Program, information processing device, and method

Abstract

To provide a program capable of facilitating management of advance payments for business partners and suppressing automatic issuance of invoices, an information processing device, and a method.SOLUTION: In an accounting system, a server is configured to: accept input of advance payment data about advance payment received from a business partner by a user; register the advance payment data in association with information related to the business partner; accept input of information related to the business partner from the user; determine whether advance payment data exists for the business partner concerning information related to the accepted business partner; presenting the fact that an advance payment has been received from the business partner to the user and presenting application of the received advance payment to the user in a selectable manner when advance payment data exists; and when application of advance payment received from the business partner against the sales is selected and the total amount of the sales is applied, control the system so as to make the creation of an invoice related to the sales unselectable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a program, an information processing device, and a method. [Background technology]

[0002] Accounting systems that provide accounting processing services for businesses such as corporations are provided as web services, for example. In such accounting systems, information on users' purchases, sales, borrowings, and other incoming and outgoing payments is recorded (entered) in ledgers (journal entries, general ledgers) and managed as (journal entry) accounting data.

[0003] In business relationships between businesses, it is sometimes customary to accept money or goods in advance before a transaction occurs, such as deposits, advance payments, earnest money, or initial payments (hereinafter collectively referred to as "advance payments"). For example, when the contractor is short of funds, or when there is a certain level of risk on the client's side, an advance payment is accepted as a means of risk avoidance.

[0004] As a technique for managing such advance payments, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for a contract-type receivable settlement processing device that manages the amount of advance payments and variable sales amounts for fixed-term contract services.

[0005] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology relating to a project management system for managing advance payments received in projects such as construction projects that require a long period of time from when costs are incurred until sales are recorded. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-030720 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-174284 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In actual business relationships, there are cases where advance payments are received without being tied to a specific transaction or project, and are then applied to actual transactions (sales) that occur later. In such cases, managing advance payments is not easy. Also, if the accounting system has a function to automatically create invoices, there is a risk of issuing invoices by mistake.

[0008] Therefore, this disclosure describes a technology that facilitates the management of advance payments from business partners in an accounting system and also facilitates the management of advance payments by preventing the automatic issuance of invoices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a program for managing business partners related to a user's transactions, the program being executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, the program causing the processor to execute the following steps: accepting input of advance payment data regarding an advance payment received by the user from a business partner; linking the accepted advance payment data to information regarding the business partner, registering the data, and storing it in memory; accepting input of information regarding the business partner from the user in order to input sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the user; determining whether advance payment data exists for the business partner related to the accepted information regarding the business partner; if advance payment data exists for the business partner related to the accepted information regarding the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner and presenting the user with the option of allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner related to the user; and if allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated, controlling the creation of an invoice related to the sales to be unavailable. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present disclosure, when entering information about a business partner to input sales data for sales from the business partner, if advance payment data exists, this information is displayed to the user. Furthermore, if the entire amount of sales is appropriated from the advance payment, the creation of an invoice is disabled. Therefore, by preventing the automatic issuance of invoices, it becomes possible to easily manage advance payments. This makes it possible to easily manage advance payments for business partners. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a transaction system 1 according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device 10 of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server 20 of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of a supplier database 2021 in FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a transaction database 2022 in FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of an accounting database 2023 in FIG. 3. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing for registering advance payment data by accounting system 1. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of applying the full amount of a prepayment by the accounting system 1. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of partial advance payment allocation processing by accounting system 1. [Figure 10] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying a list of advance payment data displayed on the terminal device 10. FIG. [Figure 11] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for the advance payment application process displayed on the terminal device 10. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The following description and drawings are examples for explaining the present invention, and appropriate omissions and simplifications have been made for clarity of explanation. The present invention can be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated.

[0013] The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to perform the described functions. A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may also be a programmed processor that executes programs stored in memory.

[0014] In this specification, a circuitry, unit, or means is hardware that is programmed to realize or performs the described functions, which may be any hardware disclosed herein or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or perform the described functions.

[0015] If the hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of the hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0016] <Summary> The accounting system according to the present disclosure is described below. The accounting system according to the present disclosure is a system for providing accounting processing services to users, such as businesses, individual business owners, and sole proprietors. Accounting processing performed by businesses and individual business owners involves managing cash flows, such as purchases, sales, and borrowings. These flows are recorded (booked) in ledgers (journal entries, general ledgers) and managed as accounting data. At the designated accounting period, a trial balance is prepared as a closing process, and financial statements, such as an income statement and a balance sheet, are created. Based on the results of the closing process, tax return processing is also performed, preparing returns for corporate tax, business office tax, consumption tax, etc. The accounting system according to the present disclosure is a computer system that accepts input of cash flows, such as purchases and sales, records them in ledgers, prepares trial balances and financial statements, and supports tax return processing. The accounting system according to the present disclosure is also provided as a web service, for example, via a cloud server, or through software as a service (SaaS).

[0017] In addition, the accounting system disclosed herein is a system that accepts advance payment data from users regarding advance payments received from business partners, manages the advance payments, and enables sales from the business partners to be allocated from the advance payments.

[0018] However, when an accounting system manages data on advance payments received from business partners and allocates the advance payments to sales, the advance payment may be received before the transaction to which it will be allocated is determined, and then allocated to an actual transaction (sales) that occurs later. Therefore, as mentioned above, managing advance payments has not been easy. Furthermore, if the accounting system has a function to automatically create invoices, there is a risk of issuing the wrong invoice.

[0019] Therefore, the accounting system disclosed herein allows the user to input sales data regarding sales from business partners. When information about a business partner is input, if there is advance payment data from that business partner, this information is presented to the user.

[0020] Furthermore, the accounting system according to the present disclosure is controlled so that the creation of an invoice cannot be selected when the entire amount of sales is appropriated from the advance payment.

[0021] With the above configuration, automatic issuance of invoices can be prevented, making it easier to manage advance payments, which in turn makes it easier to manage advance payments from business partners.

