Abstract:
Online billing includes determining if a third party referred an online buyer of a good not requiring physical delivery to an online seller of the good not requiring physical delivery and apportioning revenue from sale of the good not requiring physical delivery between the online seller and, if a third party referred the online buyer to the online seller, to the third party.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    This invention relates to online billing.  
           [0002]    Many sales made over a public network such as the Internet involve items that are intangible. A purchaser of an intangible item may obtain what he or she is seeking through online fulfillment because no tangible, physical product needs to be shipped or delivered to the purchaser. Intangible items may be purchased on a one-time basis. In other cases, intangible items may be purchased through a subscription in which the purchaser is automatically rebilled on a recurring basis to maintain ongoing access to the intangible items, with the purchaser reserving the option to cancel the access at a subsequent time.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0003]    According to one aspect of the present invention, online billing includes determining if a third party referred an online buyer of a good not requiring physical delivery to an online seller of the good not requiring physical delivery and apportioning revenue from sale of the good not requiring physical delivery between the online seller and, if a third party referred the online buyer to the online seller, to the third party.  
           [0004]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a system includes a first mechanism configured to connect to a public network and to enable a buyer to purchase a good not requiring physical delivery over the public network from a seller and a second mechanism configured to connect to the public network, to confirm payment for the good not requiring physical delivery before the good not requiring physical delivery is delivered to the buyer, and to apportion the payment between the seller and a third party that referred the buyer to the seller via the public network.  
           [0005]    According to another aspect of the present invention, online billing includes registering an online seller of a good with an entity and registering a third party with the entity as eligible to receive a portion of revenues from sales of the good sold by the online seller to an online buyer who navigated across a network to the online seller via the third party. It is automatically determined if the third party referred the online buyer of the good to the online seller of the good and revenue is automatically apportioned from sale of the good between the online seller and, if a third party referred the online buyer to the online seller, to the third party according to a predetermined payment structure. It is automatically determined if a fourth party referred the third party to the online seller and if so, revenue is automatically apportioned from the sale of the good between the online seller and, if the third party referred the online buyer to the online seller, to the third party and to the fourth party according to a predetermined payment structure. Data is automatically provided online regarding the sale of the good to the online seller, to the third party if the third party referred the online buyer to the online seller, and the fourth party if the fourth party referred the third party to the online seller.  
           [0006]    One or more of the following advantages may be provided by one or more aspects of the invention.  
           [0007]    The invention provides a simple, efficient way to split revenues for intangible items purchased online. Moreover, the revenues split between the various entities involved in the online purchase may be recorded and accounted for automatically, whether the intangible items are purchased on a one-time basis or on a subscription basis.  
           [0008]    Because the revenue splits can be accurately and automatically tracked for any number of online merchants, the invention can provide a commission tracking program as well as a system to distribute funds owed from the revenue splits for each of the online merchants. The invention provides real-time online statistics regarding an online merchant&#39;s sales. In this way, the online merchants can manage their sales activity through the invention without having to perform their own bookkeeping.  
           [0009]    For example, online merchants who sell intangible items (or otherwise accept money for intangible items such as taking charitable donations) can view statistics surrounding their sales. An online merchant&#39;s statistics can include number of initial sales, how many rebillings resulted from the number of initial signups, and who referred buyers to the online merchant, e.g., revenue sharers who receive a percentage of the online merchant&#39;s revenues for sales resulting from referrals of buyers to the online merchant&#39;s web site. In this way, the online merchants can track sales patterns, track revenues, and verify that they will receive the correct portion of the revenue split of their net sales. Similarly, a revenue sharer can track revenues earned by the online merchant resulting from its own referral of buyers to the online merchant and verify that the revenue sharer will receive the correct portion of the revenue split of the online merchant&#39;s net sales.  
