary business company name 1103, secondary business product name 1104, and period 1105 of the new record to the parent business company 001, product B, secondary company 003 that manufactures product C, product C, and the prediction period set in step S402, respectively, which were obtained in step S503.

[0227] <Calculation process of expected credit discount rate in the second embodiment> The transfer amount prediction process of the second embodiment will be described based on the expected claim discount rate calculation process S405 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

[0228] In step S603, if a product of the secondary company 003 for which the expected credit discount rate has not been calculated is found, the discount rate calculation unit 337 searches for a product of the parent company 001 that uses the product of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601 as a part.

[0229] Specifically, when the product of the secondary company 003 acquired in step S601 is a grandchild product (product C), the discount rate calculation unit 337 extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 (here, product B of the primary company 002) of a record in which the grandchild product is set in the child part name 3314 of the product information 331. Thereafter, the discount rate calculation unit 337 extracts the value of the parent product name 3312 of a record in which product B is set in the child part name 3314 of the product information 331. Here, if the extracted value is the same name as product B, the discount rate calculation unit 337 determines that the parent company 001 outsources the manufacturing of its products to the primary company 002.

[0230] In step S605, if the discount rate calculation unit 337 is able to search for the parent company 001's product in step S603, it obtains the amount (transfer amount) of the receivables to be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003, which originates from the second business, for the product (grandchild product) of the secondary company 003 obtained in step S601.

[0231] Specifically, the discount rate calculation unit 337 refers to the forecast amount information 342 and extracts the value of the forecast transfer amount 1106 of a record in which the parent business company name 1101 is set to parent business 001 that manufactures product B, the parent business product name 1102 is set to the child product, the secondary company company name 1103 is set to secondary company 003 that manufactures the grandchild product, the secondary company product name 1104 is set to the grandchild product, and the forecast period is set to period 1105.

[0232] In this way, even when the primary company 002 is operating using a make-to-stock production method and the parent company 001 commissions the primary company 002 to manufacture the parent company 001's products, the receivables management system 100 of the second embodiment predicts the transfer amount using product information 331 and supply chain information 332 before an order transaction between the parent company 001 and the primary company 002 occurs, i.e., before receivables information 345 based on the order transaction between the parent company 001 and the primary company 002 is generated, and generates a projected receivable that can be discounted at a discount rate based on the creditworthiness of the parent company 001 based on the transfer amount, thereby enabling the secondary company 003 to discount the receivables by utilizing the creditworthiness of the parent company 001.

[0233] As described above, when the secondary company 003 receives an order for a first business operation related to a specified product or service from the primary company 002, if it determines that the secondary company 003 has not definitively received an order for a second business operation related to another product or service necessary for processing the specified product or service (an order from the primary company 002 to the parent business 001), the receivables management system 100 of this embodiment calculates the amount of the expected receivable, which is the receivable held by the secondary company 003 in relation to the order for the second business operation, based on the commercial flow information 332 and product information 331, and outputs information on the calculated amount of the expected receivable.

[0234] That is, the claim management system 100 of this embodiment calculates the claim (claim against the parent business 001) that the secondary business 003 has for the second business as an expected claim, even when the second business is uncertain, such as when the primary business 002 operates using a make-to-stock production method, etc. Using this, the secondary business 003 can receive a discount on the debt related to the first business by utilizing the creditworthiness of the parent business 001.

[0235] In this manner, the claim management system 100 of this embodiment can discount the target debt based on an undetermined claim.

[0236] In addition, when the receivable management system 100 of this embodiment determines that the primary company 002 is operating using a make-to-stock production method or the like, it predicts the transfer amount, which is the amount of the receivables of the primary company 002 to be transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 during the prediction period, based on the supply chain information 332 and the product information 331, and calculates the amount of the expected receivables with the transfer amount as the upper limit.

[0237] In this way, by setting the amount of the receivables transferred from the primary company 002 to the secondary company 003 as the upper limit of the expected receivables, the expected receivables can be set within a reasonable range based on the state of the trade flow and the product configuration, etc.

[0238] In addition, the receivable management system 100 of this embodiment calculates the amount of consideration incurred as a result of the execution of business for the product related to the secondary company 003 (for example, the receivable that the secondary company 003 has definitively against the parent company 001) based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331, and outputs the calculated amount as the amount of the definite receivable among the amount of the expected receivable.

[0239] In this way, by changing a receivable whose amount has been determined through the execution of business from a prospective receivable to a confirmed receivable, the prospective receivable can be made into an appropriate receivable according to the current state of the transaction.