[0022] <First Embodiment> The following describes the accounting system 1. In the following description, for example, when the terminal device 10 accesses the server 20, the server 20 responds with information for generating a screen on the terminal device 10. The terminal device 10 generates and displays a screen based on the information received from the server 20.

[0023] <1 Overall configuration of accounting system 1> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a checkout system 1 according to a first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the checkout system 1 includes multiple terminal devices (terminal device 10A and terminal device 10B are shown in FIG. 1; hereinafter, these may be collectively referred to as "terminal device 10") and a server 20. Terminal device 10 and server 20 are connected to each other via a network 80 so that they can communicate with each other. Network 80 may be a wired or wireless network. In this embodiment, server 20 is a web server (including a cloud server) and exchanges information with terminal device 10 via web pages. A web page browser for viewing web pages is installed on terminal device 10, but a dedicated application for providing the services of server 20 may also be installed so that web pages can be viewed using the dedicated application.

[0024] The terminal device 10 is a device operated by each user. Here, a user is a person who uses the terminal device 10 to perform accounting processing (journalization processing), which is a function of the accounting system 1, and is, for example, a person in charge of a business enterprise or a sole proprietor. The terminal device 10 is realized by a desktop personal computer (PC), a laptop PC, or the like. Alternatively, the terminal device 10 may be, for example, a tablet compatible with a mobile communication system, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, or the like.

[0025] The terminal device 10 is communicatively connected to the server 20 via a network 80. The terminal device 10 is connected to the network 80 by communicating with communication devices such as a wireless base station 81 conforming to communication standards such as 4G, 5G, and LTE (Long Term Evolution), and a wireless LAN router 82 conforming to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) standard such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11. As shown as a terminal device 10B in FIG. 1 , the terminal device 10 includes a communication IF (Interface) 12, an input device 13, an output device 14, a memory 15, a storage unit 16, and a processor 19.

[0026] The communication IF 12 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with external devices. The input device 13 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a touch panel, a touch pad, a pointing device such as a mouse, etc.) for receiving input operations from a user. The output device 14 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, etc.) for presenting information to a user. The memory 15 is for temporarily storing programs and data processed by the programs, etc., and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The storage unit 16 is a storage device for saving data, such as a flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disc Drive). The processor 19 is hardware for executing an instruction set written in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, etc.

[0027] Server 20 is a device that manages various information related to accounting processes for transactions of the user business, such as deposit and withdrawal information such as purchases, sales, and borrowings. Server 20 accepts and stores advance payment data regarding advance payments received from business partners from the user. When server 20 accepts input of information regarding a business partner from the user to input sales data, it determines whether advance payment data exists for that business partner, and if so, notifies the user that an advance payment has been received from that business partner. In addition, if appropriation from the advance payment is selected for sales and the entire amount of the sales is appropriated, server 20 disables the creation of an invoice for that sales.

[0028] The server 20 is a computer connected to a network 80. The server 20 includes a communication IF 22, an input / output IF 23, a memory 25, a storage 26, and a processor 29.

[0029] The communication IF 22 is an interface for inputting and outputting signals so that the server 20 can communicate with external devices. The input / output IF 23 functions as an interface with an input device for receiving input operations from a user and an output device for presenting information to the user. The memory 25 is for temporarily storing programs and data processed by the programs, etc., and is a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The storage 26 is a storage device for saving data, such as a flash memory or an HDD (Hard Disc Drive). The processor 29 is hardware for executing an instruction set written in a program, and is composed of an arithmetic unit, registers, peripheral circuits, etc.

[0030] <1.1 Configuration of the terminal device 10> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 10 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 10 includes multiple antennas (antenna 111, antenna 112), wireless communication units (first wireless communication unit 121, second wireless communication unit 122) corresponding to the respective antennas, an operation reception unit 130 (including a keyboard 131 and a mouse 132), an audio processing unit 140, a microphone 141, a speaker 142, a display 150, a storage unit 160, and a control unit 170. The terminal device 10 also has functions and configurations (e.g., a battery for storing power, a power supply circuit for controlling the supply of power from the battery to each circuit, etc.) not specifically shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the blocks included in the terminal device 10 are electrically connected by a bus or the like. The terminal device 10 shown in FIG. 2 will be described as a mobile terminal such as a tablet or smartphone compatible with a mobile communication system, but may also be a stationary personal computer (PC) or a laptop PC.

[0031] The antenna 111 emits a signal emitted by the terminal device 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 111 also receives a radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the first radio communication unit 121.

[0032] The antenna 112 emits a signal emitted by the terminal device 10 as a radio wave. The antenna 112 also receives a radio wave from space and provides the received signal to the second radio communication unit 122.

[0033] The first wireless communication unit 121 performs modulation / demodulation processing and the like for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 111 so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The second wireless communication unit 122 performs modulation / demodulation processing and the like for transmitting and receiving signals via the antenna 112 so that the terminal device 10 can communicate with other wireless devices. The first wireless communication unit 121 and the second wireless communication unit 122 are communication modules including a tuner, an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) calculation circuit, a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) calculation circuit, a high-frequency circuit, etc. The first wireless communication unit 121 and the second wireless communication unit 122 perform modulation / demodulation and frequency conversion of wireless signals transmitted and received by the terminal device 10, and provide the received signals to the control unit 170.

[0034] The operation reception unit 130 has a mechanism for receiving input operations from the user. Specifically, the operation reception unit 130 includes a keyboard 131 and a mouse 132. Note that the operation reception unit 130 may be configured as a touch screen that detects the position of the user's contact on the touch panel, for example, by using a capacitive touch panel.

[0035] The keyboard 131 accepts input operations by the user of the terminal device 10. The keyboard 131 is a device for inputting characters, and outputs input character information to the control unit 170 as an input signal.

[0036] The mouse 132 accepts input operations by the user of the terminal device 10. The mouse 132 is a pointing device for selecting an object displayed on the display 150, and outputs position information of the selected object on the screen and information indicating that a button has been pressed as input signals to the control unit 170.