           [0010]    By the merchant sharing a percentage of their net sales with revenue sharers, revenue sharers have an incentive to refer customers and other revenue sharers to the online merchants. This helps the online merchants build a network including an unlimited number of advertisers, getting more and more referred business from the revenue sharers. At the same time, the online merchants can reduce their own advertising ventures and expenses. Furthermore, through the use of multiple master accounts and sub-accounts, an online merchant can set different percentage revenue splits for different ones of its revenue sharers and for each of its various web sites that sell intangible items.  
           [0011]    The invention also provides a simple, efficient way for a web site to track ongoing referrals and multi-tiered commission payouts to entities that refer end users to the web site, whether or not the end users purchase any tangible or intangible goods or services from the web site. In such a case, the web site may offer a flat fee for every end user that an entity refers to the web site.  
           [0012]    Other advantages and features will become apparent from the following description and from the claims. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network configuration.  
         [0014]    FIGS.  2 A- 2 C illustrate examples of revenue splits.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a revenue sharing process.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a revenue sharing registration process.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a revenue sharing hierarchy.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 shows a merchant login screen.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 shows a merchant menu screen.  
         [0020]    FIGS.  8 - 12  show merchant setup screens.  
         [0021]    FIGS.  13 - 17  show merchant accounting screens.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 18 shows a projection report screen.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 19 shows a revenue sharer menu screen.  
         [0024]    FIGS.  20 - 22  show revenue sharer accounting screens.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 23 shows a revenue sharer setup screen. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0026]    Referring to FIG. 1, a network configuration  100  includes a merchant  102  that provides a web page  106  offering intangible goods for purchase over a public network  104  such as the Internet. Examples of intangible goods (including intangible services) include donations, access to online data searches, access to members-only Internet web pages, clip-art files, text files, documents, pictures, educational/training materials, entertainment software, technical information, game software, stock-picks, horoscopes, biorhythms, psychic readings, patent searches, marketing data, music files, photographs, artwork, live or prerecorded media events, live or prerecorded sporting events, live or prerecorded streaming video or animations, meetings, conferences, distance-learning, speeches, and other similar items.  
         [0027]    A billing company  108  provides the merchant  102  with an automated system that tracks sales of the merchant&#39;s intangible goods so that commission payouts can be made to a revenue sharer  110 . The billing company  108  may also similarly track sales of any tangible goods offered by the merchant  102 . A revenue sharer  110  is an individual, a company, or other entity that refers a potential buyer, e.g., an end user  112 , to the merchant&#39;s web page  106  via, for example, its own web page  114 . The merchant  102  and the billing company  108  may be individuals, companies, or other entities and are represented here as servers, although any mechanism can be used to support their respective web pages  106  and  116 . Similarly, the revenue sharers  110  and the end user  112  may be individuals, companies, or other entities and are shown here as individual desktop or mobile computer workstations, although they can be any device capable of communicating with the public network  104  such as personal digital assistants, telephones, pagers, and other similar devices.  
         [0028]    The billing company  108  may maintain or otherwise have access to a collection of data  118  (e.g., a database) used to help the billing company  108  detect and track fraudulent and otherwise undesirable activity. Examples of such activity are providing false information to the billing company  108 , manipulating end user purchases, experiencing a high rate of refunds/chargebacks, maintaining a negative account balance, proven fraud, suspected fraud, and other similar activities. If a merchant or a revenue sharer engages in fraudulent or undesirable activity, the billing company  108  can cancel the appropriate party&#39;s registration with the billing company  108  and/or record the cancelled registration in the collection of data  118 . Thus, the billing company  108  can, for example, retrieve and provide data to the merchant  102  explaining why the registration of one of its revenue sharers  110  was denied or cancelled. The collection of data  118  may also be used to store innocuous account information for the billing company&#39;s associated merchants and revenue sharers, including contact information, billing information, and account status.  
         [0029]    The merchant  102  can have an unlimited number of revenue sharers  110 ; only one revenue sharer  110 , revenue sharer  110   a  is discussed here for simplicity. Similarly, the billing company  108  can track sales for any number of merchants and revenue sharers; one merchant and one revenue sharer are discussed here for simplicity.  
