Abstract:
Systems and methods to support an electronic market place include a communication network to communicate purchase requests; one or more buyers coupled to the network to issue a purchase order specifying items from two or more suppliers; and a server coupled to the network to receive the purchase order, the server generating sub-orders from the purchase order and sending the sub-orders to the two or more suppliers for fulfillment.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     This invention relates to a computer-based auction and sale system for the selling or purchasing of products and services via an electronic auction and sale system.  
         [0002]     With the increasing popularity of the internet, computer-based systems have become a popular method for buying and selling a variety of products. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,674 to Anderson, et al., one type of computer based auction for the sale of products utilizes e-mail sent over the internet. In this case, bidders send e-mail to the auction site with details of their bid and identity. Details of the bid are posted on the auction site and are available to other participants. The auction process typically has a time period of several days or weeks, and the product is sold to the highest bidder. One of the advantages of this system is the lack of complexity in running of the auction process over the internet where e-mail is used to communicate with the auction computer.  
         [0003]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411 to Hartman et al. discloses a method and system for making purchase orders over a communication system which may be used in conjunction with a computer-based auction system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,454 to Harrington discloses an integrated interface for vendor/product oriented Internet websites which may be used in conjunction with a computer-based auction system. Auction systems allow buyers to obtain products at competitive prices with the additional excitement and skill of the buyer who participates in the auction process and makes fast decisions whether to participate or to recognize the price has become too high. The standard auction process involves users bidding for a particular product, and the product is sold to the highest bidder. Computer-based auctions can also be conducted entirely over the Internet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,975 to Ausubel discloses a computer implemented method and apparatus for auctions and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,045 to Barzilai discloses a computer-based electronic bid, auction and sale system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,699 to Zandi discloses a system and method for conducting loan auctions over computer networks. These disclosures may be used in conjunction with the present invention.  
         [0004]     With a typical auction, the seller provides information about the item, a very low initial starting price, a time when bidding will be closed and optionally, a reserve price that is only disclosed to the auction software and not available to bidders. Bidding proceeds as bidders incrementally raise the bid price as the bidding progresses. At the close of bidding, the high bidder obtains the product for the amount bid. However, if at the time of putting the product up for auction, the seller had included a reserve price that was higher than the high bid, the seller has the option of not selling the product to the high bidder. At the time a bidder, say Bidder No. 1, submits the incrementally high bid, Bidder No. 1 may also provide a maximum bid that is only disclosed to the auction software and not disclosed to other bidders or the seller. As other bids are received, the auction software will automatically incrementally increase Bidder No. 1&#39;s bid as necessary to remain the high bidder. This bid amount will not be increased above Bidder No. 1&#39;s maximum bid. In this manner, Bidder No. 1 will not have to constantly monitor the bidding process. Typically, the auction software will then notify the bidder by e-mail when they are no longer the high bidder. Computer-based auctions are popular because of the large number of buyers that can participate on an individual auction. Bidding often extends over a period of several days to allow time for a number of buyers to find the item. Typically there is a flurry of activity in the last portion of the auction process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,674 to Anderson, et al. discloses a method for conducting an online auction in which a nonredeemable fee is collected from each auction participant to enter the bidder pool for a particular item. The collective nonredeemable fees from all bidders are then allocated to reduce the minimum bid required to purchase the item for the seller&#39;s asking price and to pay the transactional costs associated with the auction. Thus, a high value item can be purchased at very low cost to the high bidder, without the seller having to accept a reduced price for the item. Furthermore, the computer-based auction and sale system can ensure the seller obtains their asking price for an item without requiring that the item be awarded to the high bidder.  
         [0005]     Another form of computer-based auction is the reverse auction where the price of the product decreases in a set manner during the time period of the auction and each participant is provided with the current price, the quantity on hand and the time remaining in the auction. U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,138 to Godin, et al, discloses a computer-based reverse auction process. This type of auction, typically, takes place over a very short period of time and there is a flurry of activity in the last portion of the auction process. The auction terminates when there is no more product to be sold or the time period expires.  
         [0006]     Computer-based auctions are popular because, as in auctions generally, if the reserve price is met, a seller can be relatively certain of finding a buyer for the product. In addition, if a seller finds a high level of interest in an item, multiple bidders can produce very good selling prices for the seller. Buyers, on the other hand can often obtain a product at a favorable price.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0007]     Systems and methods to support an electronic market place include a communication network to communicate buying and selling requests between buyers and vendors; a buyer for the government coupled to the network to issue a purchase order and to provide a credit card number; and a server coupled to the network to receive the purchase order, the server charging the credit card number for the purchase order, the server further accessing data from a Central Contract Registry (CCR) Database to retrieve vendor payment data for paying the vendor.  