[0037] The audio processing unit 140 modulates and demodulates audio signals. The audio processing unit 140 modulates a signal provided from the microphone 141 and provides the modulated signal to the control unit 170. The audio processing unit 140 also provides the audio signal to the speaker 142. The audio processing unit 140 is realized, for example, by a processor for audio processing. The microphone 141 accepts audio input and provides an audio signal corresponding to the audio input to the audio processing unit 140. The speaker 142 converts the audio signal provided from the audio processing unit 140 into audio and outputs the audio to the outside of the terminal device 10.

[0038] Display 150 displays data such as images, videos, and text under the control of control unit 170. Display 150 is realized by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display.

[0039] Storage unit 160 is configured with memory 15, such as a flash memory, and storage unit 16, and stores data and programs used by terminal device 10. In one aspect, storage unit 160 stores user information 161.

[0040] User information 161 is information about users who use terminal devices 10 to perform accounting processes, which are functions of accounting system 1. User information includes information that identifies the user (user ID), the name or title of the business operator or person in charge, and other information.

[0041] The control unit 170 is configured by, for example, the processor 19, and controls the operation of the terminal device 10 by reading a program stored in the storage unit 160 and executing instructions included in the program. The control unit 170 performs the functions of an input operation reception unit 171, a transmission / reception unit 172, a notification control unit 173, and a data processing unit 174 by operating in accordance with a program (not shown) that is an application that is stored in advance in the storage unit 160 of the terminal device 10 and installed, for example.

[0042] The input operation receiving unit 171 performs processing to receive input operations by the user via an input device such as the keyboard 131 .

[0043] The transmitting / receiving unit 172 performs processing for the terminal device 10 to transmit and receive data to and from external devices such as the server 20 in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0044] The notification control unit 173 performs processing to present information to the user. The notification control unit 173 performs processing to display a display image on the display 150, processing to output sound from the speaker 142, and the like.

[0045] The data processing unit 174 performs calculations on data that the terminal device 10 has received as input in accordance with a program, and outputs the calculation results to a memory or the like.

[0046] <1.2 Functional configuration of server 20> Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server 20 in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the server 20 functions as a communication unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a control unit 203.

[0047] The communication unit 201 performs processing for the server 20 to communicate with external devices.

[0048] The storage unit 202 is composed of, for example, a memory 25 and a storage 26, and stores data and programs used by the server 20. The storage unit 202 stores a supplier database 2021, a transaction database 2022, an accounting database 2023, and the like.

[0049] The supplier database 2021 is a database for holding data on suppliers involved in user transactions, which are subject to management by the accounting system 1. Details will be described later.

[0050] The transaction database 2022 is a database for storing transaction data related to user transactions, specifically data on deposits and withdrawals such as sales from transactions with business partners, which are managed by the accounting system 1. Details will be described later.

[0051] The accounting database 2023 is a database for holding accounting data related to transactions, specifically journal data recording deposits and withdrawals related to companies, sole proprietorships, etc., which are managed by the accounting system 1. Details will be described later.

[0052] The control unit 203 performs the functions shown in various modules, such as a receiving control module 2031, a sending control module 2032, an accounting data acquisition module 2033, an advance payment data reception and registration module 2034, a sales data reception module 2035, an advance payment determination module 2036, a data presentation module 2037, and an advance payment allocation processing module 2038, by the processor 29 of the server 20 performing processing according to the program.

[0053] The reception control module 2031 controls the process by which the server 20 receives signals from external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0054] The transmission control module 2032 controls the process in which the server 20 transmits signals to external devices in accordance with a communication protocol.

[0055] The accounting data acquisition module 2033 controls the process of accepting and acquiring accounting data related to a user's transactions with other businesses, entered by the user of the accounting system 1 through operation of the terminal device 10 by the user. The accounting data accepted by the accounting data acquisition module 2033 is, for example, data related to deposits and withdrawals, such as purchases, sales, and borrowings, related to the user's transactions, and data such as the dates and amounts of deposits and withdrawals.

[0056] For example, when a user pays for a transaction using a credit card or the like, the accounting data acquisition module 2033 may perform synchronization processing through data integration with a financial institution, credit card company, etc., to acquire electronic statement data from the financial institution or credit card company and reflect the data as accounting data. For example, with the user's consent, the accounting data acquisition module 2033 accesses the server of the financial institution or credit card company to acquire account information held by the user at the financial institution and usage information for the credit card used by the user. The process of acquiring electronic statement data by the accounting data acquisition module 2033 may be a pull-type information acquisition process that accesses the server of the financial institution or credit card company as described above, or a push-type information acquisition process that accepts information sent from the server of the financial institution or credit card company.

[0057] The accounting data acquisition module 2033 stores the acquired accounting data in, for example, the accounting database 2023.

[0058] The advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 controls the process of receiving advance payment data about advance payments received from business partners by a user of the accounting system 1 through operation of the terminal device 10 by the user. The advance payment data received by the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 is data including, for example, the date the advance payment was generated (date of receipt), the name of the customer indicating the business partner that received the advance payment, and the amount of the advance payment. Here, advance payment is a general term for receiving money or goods in advance before a transaction occurs, such as a deposit, advance payment, earnest money, or initial payment, as described above.

[0059] The advance payment data acceptance and registration module 2034, for example, displays a predetermined input format on the terminal device 10 for accepting advance payment data, and accepts the data by the user entering the above items into the input format and sending it to the server 20.

[0060] The advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 may accept a specification of the appropriable range of the received advance payment data. The appropriable range includes specification of the department of the user's business partner company, specification of the person in charge, specification of the period of transaction dates, specification of the amount, etc. When appropriating an advance payment to sales, it may be necessary to specify a specific department or person in charge of the business partner company, or it may be appropriated only within a specified period (e.g., within a specified accounting period), or it may be appropriated only within a specified sales amount (e.g., 100,000 yen or less). Therefore, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 accepts specification of such an appropriable range. Furthermore, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 may accept input to change the specified range of the appropriable range of the received advance payment data.