         [0030]    The merchant  102 , the revenue sharer  110   a , and the billing company  108  split net sales of the merchant&#39;s intangible goods to buyers (end users) referred to the merchant&#39;s web page  106  by the revenue sharer  110   a  based on predetermined percentages and transactions. The percentage amount split between the revenue sharer  110   a  and all other parties (e.g., the merchant  102 , the billing company  108 , and other revenue sharers  110 ) is typically an integer percentage between zero percent and seventy percent. At least thirty percent of the revenue is reserved for the merchant  102  so that the merchant  102  maintains an adequate amount of funds in its account to cover refunds, chargebacks, and other adjustments. Different merchants can have different percentage amount splits, and a single merchant may have different percentage amount splits for different revenue sharers. The merchant  102  may also be able to set percentages on a sliding scale so that payout percentages increase for those revenue sharers that send certain percentages or numbers of referrals to the merchant  102 . The billing company  108  calculates the merchant&#39;s net sales by taking the merchant&#39;s gross sales and subtracting charges such as costs, fees, chargebacks, revokes, and refunds.  
         [0031]    The billing company  108  pays the merchant  102 , typically on a regular schedule such as weekly or bi-weekly. Service preferences of the billing company  108  or the merchant  102  may defer regularly scheduled payments until the payment reaches a certain minimum amount.  
         [0032]    The billing company  108 , the merchant  102 , or both can pay the revenue sharers per service choices of the billing company  108  and/or the merchant  102 . The billing company  108  may be able to pay the revenue sharer  110   a  directly from an account that the merchant  102  maintains with the billing company  108  or another party. If paid by the billing company  108 , the revenue sharer  110   a  is also typically paid on a regular schedule, such as weekly or bi-weekly. Service preferences of the billing company  108 , the merchant  102 , or the revenue sharer  110   a  may defer regularly scheduled payments until the payment reaches a certain minimum amount. Furthermore, the billing company  108  may pay the revenue sharer  110   a  via separate payment methods (e.g., separate checks) for each merchant associated with the revenue sharer  110   a  or via one lump sum payment for all merchants.  
         [0033]    The revenue sharer&#39;s status affects whether and when they receive payment. An active revenue sharer receives payment as scheduled. Payment owed to a suspended revenue sharer is held for the revenue sharer until its status is changed to active, in which case payment is made to the revenue sharer, or changed to deleted, in which case the merchant can receive the payment owed to the revenue sharer.  
         [0034]    In one example of a percentage split for online sales of intangible goods shown in FIG. 2A, in a subscription service, a revenue sharer  200  receives fifty percent of net sales made by a merchant  202  to an end user upon the end user&#39;s signup with the merchant  202  and fifty percent of rebillings to the end user for continued subscription service with the merchant  202 . The remaining fifty percent of signups and rebillings is divided between the merchant  202 , which receives thirty-five percent of each, and a billing company  204 , which receives fifteen percent of each.  
         [0035]    In another example shown in FIG. 2B, a revenue sharer  206  receives forty-four percent of signups and forty-four percent of rebillings for a subscription service. A merchant  208  and a billing company  210  split the remaining fifty-six percent of signups and of rebillings, with the merchant  208  receiving forty-one percent of each and the billing company  210  receiving fifteen percent of each.  
         [0036]    In another example shown in FIG. 2C, a first revenue sharer  212  receives forty-four percent of signups and forty-four percent of rebillings for a subscription service. The remaining parties, a merchant  214 , a second revenue sharer  216  that recruited the first revenue sharer  212 , and a billing company  218  split the remaining fifty-six percent of signups and of rebillings. The merchant  214  receives thirty-six percent of each, the second revenue sharer  216  receives five percent of each, and the billing company  218  receives the remaining fifteen percent of each.  