         [0008]     Means for tracing and auditing each transaction are provided. Once the government employee uses the government credit card for a purchase, he/she is required to enter the details of the purchase into the system. Upon receipt of the account statement from the bank, the particular account may be picked for an audit. Since all the details of each purchase are in the system, each purchase is easily auditable. The system captures level three data. In the meantime a partnership between the chosen bank and the system provides the government with auditable and traceable data.  
         [0009]     In one embodiment, the system matches transactions to avoid false reporting of two transactions when only one occurred. Most credit card transactions have a reference number so that would probably be the point of integration. In the event that the banking partner has level three information on their statement, that data is compared against information that the cardholder entered into the system to determine a match or mismatch, and if mismatches occur, the system flags the mismatches for investigation.  
         [0010]     The transaction matching reduces the incidence of fraud for two reasons. One is that an audit can be performed and the second is that each cardholder will know that each transaction is auditable, thereby creating the desired psychological effect on the cardholder.  
         [0011]     Advantages of the invention may include one or more of the following. The system allows merchants and merchant banks to provide detailed information regarding each transaction. By combining the information-rich data included in every transaction over the system with the robust operational capabilities of the most advanced banks, each transaction becomes eminently traceable and auditable. Since audits are easily accomplished, card abuses are mitigated and the incidence of fraud is reduced. Other benefits of the system include a streamlined purchasing process that eliminates the use of purchase orders and reduces administrative costs; an improved payment process that allows fully automated invoicing and payment processing; performance based refunds for agencies based on net charge volume; and electronic access systems that allow for streamlined financial operations and allocation methods.  
         [0012]     Other advantages may include one of the following. The system reduces the cost and complication of automating commerce communications and transactions to help users reduce overhead, strengthen relationships, and improve profitability. Additionally, the system can handle a large number of goods and services from any number of vendors who wish to become members of the system. The scalable distributed database can handle sizable information about products, services and vendors. Each vendor can provide detailed information to the central database about its product lines and can update the database on a timely basis.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:  
         [0014]      FIGS. 1A-1D  show an exemplary architecture for serving buyers and sellers with a government data repository.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary logical architecture in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary multi-vendor ordering process using a government credit card.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  illustrates a communications network between a Central Contract Registry (CCR) Database and a system database for handling orders.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary CCR update process.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary vendor registration process.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  shows an exemplary vendor profile process.  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  shows a vendor payment process.  
         [0022]      FIG. 9  shows an exemplary process to locate a particular vendor.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]     In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments may be possible.  
         [0024]      FIG. 1A  shows an exemplary process for auctioning government goods such as surplus equipment. First, the process receives a list of items from a government agency ( 510 ). Next, images are scanned and descriptions of items are obtained ( 520 ). The process then stores the description and/or images in an on-line searchable database ( 520 ).  
         [0025]     Once the information is available, qualified bidders can search, browse and bid ( 530 ) for one or more items. A user would typically access the website URL through a homepage. The home page is a screen/display that electronically presents the computer-based auction and sale system which generally resides in the computer system. Users, customers and members of the computer-based auction and sale system can access certain computer programs, data and routines via the screen displays. These programs and data are accessed by placing and activating a cursor on a selected location on the display screen.  
         [0026]     To view items based on the selection criteria for sale, the user would set selection criteria by selecting relevant search criteria. The search could include as many or as few of these criteria as the user wanted. The user could search by criteria that may include, item category, bid status, date posted, share price, minimum bid, shares required for bid closing, type of bid, item condition, item appraisal status and required bid preapproval. The item category criteria could include choices such as government surplus equipment or governmentally seized cars, trucks, planes, boats, motorcycles, buildings, homes, real estate, jewelry, or other. Of course, the categories can be modified to reflect the items being auctioned. The bid status criteria could include various choices for the percent of the required shares that have been purchased. The date posted criteria could include various time interval choices. For users interested in certain types of auction criteria, the user could search over several share price criteria, minimum bid criteria, number of shares required for bid closing, and the type bid used to select the buyer. Typical bid types include a selected bid, the highest bid, or an evaluated bid where the bid would meet some predetermined criteria such as the 10th, 50th or 90th percentile bid that could only be calculated after all bids were made. Other search criteria such as item condition, appraisal status and bid preapproval requirements could also be available. Using the search criteria, the user could then search the auction database for matching items.  