[0061] Furthermore, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 controls the process of linking the received advance payment data to information about the business partner, registering it, and storing it in memory. The advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 stores the acquired advance payment data, for example, in the business partner database 2021. At this time, the advance payment data is registered linked to the business partner without being linked to transaction data related to a specific transaction. However, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 may also link the data to transaction data related to a specific transaction, in which case it may be stored in, for example, the transaction database 2022. Furthermore, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 stores information specifying the range to which advance payments can be allocated (including change information) in, for example, the business partner database 2021.

[0062] The sales data receiving module 2035 controls the process of receiving input of information about business partners from the user in order to input sales data about sales from business partners related to the user. The sales data receiving module 2035 receives input of information about business partners, such as the business partner's company (corporation) name, sole proprietor's name, trade name, department name, address or residence, contact information, etc.

[0063] For example, the sales data receiving module 2035 displays a predetermined input format for receiving input of information about a business partner to identify the business partner to be displayed on the terminal device 10 for inputting sales data, and receives the data by the user entering each of the above items into the input format and transmitting it to the server 20. At this time, the sales data receiving module 2035 may, for example, refer to the business partner database 2021 when part of the information about the business partner, for example part of the company name, is entered, identify and display one or more relevant business partners, and prompt the user to input or select.

[0064] The advance payment determination module 2036 controls the process of determining whether advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the business partner information received by the sales data reception module 2035. The advance payment determination module 2036, for example, refers to the business partner database 2021 based on the business partner information, and determines whether advance payment data accepted and registered by the advance payment data acceptance and registration module 2034 exists. Note that if the advance payment data is linked to transaction data related to a specific transaction, the transaction database 2022 may be referenced.

[0065] Furthermore, the advance payment determination module 2036 may refer to the business partner database 2021 or the transaction database 2022, and determine that advance payment data does not exist if the information on the business partner received from the user is outside the applicable range when an applicable range is specified for the registered advance payment data. In this case, cases where the advance payment is outside the applicable range include when the advance payment is not for a specific department or person in the business partner company, when it is outside a specified period, etc.

[0066] If the determination result by the advance payment determination module 2036 indicates that advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the received information about the business partner, the data presentation module 2037 controls processing to present to the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner. The data presentation module 2037, for example, displays on the terminal device 10 information about the business partner and the existence of an advance payment received from the business partner. At this time, the data presentation module 2037 may display, by a pop-up screen or the like, the existence of an advance payment received from the business partner as a warning to the user.

[0067] Furthermore, if the determination result by the advance payment determination module 2036 indicates that advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the received business partner information, the data presentation module 2037 controls a process of presenting the user with the option of allocating the advance payment received to the sales from the business partner related to the user. The data presentation module 2037, for example, displays a predetermined input format for accepting sales data on the terminal device 10, and accepts the sales data by the user entering sales-related items (sales amount, sales date, etc.) into the input format and transmitting it to the server 20. At this time, the data presentation module 2037, for example, displays the advance payment data for the received advance payment on the terminal device 10, allowing the user to select whether to allocate the advance payment to the sales. Furthermore, if the advance payment is to be allocated, the data presentation module 2037 displays whether the entire sales amount should be allocated (if the advance payment amount is greater than the sales amount) or only a portion of the sales amount, and if only a portion of the sales amount, allows the user to enter the amount (within the amount of the advance payment).

[0068] Furthermore, if the determination result by the advance payment determination module 2036 indicates that advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the received business partner information, and the received advance payment has not been allocated to the sales (already entered) from the business partner related to the user, the data presentation module 2037 controls a process of presenting the sales data for the unallocated sales to the user and presenting the user with the option of allocating the received advance payment. For example, the data presentation module 2037 may display a list of sales data that has been input to the terminal device 10 as sales from the business partner and has not been allocated from the advance payment, and may display advance payment data for the received advance payment on the terminal device 10, allowing the user to select allocation from the received advance payment. At this time, the data presentation module 2037 may also accept input of new sales data, display a list of the received new sales data and sales data for the unallocated sales, and display advance payment data for the received advance payment on the terminal device 10, allowing the user to select allocation from the received advance payment.

[0069] When accepting appropriation from a received advance payment for sales from a business partner related to the user, the data presentation module 2037 refers to the business partner database 2021 or the transaction database 2022 to determine whether the amount is within the range of the received advance payment, and if it is within the range, controls to accept the appropriation from the advance payment. At this time, when an appropriable range is specified for the registered advance payment data, the data presentation module 2037 may also control not to accept appropriation from the advance payment if the sales data received from the user is outside the appropriable range. At this time, an example of an example where the amount is outside the range of the appropriable advance payment is when the amount is outside the specified range of sales amounts to which the advance payment can be allocated.

[0070] The advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 controls processing to disable the selection of creating an invoice for a sale when the advance payment received from the customer is selected for allocation and the entire amount of the sale has been allocated. When the data presentation module 2037 receives input from the user selecting to allocate the entire amount of the sale from the advance payment received from the customer, the advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 processes the sale to be allocated from the advance payment. When the sale is displayed on the terminal device 10, the advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 controls the creation of an invoice for the sale to be disabled on the terminal device 10.

[0071] The advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 may create an invoice for the remaining amount of sales when a user selects appropriation from the advance payment received for sales from a business partner and a portion of the sales amount has been appropriated. When the data presentation module 2037 receives input from the user selecting appropriation of a portion of the sales amount from the advance payment received from the business partner, the advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 processes the sales amount to be appropriated from the advance payment. The advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 then automatically creates invoice data for the remaining amount of sales. The invoice data may be created in an invoice form format, and the type of invoice data created may be any data format, such as PDF (Portable Document Format), Word, XML (eXtensible Markup Language), jpeg, png, bmp, tiff, gif, eps, or svg.