[0240] In addition, the receivable management system 100 of this embodiment calculates the first quantity and the second quantity, which are the transaction quantities related to other products or services in the second business and the first business, respectively, based on the commercial flow information 332 and the product information 331, and sets the receivable amount calculated based on the smaller of the calculated first quantity and second quantity as the upper limit of the expected receivable.

[0241] In this way, by setting the upper limit of the prospective receivables to the lesser of the transaction volume for the business of the secondary company 003 (manufacturing of products manufactured by the secondary company 003) and the transaction volume for the business of the primary company 002 (manufacturing of products manufactured by the parent company 001 or the primary company 002), it is possible to prevent the transactions on which the amount of the prospective receivables is based from being overvalued, while taking into account the content of each business.

[0242] In addition, when the claim management system 100 of this embodiment receives cash request information for some or all of the amount of the prospective claim or confirmed claim from the terminal 110 related to the secondary company 003, it sends a request for cash processing corresponding to the cash request information to the financial institution's electronic claim recording system 120, and outputs information on the amount of the prospective claim or confirmed claim minus the amount indicated in the cash request information.

[0243] In this way, by converting the expected claims or confirmed claims into cash through a financial institution or the like, the secondary company 003 can collect the claims arising from the business it has performed in cash.

[0244] In addition, when the electronic claim recording system 120 of this embodiment receives cash conversion request information, it executes a process of transferring the creditor of the expected claim or confirmed claim in the amount indicated in the cash conversion request information request from the secondary company 003 to a financial institution.

[0245] This allows the financial institutions, etc. to settle the creditor-debtor relationship between them and the secondary company 003.

[0246] In addition, if the electronic claim recording system 120 of this embodiment determines that the total amount of each amount converted into cash based on the prospective claim and the confirmed claim is greater than the amount of the confirmed claim, it outputs the amount obtained by subtracting the above total amount from the amount of the confirmed claim as the new amount of the confirmed claim.

[0247] If the secondary company 003 actually cashes out an amount greater than the total amount of the transferred expected and confirmed claims, the secondary company 003 will have received more cash than the actual order amount. Therefore, according to the above configuration, in such a case, it is possible to reflect the discrepancy between the amount of the transferred expected and confirmed claims and the amount of the cash out.

[0248] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented using any components without departing from the scope of the present invention. The above-described embodiments and modifications are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired. In addition, although various embodiments and modifications have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these contents. Other aspects conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0249] For example, part of the hardware included in each device of this embodiment may be provided in another device.

[0250] Furthermore, each program of each device may be provided in another device, a program may consist of multiple programs, or multiple programs may be integrated into one program.

[0251] Furthermore, the method of predicting the transfer amount by the transfer amount prediction process S402 described in this embodiment is just one example, and the transfer amount can be predicted using any algorithm based on the past transaction history of each transaction party.

[0252] Furthermore, the method of calculating the discount rate described in this embodiment is merely an example, and the discount rate can be calculated using any algorithm that reflects the creditworthiness of each parent company. [Explanation of symbols]

[0253] 100 Accounts receivable management system, 130 Accounts receivable processing management system, 002 Primary companies, 003 Secondary companies, 331 Product information, 332 Trade flow information

Claims

1. A storage device that stores trade flow information, which is information on business operations performed by each party in a specific trade flow with respect to each product or service, and product information, which is information on the dependency relationships between each of the products or services; and a make-to-stock determination process for determining, when a second party receives an order for a first task related to a specified product or service from a first party, whether or not an order for a second task related to another product or service necessary for processing the specified product or service, which should be performed by the first party, has been definitively received based on the commercial flow information and the product information; a control device that executes an expected receivable generation process that, when it is determined that the order for the second work has not been definitively placed upon receipt of the order for the first work, calculates an amount of expected receivable, which is a receivable that is predicted to be held by the second party in relation to the order for the second work, based on the commercial flow information and the product information, and outputs information on the calculated amount of expected receivable. A receivables management system.

2. The claim management system according to claim 1, When the control device receives an order for the first business and determines that the order for the second business has not been definitively placed, the control device executes an assignment amount prediction process for predicting an assignment amount, which is the amount of the receivables of the first party in the specified business flow that will be assigned from the first party to the second party in a specified period, based on the business flow information and the product information; in the expected claim generation process, the amount of the expected claim is calculated with the transfer amount as an upper limit value; Accounts receivable management system.

3. The claim management system according to claim 2, The control device executes a claim conversion process to calculate an amount of the consideration generated as a result of the execution of the business of the product or service related to the second party based on the commercial flow information and the product information, and output the calculated amount as the amount of the confirmed claim out of the calculated amount of the expected claim. Accounts receivable management system.