         [0037]    A revenue sharer (e.g., the second revenue sharer  216 ), in addition to being able to refer end users to the merchant  214 , can refer other revenue sharers (e.g., the first revenue sharer  212 ) to sign up with the merchant  214 . When the first revenue sharer  212  sends an end user to the merchant  214 , the second revenue sharer  216  receives a percentage of the revenue from sales to that end user (in this example, the percentage is five percent). Any revenue sharer  212 ,  216  can recruit additional revenue sharers to refer end users to the merchant  214 , but only two revenue sharers earn a percentage of revenue from a referred sale: the revenue sharer that directly referred the end user to the merchant  214  and the revenue sharer that directly referred that revenue sharer to the merchant  214 . However, additional revenue sharers may receive a percentage of revenues from such a referred sale depending on service choices of the billing company  218  and/or of the merchant  214 .  
         [0038]    The payments made to the revenue sharer  110   a  need not be a percentage of the merchant&#39;s net sales. Rather, the revenue sharer  110   a  may receive a flat fee for each unique end user that accesses the merchant&#39;s web page  106  through the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114 . In such as case, the merchant  102  may not sell any goods or service or may sell tangible and/or intangible goods and/or services; sales to the end users are not determinative of payment to the revenue sharer  110   a . The merchant  102  may pay a percentage of net sales to some revenue sharers  110  while a flat fee to other revenue sharers  110 . If flat fee payments to revenue sharers is an option, the interactive screens for the merchant  102  and/or the revenue sharer  110   a  described below may vary to account for and include this flat fee payment option.  
         [0039]    Note that the billing company  108  may hold a reserve percentage of the end user&#39;s payment for the merchant&#39;s goods and/or services. The reserve percentage, which may be any percentage amount, is taken from the full end user payment. Thus, if the billing company  108  holds a reserve percentage, the percentage payments to the merchant  102 , the revenue sharers  110   a -N, and/or the billing company  108  described above are taken from the end user&#39;s payment less then reserve percentage amount of money. The billing company  108  holds the reserve percentage of money for a certain amount of time, e.g., X months or Y days, that may be constant or may vary by merchant, type of good, or other variable. After the certain amount of time expires, the billing company  108  pays the reserve percentage of money to the merchant  102 , typically in conjunction with a regularly scheduled merchant payment.  
         [0040]    The billing company  108  may hold a reserve percentage of money from a sale to cover any situation where the billing company  108  partially or fully reimburses the end user  112 . An example of when such a reimbursement may be necessary is when the end user  112  pays for a subscription to the merchant&#39;s web page  106  for a certain amount of time and the web page  106  subsequently becomes unavailable because, for example, the merchant  102  goes out of business. In this example, the billing company  108  can help prevent the end user  112  from paying the merchant  102  for goods and/or services that the merchant  102  intentionally or unintentionally cannot or does not provide to the end user  112 .  
         [0041]    The merchant  102  and the revenue sharer  110   a  can access the billing company&#39;s web page  116  to setup and/or maintain their account(s) with the billing company  108 . The merchant  102  and the revenue sharer  110   a  can also access the billing company&#39;s web page  116  to view reports of their shares of the sales of the merchant&#39;s intangible goods. For security reasons, the revenue sharer  110   a  may only view reports involving its own referrals to the merchant  102 . The setup and maintenance of the accounts and the reports are described further below.  
         [0042]    The billing company&#39;s web page  116  can include any number of individual web pages, as can the merchant&#39;s web page  106  and the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114 .  
         [0043]    To procure the billing company&#39;s services, the merchant  102  registers with the billing company  108  through the billing company&#39;s web page  116 . The merchant  102  makes and posts its own decisions when signing up with the billing company  108 , such decisions including:  
         [0044]    a) what percentage of its sales should be split with revenue sharers for signups,  
         [0045]    b) what percentage of sales should be split with revenue sharers for recurring billings,  
         [0046]    c) what percentage of sales should be split with revenue sharers for single purchases,  
         [0047]    d) how much should be offered to revenue sharers in referral incentives (monetary or nonmonetary) for recruiting new revenue sharers,  
         [0048]    e) what party or parties should provide payment to revenue sharers: the billing company, the merchant, and/or another party, and  
         [0049]    f) how many accounts to setup with the billing company.  