[0072] Furthermore, if allocation from the advance received for sales from a business partner is selected, the entire amount of the sales is allocated, and a remaining amount of the advance is generated, the advance payment allocation processing module 2038 may process a refund to the business partner for the remaining amount of the advance. If the data presentation module 2037 receives input from the user selecting allocation from the advance received for the entire amount of sales from the business partner related to the user, the advance payment allocation processing module 2038 processes the application of the advance to the sales. Then, if a remaining amount of the advance is generated, the advance payment allocation processing module 2038 processes a refund to the business partner for the remaining amount of the advance.

[0073] The advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 generates accounting data so that the advance payment is appropriated for sales from the business partner related to the user, and stores the data in the accounting database 2023, for example.

[0074] <2 Data Structure> Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the supplier database 2021 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the transaction database 2022 in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the accounting database 2023 in Fig. 3.

[0075] As shown in FIG. 4, each record in the supplier database 2021 includes an item "supplier ID" and an item "supplier detailed information", etc.

[0076] The item "Customer ID" is information that identifies each business that is a customer of the user in the accounting system 1.

[0077] The item "Customer details information" is management information about the user's customer (business) managed by accounting system 1, and specifically includes the items "Business name," "Corporation / individual," "Whether advance payment was received," "Amount received," and "Deposit deadline."

[0078] The item "business name" is information that indicates the name of the business partner of the user that is managed by the accounting system 1, and stores, for example, the name of a corporation or the name of a sole proprietor.

[0079] The item "Corporate / Individual" is information that indicates whether the business partner of the user managed by accounting system 1 is a corporation or an individual (business owner).For example, if the business partner is a corporation, "Corporate" information is stored, and if the business partner is a sole proprietor, "Individual" information is stored.

[0080] The item "Advance payment received or not" is information indicating whether an advance payment has been received from a business partner of the user managed by accounting system 1. For example, if an advance payment has been received from a business partner in the item "Business name", the information "Yes" is stored, and if an advance payment has not been received from the business partner, the information "No" is stored.

[0081] The item "Advance Amount" is information indicating the amount of an advance received when an advance has been received from a business partner of the user managed by the accounting system 1. The amount of the advance may be configured to indicate the amount received from the business partner and the amount remaining after applying it to sales from the business partner (not shown). Note that if an advance has not been received from the business partner, no data is stored.

[0082] The item "Deposit deadline" is information indicating the deadline set for appropriation of an advance payment received from a business partner of a user managed by the accounting system 1. This deadline is the end date (deadline) of a period when the advance payment can only be appropriated within a specified period (for example, within a specified settlement period). Note that if no advance payment has been received from the business partner, or if no specific deadline is set, no data is stored.

[0083] As the server 20 receives information about a business partner from the user, it adds a record to the business partner database 2021. In addition, as the server 20 receives information about the advance payment from the user, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 of the server 20 updates the items "Advance payment available," "Advance payment amount," and "Deposit deadline" in the business partner database 2021.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 5, each record in the transaction database 2022 includes an item "customer ID," an item "business name," an item "detailed transaction information," and the like.

[0085] The item “Customer ID” is information that identifies each business that is a customer of the user in the accounting system 1, and corresponds to the item “Customer ID” in the customer database 2021.

[0086] The item "Business Name" is information indicating the name of the user's business partner managed by the accounting system 1, and stores, for example, the name of a corporation or the personal name of a sole proprietor. This corresponds to the item "Business Name" in the business partner database 2021.

[0087] The item "detailed transaction information" is management information related to transactions (sales) managed by the accounting system 1, and specifically includes the items "date," "item," "amount," and "remarks." This "detailed transaction information" is information registered by users such as business operators and personnel about daily transactions, and is configured so that the latest information is added as a record in chronological order, for example, in the order of the "date" item.

[0088] The item "Date" is information on the date on which a transaction managed by the accounting system 1 occurred.

[0089] The item "item" is information indicating the specific details of goods, services, etc., for a transaction managed by the accounting system 1.

[0090] The item "amount" is information that indicates the amount of deposits and withdrawals for transactions managed by the accounting system 1.

[0091] The "Notes" item is supplementary information recorded for transactions managed by the accounting system 1. For example, if a transaction (sales) is funded by an advance payment, the "Notes" item is stored as "Advance payment funded."

[0092] The server 20 adds a record to the item "detailed transaction information" in the transaction database 2022 as it receives information about a transaction (sales) from the user.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 6, each record in the accounting database 2023 includes an item "user ID," an item "user name," an item "detailed journal data information," and the like.

[0094] The item "user ID" is information that identifies each user who registers accounting data managed by the accounting system 1.

[0095] The item "user name" is the name of the company (company name) or the name of the individual business owner who is the user who registers the accounting data managed by the accounting system 1.

[0096] The item "Detailed journal data information" is accounting data managed by the accounting system 1, which is journal data recording transactions of deposits and withdrawals such as purchases and sales, and specifically includes the items "Date," "Debit / Credit," "Summary," and "Amount." This item "Detailed journal data information" is information that is journalized based on information registered by a user who is a business operator about daily transactions and registered as accounting information, and is configured so that the latest information is added as a record in chronological order, for example, in the order of the "Date" item.

[0097] The item "Date" is information about the date on which a transaction related to accounting data managed by the accounting system 1 occurred.

[0098] The item "Debit / Credit" is information that indicates whether the journal entry data is a debit or a credit. For example, if it is a debit, "Debit" information is stored, and if it is a credit, "Credit" information is stored. Debits and credits are items to be recorded in double-entry bookkeeping, which is currently commonly used for recording in ledgers.

[0099] The "Summary" item is information that indicates the account item of the journal entry data that was used to journalize the accounting data. The account item is information that indicates the details of the expense items used in entering daily transactions, and for example, as shown in Figure 6, details such as "Current Deposit," "Advance Payment," and "Sales" are stored.