         [0027]     Based on the number of items found, the user could narrow or broaden the search accordingly. From the search listing, the user could obtain more detail on a specific item of interest. If a user is interested in placing a bid for an item, the user must be registered. The registration information in the screen display would identify the user to an extent necessary to establish a payment method for bidding and purchasing. The user would be allowed to choose a unique site username and a password for use in bidding on the auction site. This information would be stored in the auction site database for future visits by the user.  
         [0028]     When the bidding deadline passes, the process selects a winner ( 540 ). Earliest submission time could be used as a tiebreaker in the case of two identical winning bids. Alternatively, the seller could chose to have the item awarded to the highest bid. The computer-based auction and sale system may allow only registered users to bid on an item. To place a bid on an item, the user would complete a bid form that requires the user to provide their site username and password to accept the bid. On certain items it may be necessary to obtain a pre-approval number to assure that if the user&#39;s bid is accepted, the bidder will have the financial resources to pay the amount bid. The process also collects payment and ships the item(s) to the winner ( 550 ); and pays the agency with the payment after deducting for commission ( 560 ).  
         [0029]     Referring now to  FIG. 1B , an exemplary architecture for on-line commerce is shown. A buyer  100  such as a federal or state government, a conglomerate, or a pooled purchasing group typically buys from many suppliers. The system of  FIG. 1B  provides a single point of contact for the buyer  100  to centralize administrative and financial operation support.  
         [0030]     The buyer  100  has a group of one or more purchasing agents connecting to the marketplace. A purchasing agent may have shared interests in particular commodities, or may not have any commonality in their purchases. The purchasing agents access data from an exchange  400  operated by an intermediary company typically through common Internet based protocols.  
         [0031]     A seller  200  can be an individual seller or a seller community with one or more vendors or suppliers. The seller community can communicate directly with users of the purchasing workstations or indirectly through the server. The community provides the client workstations with access to a network of sellers that can enhance the purchasing experience. For rapid market penetration and to prevent channel conflict problem, the system can integrate third parties into its business models as partners and also as (micro-) aggregators of supply and demand.  
         [0032]     In addition to the proprietary or Internet network, users can also communicate with the exchange  400  by sending facsimiles to one or more fax-modem boards that communicate with a server at the exchange  400 . Upon receipt, the facsimiles are fed through an optical character recognition (OCR) software or subassembly. The OCR software or hardware in turn generates one or more files that can be processed by the server as though the information had been received over the Internet. In this manner, the system of  FIG. 1B  supports buyers who are not fully Internet-enabled.  
         [0033]     The system of  FIG. 1B  also includes a Government Data Repository  300 , which is a federation of data and standards used for exchanges between buyers and sellers. The Government Data Repository  300  provides the Exchange  400  with data allowing for pre-registration of Buyers  100  and Sellers  200 . Using pre-registration allows the Buyer  100  or Seller  200  to gain access to the Exchange  400  with only the entry of identity validation credentials.  
         [0034]     The exchange  400  is the aggregation of facilities for interaction with the buyer  100 , the seller  200 , and the Government Data Repository  300 . The exchange  400  uses an application framework consisting of a core base object library with database abstraction, table-to-association mapping, database scalability and transaction mapping, and an integrated business class generator with business-rule support, and an object-to-relational map interface. The application framework decouples the DB design from the object class design, standardizes the code base, provides for seamless object and DB tier scalability, allows ultra-thin client access, an efficient testing cycle, and a fast prototype-to-production cycle.  
         [0035]     Although the exchange  400  can be services provided by an individual server, typically the exchange  400  is a cluster of redundant servers and services. Such a cluster can provide automatic data failover, protecting against both hardware and software faults. In this environment, a plurality of servers provides resources independent of each other until one of the servers fails. Each server can continuously monitor other servers. When one of the servers is unable to respond, the failover process begins. The surviving server acquires the shared drives and volumes of the failed server and mounts the volumes contained on the shared drives. Applications that use the shared drives can also be started on the surviving server after the failover. As soon as the failed server is booted up and the communication between servers indicates that the server is ready to own its shared drives, the servers automatically start the recovery process. Additionally, a server farm can be used. Network requests and server load conditions can be tracked in real time by the server farm controller, and the request can be distributed across the farm of servers to optimize responsiveness and system capacity. When necessary, the farm can automatically and transparently place additional server capacity in service as traffic load increases.  