         [0050]    The merchant  102  may have multiple accounts (sub-accounts) with the billing company  108 , each account associated with a different intangible item, a different sales entity, or otherwise divided per merchant choice. A different group of revenue sharers may be associated with each of the merchant&#39;s accounts.  
         [0051]    Referring to FIG. 3, the merchant  102  can share revenue with the revenue sharer  110   a  from sales of the merchant&#39;s intangible goods via a revenue sharing process  300 . Again, the revenue sharer  110   a  is only used as an example; the merchant  102  can share revenue with any of the revenue sharers  110   a - 110 N. The merchant  102  and/or the billing company  108  may, however, limit the number of revenue sharers  110   a - 110 N that may sign up with the merchant  102  in total or per sub-account.  
         [0052]    The merchant  102  makes  302  an offer to split revenues from sales of the intangible goods for referrals resulting in the successful purchase of the intangible goods. The offer is made on the merchant&#39;s web page  106 , although the offer could be made on another web page maintained by the merchant  102  or other entity, in print, on the radio, on television, or through other similar media.  
         [0053]    The revenue sharer  110   a  responds to the offer and signs up  304  to share revenues with the merchant  102 . An example of how the revenue sharer  110   a  signs up to be a revenue sharer is shown in a registration process  400  shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0054]    A potential revenue sharer visits  402  the merchant&#39;s web page  106  and responds to the merchant&#39;s offer of revenue sharing by clicking  404  on a join button. Clicking on the join button takes the potential revenue sharer to one of two types of signup pages provided by the billing company  108  at the billing company&#39;s web page  116 . (The potential revenue sharer may instead be directed to another party&#39;s site that later transmits the appropriate information to the billing company  108 .) Clicking on the join button transmits information to the billing company  108  (or to the other party), such as:  
         [0055]    a) a request type (a hidden field indicating the information is for a revenue sharer signup),  
         [0056]    b) the merchant&#39;s identification code,  
         [0057]    c) a desired prefix for the potential revenue sharer&#39;s identification code,  
         [0058]    a) a success page location (a web page location, e.g., a uniform resource locator (URL) or universal naming convention (UNC) name, that the potential revenue sharer is directed to after a successful signup via the automated setup system), and  
         [0059]    d) a failure page location (a web page location, e.g., URL or UNC name, that the potential revenue sharer is directed to upon encountering an error in the automated setup system).  
         [0060]    The success page and failure page locations may be part of the merchant&#39;s web page  106  or part of the billing company&#39;s web page  116 . If either of the page locations is at the merchant&#39;s web page  106 , the billing company  108  may provide the merchant  102  with the appropriate code and/or messages to display on the page locations.  
         [0061]    The potential revenue sharer either joins  406  as a revenue sharer with a fixed identification code or joins  408  by choosing a personal identification code. In either case, the identification code may be a number, a name, a combination of numerical and alphanumeric characters, or other similar code. The billing company  108  may set a size range for the identification code, e.g., the identification code cannot exceed a certain number of characters. If the potential revenue sharer chooses  410  an identification code already in use, the potential revenue sharer is prompted to choose another identification code. Alternatively, the potential revenue sharer may be assigned a fixed identification code or given alternate identification code selections. Identification codes for suspended or deleted accounts may be reused.  
         [0062]    After the potential revenue sharer is assigned or chooses an identification code, the potential revenue sharer receives  412  an activation electronic mail (email) message including an activation code. Before receiving the email message, the potential revenue sharer may receive notification on the setup page (or a page that appears after confirming the registration information entered on the setup page) that the email message is being sent to the email account entered on the setup page. The potential revenue sharer may also receive notification that it has a specified amount of time to activate its account using the activation code included in the email message.  
         [0063]    The potential revenue sharer may also be made aware of the percentage that it will receive from the merchant&#39;s net sales generated by referrals from the potential revenue sharer in the email message or before receiving the email message. The potential revenue sharer may also be made aware of the percentage (if any) that it will receive upon recruiting another revenue sharer that succeeds in generating sales for the merchant  102 . The potential revenue sharer may have to acknowledge or accept these percentages and/or additional rules, requirements, or guidelines by, for example, clicking on an accept button or checking an “agree” box before being sent the email message or as part of the activation procedure described below.  