4. The claim management system according to claim 2, The control device, in the transfer amount prediction process, Calculating a first quantity, which is a transaction quantity related to the other product or service in the second business, based on the commercial flow information and the product information; Calculating a second quantity, which is a transaction quantity related to the product or service in the first business, based on the commercial flow information and the product information; setting the amount of claim related to the first business that the first party has for the product or service, which is calculated based on the smaller of the calculated first quantity and second quantity, as an upper limit of the expected claim; Accounts receivable management system.

5. The claim management system according to claim 3, When the control device receives a request for cashing out a part or all of the output amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim from the specified device related to the second party, the control device transmits a request for processing the cashing out corresponding to the request to a system related to a specified organization, and executes a cashing out application management process for outputting information on the amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim obtained by deducting the amount indicated by the request from the amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim. Accounts receivable management system.

6. The claim management system according to claim 5, When the predetermined system receives the request for the cashing process, the predetermined system executes a process of transferring the creditor of the expected or confirmed credit indicated by the request from the second party to the predetermined organization. Accounts receivable management system.

7. The claim management system according to claim 5, the control device judges whether or not the total of the amounts converted into cash based on the outputted prospective claim and the determined claim is greater than the outputted amount of the determined claim, and if it judges that the total amount is greater than the amount of the determined claim, executes a prediction error adjustment process for outputting an amount obtained by subtracting the total amount from the amount of the determined claim as a new amount of the determined claim. Accounts receivable management system.

8. A method for managing accounts receivable by an information processing device including a control device and a storage device for storing commercial flow information, which is information on business activities carried out by each party in a specified commercial flow with respect to each product or service, and product information, which is information on the dependency relationships between each of the products or services, the control device comprising: a make-to-stock determination process for determining, when a second party receives an order for a first task related to a specified product or service from a first party, whether or not an order for a second task related to another product or service necessary for processing the specified product or service, which should be performed by the first party, has been definitively received based on the commercial flow information and the product information; and if it is determined that the order for the second business has not been definitively placed when the order for the first business is received, a process for generating expected claims is executed to calculate, based on the commercial flow information and the product information, the amount of expected claims, which is the claim that the second party is predicted to have in relation to the order for the second business, and to output information on the calculated amount of expected claims. Receivables management methods.

9. 9. A method for managing claims according to claim 8, comprising: When the control device receives an order for the first business and determines that the order for the second business has not been definitively placed, the control device executes an assignment amount prediction process for predicting an assignment amount, which is the amount of the receivables of the first party in the specified business flow that will be assigned from the first party to the second party in a specified period, based on the business flow information and the product information; in the expected claim generation process, the amount of the expected claim is calculated with the transfer amount as an upper limit value; Receivables management methods.

10. 10. The claim management method according to claim 9, The control device executes a claim conversion process to calculate an amount of the consideration generated as a result of the execution of the business of the product or service related to the second party based on the commercial flow information and the product information, and output the calculated amount as the amount of the confirmed claim out of the calculated amount of the expected claim. Receivables management methods.

11. 10. The claim management method according to claim 9, The control device, in the transfer amount prediction process, Calculating a first quantity, which is a transaction quantity related to the other product or service in the second business, based on the commercial flow information and the product information; Calculating a second quantity, which is a transaction quantity related to the product or service in the first business, based on the commercial flow information and the product information; setting the amount of claim related to the first business that the first party has for the product or service, which is calculated based on the smaller of the calculated first quantity and second quantity, as an upper limit of the expected claim; Receivables management methods.

12. The claim management method according to claim 10, When the control device receives a request for cashing out a part or all of the output amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim from the specified device related to the second party, the control device transmits a request for processing the cashing out corresponding to the request to a system related to a specified organization, and executes a cashing out application management process for outputting information on the amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim obtained by deducting the amount indicated by the request from the amount of the prospective claim or the confirmed claim. Receivables management methods.

13. The claim management method according to claim 12, When the predetermined system receives the request for the cashing process, the predetermined system executes a process of transferring the creditor of the expected or confirmed credit indicated by the request from the second party to the predetermined organization. Receivables management methods.

14. The claim management method according to claim 12, the control device judges whether or not the total of the amounts converted into cash based on the outputted prospective claim and the determined claim is greater than the outputted amount of the determined claim, and if it judges that the total amount is greater than the amount of the determined claim, executes a prediction error adjustment process for outputting an amount obtained by subtracting the total amount from the amount of the determined claim as a new amount of the determined claim. Receivables management methods.

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