         [0036]     The exchange  400  can also be protected by a firewall. The exchange  400  supports a reservation transaction portal that provides a single point of integration, access, and navigation through the multiple enterprise systems and information. The exchange  400  allows a purchasing agent to log onto a computerized purchasing system over a network and automates the steps required to complete a purchase transaction. Using the exchange  400 , the purchasing agent would be able to use specific criteria and parameters to rapidly search through a large database of available suppliers. Buyers  100  and sellers  200  get several support services and document templates during the whole process. The system provides these services, of which, some are basic and some are value added. In addition, information relating to the various portions of a transaction are captured and stored in a single convenient location where it can be accessed at any time.  
         [0037]     The exchange  400  contains high-performance virtual protocols that exchange information with Buyers  100 , Sellers  200 , and Government Data Repository  300 . These protocols bypass conventional disk or other media based staging areas and operate directly in memory. These protocols allow exchanged data to be stored and retrieved directly with caching or database systems. The protocols for interaction between the Buyer  100  and the Exchange  400  are typically HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, XML, EDI, SMTP, and POP3. The protocols for interaction between the Seller  200  and the Exchange  400  are typically HTTP, HTTPS, F 1′P, FTPS, XML, EDI, SMTP, and POP3. The protocols for interaction between the Government Data Repository  300  and the Exchange  400  are typically HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, XML, EDI, SMTP, and POPS.  
         [0038]     The exchange  400  facilities manage foreign currency via a matched currency system that uses the same currency on each transaction for all parties to the transaction. This matched currency system avoids the typical currency fluctuation losses and gains found in systems relying upon at-transaction or post-transaction currency exchange.  
         [0039]     The exchange  400  enables buyer(s)  100  to select one or more seller(s)  200  for procurement by ranking and comparing based upon business type, cost, performance, desired business development qualities, location, or other characteristics. A weighted score is available to Buyer  100  to aid in selection. The exchange  400  also communicates data such as CCR registration, DFAS debenture and DFAS requital information with the government data repository  300 .  
         [0040]     Turning now to  FIG. 1C , a physical computer manifestation of the architecture of  FIG. 1A  is shown. In  FIG. 1C , a server for exchange  400  communicates over the Internet  130  with a plurality of computers  102 - 18  for account payable operations, account receivable operations, request for proposal operations, and seller clearing house operations, respectively.  FIG. 1D  shows a corresponding view of modules and their interactions. In  FIG. 1D , a presentation services tier includes account payable/receivable module  120 , a request for proposal module  122 , a seller clearing house module  124 , and other modules  126 . The presentation services communicate over the Internet  130  to a business logic tier including software framework  140  and protocol handling module  150 , which can translate among protocols such as EDI, legacy, XML, HTTP and FTP, among others. The framework  140  and protocol handling module  150  in turn communicate with the exchange  400 .  
         [0041]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary logical architecture in accordance with one aspect of the invention. A browser  180  communicates over the Internet using HTML with a server that provides presentation services  182 . The server also communicates with a middle tier  184  for performing business rules and data validation using Microsoft&#39;s ASP.NET. The architecture includes business logic components that access data using ADO.NET. The middle tier  184  in turn communicates with a database in persistent data storage  186 . The communication between the middle tier  184  and the persistent data storage  186  is done through a managed SQL server provider.  
         [0042]     A multi-vendor purchase order system is supported: The buyer may fill a shopping cart (Electronic Storefront purchase) with goods from multiple vendors and proceed seamlessly to checkout. The system distributes the orders for the purchased items to the individual vendors and tracks fulfillment history, invoicing and payment individually per vendor, while preserving the buyer&#39;s purchasing history for the entire shopping cart (multi-vendor) as well as individually per vendor. During the solicitation process, the buyer may compare competing vendor&#39;s offers onscreen, providing a solid cost-based comparison for the purposes of making a purchase decision.  
         [0043]     In one embodiment, the system hosts all participating Vendors&#39; catalogs on its own servers. This capability is a paradigm shift in e-commerce technology away from the model where an originating website accesses and processes information on the secondary website and the secondary website then returns data to the originating website.  
         [0044]     Instead of this model, one embodiment hosts all catalogs of registered Central Contract Registry (CCR) vendors on the system&#39;s network infrastructure. These CCR vendors must navigate to the system, register and then post a catalog themselves. The system “pulls” vendor information from CCR daily. This is high-level information such as company name, address, point of contact, etc. OMC accepts the catalog when the vendor posts the catalog, not when the vendor information gets “pulled.” Moreover, these Vendors have a choice of industry and technical formats with which to upload their catalogs, and may update the information as often as they want (e.g. more than once per day if desired).  