         [0064]    The potential revenue sharer attempts to activate  414  its account by entering the emailed activation code on the web page indicated in the email message. Alternatively, the potential revenue sharer may be able to activate its account by clicking on a web link included in the email message (or manually entering the web link in a web browser, by calling a phone number provided in the email message or on the setup page after the potential revenue sharer confirms the registration information on the setup page, or by performing another similar confirmation procedure. If the potential revenue sharer has a specified time period within which it must confirm its registration and if the potential revenue sharer does not attempt to activate its account within the specified time period, then the account activation is denied  416  and the potential revenue sharer needs to re-register with the billing company  108  as described above to become a revenue sharer  110 . If the potential revenue sharer does attempt to activate its account within the specified time period, then the account activation is confirmed  418  and the potential revenue sharer is registered at the billing company  108  as a revenue sharer  110  with the merchant  102 . The billing company  108  sends  420  a cookie to the revenue sharer  110  so that the billing company  108  can track and credit the revenue sharer  110  for a referral resulting in a sale of the merchant&#39;s intangible goods.  
         [0065]    Referring back to FIG. 3, once registered with the billing company, the revenue sharer  110   a  advertises  306  the merchant  102  on the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114 . The advertisement can be an advertising banner, text link, or other similar advertisement. The advertisement may be specific to the intangible goods offered for sale by the merchant  102  or may more generically refer to the merchant  102 . The merchant  102  is responsible for notifying the revenue sharer  110   a  of the proper way (if any) to setup the offer on the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114  (e.g., size, color, location on the web page  114 , etc.) as well as the code needed to execute the offer (e.g., hypertext markup language (HTML) code). The billing company  108  may, however, provide the code.  
         [0066]    For the case where the revenue sharer  110   a  includes an entity providing a search engine, the revenue sharer  110   a  may not explicitly, persistently, or routinely advertise the merchant  102  on its web page  114 . Rather, when a user (e.g., the end user  112 ) searches for information on a particular topic using the search engine, the end user  112  may access the merchant&#39;s web page  106  through the results of the search. In that case, the revenue sharer  110   a  can receive a flat fee for positioning a link to the merchant&#39;s web page  106  at a particular location within the search result, a flat fee for the end user&#39;s access of the merchant&#39;s web page  106  from the search results (whether or not the access results in a sale), or a percentage split of any sales made to the end user  112  resulting from the end user  112  accessing the merchant&#39;s web page  106  through a link in a search result. Of course, the revenue sharer  110   a  may also or instead provide advertising on its web page  114  for the merchant  102 . Further, information regarding the particular search that the end user  112  conducted using the search engine can be transmitted to the merchant  102 . The merchant  102  can use this information in tracking which searches lead to sales of its intangible goods and services. With a third party, the billing company  108 , tracking the activities of the revenue sharer  110   a  for the merchant  102 , the merchant  102  may be more confident in paying commissions to the revenue sharer  110   a.    
         [0067]    Additionally, the revenue sharer  110   a  may advertise  322  on its web page  114  for an unlimited number of additional revenue sharer(s)  110   b - 110 N to sign up with the billing company  108  and to refer end users to the merchant  102  for a percentage of the merchant&#39;s revenue. The merchant  102  and/or the billing company  108  may require such advertising. This advertisement (offer) is setup as described above for the merchant&#39;s offer for revenue sharers on the merchant&#39;s web page  106 . An additional revenue sharer  110   b - 110 N signs up  324  as a revenue sharer as described above (see, for example, FIG. 4). Each additional revenue sharer  110   b - 110 N receives its own identification code. The additional revenue sharer&#39;s identification codes may be automatically prefixed to reflect the merchant  102  or the revenue sharer  110   a  that recruited them, e.g., begin with the same five characters as the identification code for the revenue sharer  110   a . The revenue sharer  110   a  earns a percentage of revenues earned by the merchant  102  from sales of its intangible goods to end users referred to the merchant  102  by a revenue sharer  110   b - 110 N referred to the merchant  102  by the revenue sharer  110   a . The new revenue sharer(s)  110   b - 110 N may then also advertise  326  for the merchant  102  and for additional revenue sharers on their respective web pages. A revenue sharer  110  that recruits one or more other revenue sharers  110  may have access to the same capabilities as a merchant, e.g., be able to access the other revenue sharers&#39; accounts information as discussed below with reference to various screens.  