[0100] The item "Amount" is information that indicates the amount of journal entry data that has been journalized. The item "Amount" stores the amounts of deposits and withdrawals to "Current Deposits," "Advance Payments," "Sales," and other account items that are examples of the account items indicated by the item "Summary."

[0101] The accounting data acquisition module 2033 of the server 20 updates the "detailed journal entry data" item in the accounting database 2023 as the user journalizes the transaction based on the information about the transaction and registers it as accounting data.

[0102] <3 operations> The accounting data acquisition process, the voucher image data acquisition process, and the correction acceptance process performed by the accounting system 1 in the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0103] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the advance payment data registration process performed by the accounting system 1.

[0104] In step S121, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 of the server 20 receives advance payment data relating to the advance payment received by the user, which data is transmitted from the terminal device 10, via the communication unit 201. The advance payment data is data including, for example, the advance payment generation date (receipt date), the customer name indicating the business partner from which the advance payment was received, and the amount of the advance payment. In step S121, a predetermined input format for receiving advance payment data is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10, and when the user enters each of the above items into the input format, the input operation reception unit 171 of the terminal device 10 receives the input information, and the transmission / reception unit 172 transmits this information, which is then received via the communication unit 201 of the server 20.

[0105] In step S122, the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 of the server 20 registers the advance payment data received in step S121 in association with information about the business partner, and stores it in the business partner database 2021 for storage.

[0106] As described above, the accounting system 1 receives and stores advance payment data relating to advance payments.

[0107] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of the accounting system 1 for applying the full amount of the advance payment.

[0108] In step S221, the sales data receiving module 2035 of the server 20 receives, via the communication unit 201, information about the user's business partner transmitted from the terminal device 10 for inputting sales data about sales from the business partner associated with the user. The information about the business partner includes, for example, the business partner's company (corporation) name, the sole proprietor's name, trade name, department name, address or residence, and contact information. In step S221, a predetermined input format for receiving input of information about the business partner is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10. When the user inputs each of the above items into the input format, the input operation receiving unit 171 of the terminal device 10 receives the input information, and the transmitting / receiving unit 172 transmits this information, so that it is received via the communication unit 201 of the server 20.

[0109] In step S222, the advance payment determination module 2036 of the server 20 determines whether advance payment data exists for the business partner associated with the business partner information received in step S221. In step S222, for example, the server 20 refers to the business partner database 2021 based on the business partner information, and determines whether the advance payment data received and registered in step S121 exists.

[0110] In step S223, if the determination result in step S222 is that there is advance payment data for a business partner related to the received information about the business partner, the data presentation module 2037 of the server 20 presents to the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner. In step S223, for example, the information about the business partner and information indicating that there is an advance payment received from the business partner are transmitted to the terminal device 10 via the communication unit 201, and are displayed on the display 150.

[0111] In step S224, the data presentation module 2037 of the server 20 accepts sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the user and information selecting application of the entire amount of sales from the advance payment received. In step S224, a predetermined input format for accepting input of items regarding sales (sales amount, sales date, etc.) and information input indicating application of the entire amount of sales from the advance payment received is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10. When the user inputs each of the above items into the input format, the input operation acceptance unit 171 of the terminal device 10 accepts the input information, and the transmission / reception unit 172 transmits this information, so that it is accepted via the communication unit 201 of the server 20.

[0112] In step S225, the advance payment appropriation processing module 2038 of the server 20 disables the selection of creating an invoice for the sales amount, since appropriation from the advance payment received for the entire amount of sales from the business partner is selected in step S224. In step S225, when the sales amount allocated from the advance payment in full is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10, the notification control unit 173 controls the terminal device 10 so that creation of an invoice for the sales amount cannot be operated on the terminal device 10.

[0113] As described above, accounting system 1 allows users to input sales data for sales from their business partners. When users input information about the business partner, it determines whether advance payment data exists for the business partner. If advance payment data exists, the system displays to the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and accepts the sales data and information on how to allocate the full amount of the sales from the advance payment. In this case, the system disables the option to create an invoice for the sales.

[0114] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the accounting system 1 performing the partial advance payment application process.

[0115] Steps S221 to S223 shown in FIG. 9 are the same as steps S221 to S223 shown in FIG. 8, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0116] In step S324, the data presentation module 2037 of the server 20 receives sales data on sales from the business partner related to the user and information on selecting the allocation of a portion of the sales from the advance payment received.

[0117] In step S325, the advance payment application processing module 2038 of the server 20 automatically creates invoice data for the remaining amount of the sales, since application from the advance payment received from the business partner in step S224 is selected.

[0118] As described above, when advance payment data exists in the accounting system 1, the user is notified that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and the system accepts sales data and information on how to allocate the received advance payment to a portion of the sales. In this case, invoice data is automatically created for the remaining amount of the sales.

[0119] <4 Screen example> Below, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, an example of a screen displaying a list of advance payment data from the accounting system 1 and an example of a screen displaying the advance payment application process will be described.

[0120] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying a list of advance payment data displayed on the terminal device 10. The example screen of Fig. 10 shows an example of a screen displaying a list of advance payment data registered by the advance payment data reception and registration module 2034 of the server 20 on the display 150 of the terminal device 10.

[0121] 10, a window 1031 is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10. In this window 1031, advance payment data 1031a accepted by the advance payment data acceptance and registration module 2034 is displayed.

[0122] The advance payment data 1031a displays items such as advance payment date 1031b, customer name 1031c, advance payment amount 1031d, and sales amount 1031e as display items. Advance payment date 1031b is the date of occurrence (receipt) of the advance payment received by the user from a business partner. Customer name 1031c is the name of the business partner from whom the user received the advance payment (this may be the name of a sole proprietor). Advance payment amount 1031d is the amount of the advance payment received by the user from the business partner. Sales amount 1031e is the amount of the advance payment received by the user from the business partner that has already been applied to sales. These items are stored, for example, in the business partner database 2021. This allows the user to understand the status of advance payments for each business partner.