         [0045]     Industry catalog formats supported by one embodiment of the system include the following:  
         [0000]     NIGP (National Institute of Government Purchasing), URL: http://www.nigp.org/  
         [0000]     NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), URL: http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html  
         [0000]     UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code), URL: http://www.unspsc.org/  
         [0046]     Vendors using any of the above listed industry-standard formats do not have to reorganize their information prior to upload. After receiving the catalog, the system organizes and stores the catalog in NIGP format. This is the format displayed in the browser when the Ordering Officer views the Catalogs feature.  
         [0047]     In uploading catalogs, vendors have two choices for technical formats when uploading a catalog to the system. For small Vendors, a web-based form for manual user data-entry is provided. Large vendors may choose instead to convert their catalog data to an intermediate format known as a .cif format. In brief, the Vendor uses a highly standardized format and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to input the catalog data. When the catalog is finished, the Vendor converts the spreadsheet to comma-separated values (.csv file format) and uploads to the system. Vendors can update their catalogs as often as daily if they so desire.  
         [0048]     The system allows the buyer to form a select list of vendors, to whom they will send a solicitation, and sends the solicitation to this list. The system also provides a rating system by requiring a vendor rating as the buyer approves an invoice. This creates a body of knowledge that will provide subsequent buyers valuable information about vendor performance. The system also accepts an assignment of funding: Buyers are able to “pre-fund” purchases. This means that buyers create requisitions, lines of accounting and designate amounts for spending prior to transactions. As transactions are made against these accounts, the system automatically draws down on the pre-funded amount. Funding objects include Requisitions, Funding Items (line items) and Fund Cites (account numbers).  
         [0049]     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , an exemplary multi-vendor ordering process is shown. For each order, the process accepts a search query from the user and display of a list of responsive vendors ( 300 ). The process allows the user to add products from different vendors into the Shopping Cart ( 302 ). This is repeated for each item the user wishes to order. When the user is done, he or she checks-out ( 304 ). In one embodiment, this is done using an electronic shopping cart. The user can pay by referencing a fund source such as a contract number or a government credit card, among others. After verifying the fund source, the process group items from the same vendor together ( 306 ), and for each vendor, place the order with a fund cite number and a delivery address ( 308 ) and charge a government credit card for the order ( 309 ). Next, when the items are received and the user indicates acceptance, the system pays each vendor through the vendor&#39;s Central Contractor Registration (CCR) data ( 310 ).  
         [0050]     Once the government employee uses a government credit card for a purchase, he/she is required to enter the details of the purchase into the system. Upon receipt of the account statement from the bank, the particular account may be picked for an audit. Since all the details of each purchase are in the system, each purchase is easily auditable. The system contains all the so-called level three data that is missing from the statements of most banks. The chosen bank together with the system database provides the government with auditable and traceable data. This will reduce the incidence of fraud for two reasons. One is that an audit can be performed and the second is that each cardholder will know that each transaction is auditable, thereby creating the desired psychological effect on the cardholder.  
         [0051]     The CCR is the primary vendor database for the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, Department of Transportation (DoT), and Department of Treasury. The CCR collects, validates, stores and disseminates data in support of agency missions. Both current and potential government vendors are required to register in CCR in order to do be awarded contracts by the DoD, NASA, DoT and Treasury. Vendors are required to complete a one-time registration to provide basic information relevant to procurement and financial transactions. Vendors must update or renew their registration annually to maintain an active status. CCR validates the vendor&#39;s information and electronically shares the secure and encrypted data with the federal agencies&#39; finance offices to facilitate paperless payments through electronic funds transfer (EFT). Additionally, CCR shares the data with several government procurement and electronic business systems.  
         [0052]     In an alternate embodiment, the system works with the Business Partner Network (BPN). BPN is the single source for vendor data for the Federal Government. BPN provides a search mechanism that provides unprecedented views into several key data bases across Federal Agencies. In yet another embodiment, the system works with both CCR and BPN databases.  
         [0053]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary communications network between the CCR Database  350  and a system database for handling orders  360 . The system database  360  in turn communicates with a vendor registration module  362 , a vendor search/select module  364 , a vendor account payable module  366 , and a vendor profile module  368 . The information from the CCR database  350  is used to 
        1. Facilitate Registration of Vendors     2. Search and Select Vendors for solicitation of services and/or delivery of supplies.     3. View Vendor Profile     4. Electronic Transfer Funds for outstanding A/P.          