         [0068]    After multiple revenue sharers  110   a - 110 N have signed up with the merchant  102 , e.g., a number of revenue sharers sign up through the revenue sharer registration process  400 , the merchant  102  could end up with a revenue sharing hierarchy  500  shown in FIG. 5. In this example, the merchant  102  has two first tier revenue sharers  110   a  and  110   b  that each referred second tier revenue sharers  110   c - 110   d  and  110   e - 110   g , respectively, to the merchant  102 . The direct revenue sharers  110   a  and  110   b  merely referred the second tier revenue sharers  110   c - 110   d  and  110   e - 110   g  to the merchant  102 . Similarly, the second tier revenue sharers  110   d  and  110   e  referred third tier revenue sharers  110   h  and  110   i - 110   j , respectively, to the merchant  102 . Note that all of the revenue sharers  110   a - 110   j  (and any revenue sharers farther down in the tier structure) are technically revenue sharers with the merchant  102 , not with the revenue sharers (if any) above them in the tier structure.  
         [0069]    When the end user  112  visits  308  the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114 , the end user  112  may access  310  the merchant&#39;s web page  106  by, for example, clicking on a banner on the revenue sharer&#39;s web page  114  linked to the merchant&#39;s web page  106  via a hyperlink. When the end user  112  accesses the merchant&#39;s web page  106 , the identification code for the revenue sharer  110   a  is transmitted to the merchant  102  (possibly along with other information) to facilitate tracking the end user&#39;s referral by the revenue sharer  110   a  to the merchant  102 . At the merchant&#39;s web page  106 , the end user  112  purchases  312  or arranges for the purchase of an intangible item, by subscription or otherwise.  
         [0070]    To pay for the intangible item, the merchant  102  directs  314  the end user  112  to the billing company&#39;s web page  116 . When the end user  112  is directed to the billing company&#39;s web page  116 , information about the purchase such as the particular item purchased, price, discounts, additional fees, and other similar information is transmitted to the billing company  108 . The identification codes for the revenue sharer  110   a  and for the merchant  102  are also transmitted to the billing company  108  to facilitate tracking the parties that will likely share revenues from any completed sales to the end user  112 .  
         [0071]    Alternatively, when the end user  112  is directed to the billing company&#39;s web page  116 , the billing company  108  may send the end user  112  a cookie. The end user  112  may not be aware that it is being redirected to the billing company&#39;s web page  116 , in which case the end user  112  receives the cookie and gets redirected to the merchant&#39;s web page  116  where the transaction is completed. (The cookie may instead be sent to the end user  112  by the merchant  102  or by the revenue sharer  110   a  when the end user  112  accesses the merchant&#39;s web page  106 .) The cookie includes the relevant merchant and revenue sharer information that the billing company  108  needs to credit the proper merchant  102  and revenue sharer for purchases made by the end user  112 . The cookie remains with the end user  112  for a predetermined time period, e.g., twenty-four hours, during which time the revenue sharer  110   a  can receive credit for any sales made by the end user  112 . In this way, is the end user  112  does not complete a sale upon its first visit but later completes the transaction, the revenue sharer  110   a  can still receive a percentage of the sale&#39;s revenue. If the end user  112  receives such a cookie, then the merchant  102  may not be responsible for submitting information on a revenue sharer to the billing company  108 , e.g., the merchant  102  need not submit some or all of the information on an add screen  800  (described below with reference to FIG. 8), the merchant  102  may not be required to enter in all or some of the default information on a defaults screen  1200  (described below with reference to FIG. 12), or the merchant  102  may not need to use an automated setup system.  