[0123] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for the advance payment application process displayed on the terminal device 10. The screen example in Fig. 11 shows an example of a screen presented by the data presentation module 2037 of the server 20, which shows an input field for accepting input of sales data and a screen example in which the user is presented with the option of applying the advance payment received for sales from a business partner. This corresponds to step S224 in Fig. 8.

[0124] 11, a window 1032 is displayed on the display 150 of the terminal device 10. In this window 1032, a sales input screen 1032a presented by the data presentation module 2037 is displayed.

[0125] The sales input screen 1032a shown in FIG. 11 has input fields including a sales date input field 1032b and a customer input field 1032c. The sales input screen 1032a also displays, as display fields for advance payment data, items such as advance payment occurrence date 1032d, billing date 1032e, remaining amount 1032f, and advance payment amount 1032g. The sales input screen 1032a also has an advance payment application selection button 1032h as an input field. The sales date input field 1032b is an input field for inputting the date of sales from a business partner. The customer input field 1032c is an input field for inputting the business partner for sales. The advance payment occurrence date 1032d is the occurrence date (receipt date) of the advance payment received by the user from the business partner. The billing date 1032e is the billing date for the sales. The remaining amount 1032f is the amount of the advance received by the user from the business partner that has been applied to sales. The advance amount 1032g is the amount of the advance received by the user from the business partner. The advance application selection button 1032h is a button for selecting whether or not to apply the advances displayed in the advance receipt occurrence date 1032d to advance amount 1032g to the sales entered in the sales date input field 1032b to customer input field 1032c (select if applying). This allows the user to easily select whether to apply the advance to sales.

[0126] <Summary> As described above, according to this embodiment, advance payment data relating to advance payments is accepted and registered from the user. When the user enters information about the user's business partner to input sales data for sales from the user's business partner, it is determined whether advance payment data exists for the business partner. If advance payment data exists, the user is notified that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and the system accepts sales data and information on how to allocate the full amount of sales from the advance payment received. In this case, the creation of an invoice relating to the sale is disabled. Therefore, by preventing automatic issuance of invoices, it is possible to facilitate the management of advance payments and prevent the sending of erroneous invoices. This facilitates the management of advance payments for business partners.

[0127] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, sales data and information on selecting the allocation of a portion of the sales from the advance payment received are accepted. In this case, invoice data is automatically created for the remaining amount of the sales. Therefore, in the case of partial allocation, an invoice for the remaining amount is automatically issued, making it possible to easily manage advance payments. This makes it easier to manage advance payments from business partners.

[0128] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, a list of advance payments that can be applied is displayed in the sales input field, allowing the user to select an application option. This makes it easy to apply advance payments to sales.

[0129] Although the embodiments of the disclosure have been described above, they can be implemented in various other forms and can be implemented with various omissions, substitutions, and modifications. These embodiments and modifications, as well as those with omissions, substitutions, and modifications, are included in the technical scope of the claims and their equivalents.

[0130] <Additional Notes> The matters described in the above embodiments will be supplemented below.

[0131] (Supplementary Note 1) A program to be executed by a computer having a processor 29 and a memory 25, the program causing the processor 29 to perform the following steps: a step (S121) of accepting input of advance payment data regarding an advance payment received by the user from a business partner; a step (S122) of linking the accepted advance payment data to information regarding the business partner, registering the linked data, and storing the linked data in memory; a step (S221) of accepting input of information regarding the business partner from the user in order to input sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the user; a step (S222) of determining whether advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the received information on the business partner; if advance payment data exists for the business partner related to the received information on the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner and presenting the user with the option of allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner related to the user; and a step (S225) of disabling the option of creating an invoice for the sales if allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated.

[0132] (Appendix 2) The program described in (Appendix 1) further executes a step (S325) of creating an invoice for the remaining amount of sales when allocation from an advance received for sales from a business partner is selected and a portion of the amount of sales has been allocated.

[0133] (Appendix 3) The program further executes a step of, when allocation from an advance received for sales from a business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated, and a remaining advance amount remains, refunding the remaining advance amount to the business partner, as described in (Appendix 1) or (Appendix 2).

[0134] (Appendix 4) A program as described in (Appendix 1), in which, in the step of presenting to the user, if the advance received has not been applied to sales from a business partner related to the user, sales data for the unapplied sales is presented to the user, and the user is given the option of applying the advance received to the sales.

[0135] (Appendix 5) A program as described in (Appendix 4), which, in the step of presenting to the user, accepts input of new sales data, presents the accepted new sales data and sales data for unallocated sales to the user, and presents the user with the option of allocating the data from the advance payment received.

[0136] (Appendix 6) A program as described in (Appendix 1), in which, in the step of accepting input of advance payment data, input specifying the range to which the accepted advance payment data can be applied is accepted, in the step of storing the accepted advance payment data in memory, information specifying the range to which the accepted advance payment data can be applied is stored in memory, and in the step of presenting the accepted advance payment data to the user, the program presents the user with the option of applying the accepted advance payment data from advance payments received for sales from business partners related to the user within the range specified as applicable.

[0137] (Appendix 7) The program described in (Appendix 6) further executes the steps of accepting input from a user to change the range to which the accepted advance payment data can be applied, and storing in memory information to change the range to which the accepted advance payment data can be applied.

[0138] (Supplementary Note 8) An information processing device including a control unit 203 and a memory 25 (storage unit 202), wherein the control unit 203 performs the following steps: a step (S121) of accepting input of advance payment data regarding an advance payment received by the user from a business partner; a step (S122) of linking the accepted advance payment data to information regarding the business partner and storing the linked data in memory; a step (S221) of accepting input of information regarding the business partner from the user in order to input sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the user; and a step (S222) of registering the advance payment data regarding the business partner related to the accepted information regarding the business partner. and when advance payment data for a business partner related to the received information about the business partner exists, steps (S223, S224) of notifying a user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner and presenting the user with the option of allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner related to the user, and when allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated, a step (S225) of disabling the option of creating an invoice for the sales.