         [0058]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary CCR update process. CCR Data File (which can include either full database or incremental (delta) changes) are downloaded from Central Contract Registry FTP site on a periodic basis. The data file is then processed by the CCR Import Process and data is loaded into CCR Public and CCR Private data tables. First, through a secure communication, a CCR data file is transmitted over an Internet connection to the server of  FIG. 1B  ( 370 ). Next, the CCR data is imported and processed ( 372 ). The data is separated into a CCR public data file ( 374 ) and a CCR private data file in the system database  360  ( 376 ).  
         [0059]      FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary vendor registration process. In this process, the system database  360  uses the public data to check data entered by a new vendor. The process verifies that the DUNS/CAGE code matches ( 380 ). Next, the process checks the government Point of Contact (POC) information and the E-business POC information ( 382 ). If the information is verified, the process sends a registration confirmation ( 384 ). If not, an error message is sent to the vendor. Thus, the vendor registration process uses CCR Public Data to validate vendor DUNS/CAGE, to display Point of Contact information, and to send registration confirmation/welcome message to the email listed in CCR database. The Commercial And Government Entity (CAGE) code is a five character ID number used extensively within the Federal Government. CCR is an authorized source for the assignment of CAGE Codes. CAGE Codes will be assigned to vendors as their CCR registration goes through the validation process. The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number is a unique nine character identification number provided by the commercial company Dun &amp; Bradstreet (D&amp;B). Telephone information for the vendor is also stored.  
         [0060]      FIG. 7  shows an exemplary vendor profile process. In this process, the Vendor Profile process uses CCR Public data to show General Vendor Information (like Mailing, Physical address) ( 390 ). The process also displays Business Information such as type of business and business categories ( 392 ). The process also shows services offered by the vendor ( 394 ) and a Point of Contact Information ( 396 ). A rule-based Terms and Conditions (T/C) system uses meta-data from a Government Data Repository to map T/C to aspects of any or all transactions between Buyer and Seller.  
         [0061]      FIG. 8  shows a vendor payment process. In this process, the system&#39;s account payable module retrieves CCR Data to get an Electronic Funds Transfer Information for the vendors. When properly executed Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) makes for a faster more efficient method of payment. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), receives, on a daily basis, vendor financial information found in CCR. DFAS uses the CCR information make the vendor payments.  
         [0062]     In the embodiment of  FIG. 8 , CCR public data and private data are retrieved from the system database  360 . The public data is used to determine the vendor&#39;s business name and mailing address ( 400 ). The private data is used to determine the vendor&#39;s EFT information such as Routing Number and Account number, among others ( 402 ). The contact information and bank information (vendor payment information) is provided to an accounting system (in this embodiment a Costpoint system) through an interface  410 . The interface  410  also receives the amount of the account payable to the vendor from the system database  360 . The payment information is formatted to include vendor EFT information and Account Payable voucher ( 412 ). The accounting system receives the payment data ( 414 ) and other information from the accounting system database ( 420 ). The process then electronically sends the EFT file to pay the vendor ( 422 ).  
         [0063]      FIG. 9  shows an exemplary process to locate a particular vendor. First, CCR public data is retrieved from the system database  360 . Next, a query is performed ( 430 ) where the search criteria may include Vendor Search includes one or more of the following search criteria: 
        1. Business Name     2. DUNS and CAGE Code     3. Socio Economic Factors     4. Business Type     5. Geographic Location     6. NAICS/SIC Code          
         [0070]     Based on the value of the criteria selected, the system matches the vendor using CCR Data and displays the matching vendors in a vendor list ( 440 ).  
         [0071]     Each computer program is tangibly stored in a machine-readable storage media or device (e.g., program memory or magnetic disk) readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer, for configuring and controlling operation of a computer when the storage media or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. The inventive system may also be considered to be embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described herein.  
         [0072]     Portions of the system and corresponding detailed description are presented in terms of software, or algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those of ordinary skill in the art effectively convey the substance of their work to others of ordinary skill in the art. An algorithm, as the term is used here, and as it is used generally, is conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of optical, electrical, or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.  
         [0073]     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, or as is apparent from the discussion, terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical, electronic quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.  
         [0074]     The present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments, which are illustrative of the invention and not to be construed as limiting. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.