[0139] (Supplementary Note 9) A method to be executed by a computer including a processor 29 and a memory 25, the method including a step (S121) in which the processor 29 receives from a user input of advance payment data regarding an advance payment received by the user from a business partner, a step (S122) in which the received advance payment data is linked to information regarding the business partner, registered, and stored in memory, a step (S221) in which the processor 29 receives from a user input of information regarding the business partner in order to input sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the user, and a step (S222) in which the processor 29 receives from a user input of information regarding the business partner in order to input sales data regarding sales from the business partner related to the received information regarding the business partner. a step (S222) of determining whether advance payment data exists for a business partner related to the received information on the business partner; if advance payment data exists for the business partner related to the received information on the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner and presenting the user with the option of allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner related to the user; and a step (S225) of disabling the option of creating an invoice for the sales when allocating the advance payment from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0140] 1: Accounting system 10: Terminal device 10A: Terminal equipment 10B: Terminal device 13: Input device 14: Output device 15: Memory 16: Storage section 19: Processor 20: Server 25: Memory 26: Storage 29: Processor 80: Network 81: Wireless base station 82: Wireless LAN router 111: Antenna 112: Antenna 121: First wireless communication unit 122: Second wireless communication unit 130: Operation reception unit 131: Keyboard 132: Mouse 140: Audio processing unit 141:Mike 142: Speaker 150: Display 160: Storage section 161: User information 170: Control unit 171: Input operation reception unit 172: Transmitter / receiver 173: Notification control section 174: Data processing section 201: Communications Department 202: Storage section 203: Control unit 1031: Window 1031a: Advance payment data 1031b: Advance payment date 1031c: Customer name 1031d: Advance amount 1031e: Sales amount 1032: Window 1032a: Sales entry screen 1032b: Sales date input field 1032c: Customer input field 1032d: Advance payment date 1032e :Billing date 1032f: Remaining amount 1032g: Advance payment amount 1032h: Advance payment selection button 2021: Business Partner Database 2022: Transaction Database 2023: Accounting Database 2031: Receiving control module 2032: Transmission control module 2033: Accounting data acquisition module 2034: Advance payment data reception registration module 2035: Sales data reception module 2036: Advance payment determination module 2037: Data presentation module 2038: Advance payment processing module

Claims

1. A program for managing trading partners involved in transactions by a user, the program being executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, The program causes the processor to: receiving, from the user, input of advance payment data regarding the advance payment received by the user from the business partner; a step of registering the received advance payment data in association with information about the customer and storing the data in the memory; receiving, from the user, input of information relating to the business partner in order to input sales data relating to sales from the business partner associated with the user; determining whether or not advance payment data exists for the customer related to the received information about the customer; If there is advance payment data for the business partner related to the received information on the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and presenting the user with an option to allocate the advance payment received to sales from the business partner related to the user; and when appropriation from the advance received for the sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is appropriated, controlling the creation of an invoice for the sales to be unselectable.

2. The program further comprises: The program of claim 1, which executes a step of creating an invoice for the remaining amount of the sales when the application from the advance received for the sales from the business partner is selected and a portion of the amount of the sales is applied.

3. The program further comprises: A program as described in claim 1 or claim 2, which executes a step of, if allocation from the advance received for sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated, and if a remaining advance amount remains, performing a refund process to the business partner for the remaining advance amount.

4. The program of claim 1, wherein in the step of presenting to the user, if the advance payment received has not been applied to sales from the business partner related to the user, sales data for the unapplied sales is presented to the user, and the user is given the option of applying the advance payment received.

5. The program of claim 4, wherein in the step of presenting to the user, input of new sales data is accepted, the accepted new sales data and sales data regarding unallocated sales are presented to the user, and the user is presented with the option of allocating the data from the advance payment received.

6. In the step of receiving input of advance payment data, an input specifying a range to which the received advance payment data can be applied is received; In the step of storing the received advance payment data in the memory, information specifying the range to which the received advance payment data can be applied is stored in the memory; The program described in claim 1, wherein in the step of presenting the received advance payment data to the user, the program presents the user with the option of allocating the received advance payment data from the advance payment received for sales from the business partner related to the user within a range specified as applicable.

7. The program further comprises: receiving an input from the user to change the range to which the received advance payment data can be applied; 7. The program according to claim 6, further comprising a step of storing in said memory information for changing the range to which said accepted advance payment data can be applied.

8. An information processing device that includes a control unit and a memory, and manages trading partners involved in transactions with a user, The control unit receiving, from the user, input of advance payment data regarding the advance payment received by the user from the business partner; a step of registering the received advance payment data in association with information about the customer and storing the data in the memory; receiving, from the user, input of information relating to the business partner in order to input sales data relating to sales from the business partner associated with the user; determining whether or not advance payment data exists for the customer related to the received information about the customer; If there is advance payment data for the business partner related to the received information on the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and presenting the user with an option to allocate the advance payment received to sales from the business partner related to the user; and if allocation from the advance received for the sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is allocated, controlling the creation of an invoice for the sales to be unselectable.

9. 1. A method for managing counterparties involved in a user's transactions, the method being executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, the method comprising: The method further comprises the processor: receiving, from the user, input of advance payment data regarding the advance payment received by the user from the business partner; a step of registering the received advance payment data in association with information about the customer and storing the data in the memory; receiving, from the user, input of information relating to the business partner in order to input sales data relating to sales from the business partner associated with the user; determining whether or not advance payment data exists for the customer related to the received information about the customer; If there is advance payment data for the business partner related to the received information on the business partner, notifying the user that an advance payment has been received from the business partner, and presenting the user with an option to allocate the advance payment received to sales from the business partner related to the user; and when application from the advance received for the sales from the business partner is selected and the entire amount of the sales is applied, controlling the creation of an invoice for the sales to be unselectable.

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