         [0072]    The merchant  102  may use an automated setup system to collect information on a potential revenue sharer on the merchant&#39;s web page  106 . The collected information can then be automatically sent to the billing company  108 . In such a case, the merchant  102  can still edit the revenue sharer&#39;s information as described below.  
         [0073]    The merchant  102  can use an automated setup system provided by the billing company  108  or use another automated setup system. In either case, fields of information that the merchant  102  may collect through its web page  106  include information similar to that described below regarding an add screen  800  (described below with reference to FIG. 8). The potential revenue sharer provides the requested information and then clicks on a join button to automatically submit the information to the billing company  108 .  
         [0074]    Information regarding the merchant  102  that may be automatically sent to the billing company  108  along with the information collected about the potential revenue sharer include:  
         [0075]    a) a request type,  
         [0076]    b) the merchant&#39;s identification code,  
         [0077]    c) an identification code for the potential revenue sharer,  
         [0078]    d) who should pay the potential revenue sharer (the merchant  102 , the billing company  108 , both, or a third party),  
         [0079]    e) the identification code for an active revenue sharer of the merchant  102  that referred the potential revenue sharer to the merchant  102  (if any),  
         [0080]    f) a success page location, and  
         [0081]    g) a failure page location.  
         [0082]    At the billing company&#39;s web page  116 , the end user  112  pays  316  for the intangible item and thereby can gain access to the intangible item. The billing company  108  sends  318  the end user  112  a receipt for their purchase. The billing company  108  records  320  the end user&#39;s purchase and makes real-time statistics available to the merchant  102  and to the revenue sharer  110   a  regarding the revenue sharing for the sale.  
         [0083]    If an error occurs and the billing company  108  cannot determine the identity of the revenue sharer that referred the end user  112  to the merchant  102 , then the merchant  102  still receives its percentage of revenue from a sale to the end user  112  along with any percentage that would have gone to the revenue sharer. The billing company  108  notifies the merchant  102  that an error occurred. The merchant  102  may then decide to attempt to determine which revenue sharer(s) should receive a percentage of the sale&#39;s revenue. Examples of errors that may occur include an unidentifiable revenue sharer identification code being transmitted to the merchant  102  or to the billing company  108 .  
         [0084]    All of the merchants and revenue sharers registered with the billing company  108  may be able to access the billing company&#39;s web page  116  to obtain information about their respective accounts using a series of interactive web pages, e.g., a graphical user interface. Access to the billing company&#39;s web page  116  may be secure, i.e., the billing company  108  may provide secure access using, for example, encryption, personal identification numbers (PINs), access codes, passwords, electronic signature authentication, security keys, and/or other similar security measures. Access to parts of another entity&#39;s account by a revenue sharer or a merchant may be limited or not allowed at all.  
         [0085]    Merchants may have access to a certain set of screens and options, while revenue sharers may have access to another set of screens and options. The set of screens and options that the merchants and the revenue sharers can access are part of a graphical user interface (GUI) and may be collectively called a commerce management interface (CMI). The GUI is always available to merchants and revenue sharers (except during service interruptions resulting from maintenance, network failure, or similar situation).  
         [0086]    The GUI is presented as a collection of screens on the billing company&#39;s web page  116 . The screens and options for the merchants and the revenue sharers may vary. For example, a merchant and its revenue sharers may have access to the same set of screens and options, each may have access to some of the same screens, or each may have access to different screens. In particular, merchants may be able to access all or part of their revenue sharers&#39; accounts. Merchants may also be able to determine what screens and options are available to its revenue sharers.  
         [0087]    [0087]FIG. 6 shows a members login screen  600 . The merchant  102  logs in to the GUI through the members login screen  600 . The members login screen  600  is the introduction screen from which the merchant  102  can access its account(s), edit options, and perform other tasks as described below. The merchant  102  enters in its user name in a username dialog box  602  and its password in a password dialog box  604 . By clicking on a login button  606 , the merchant  102  submits this entered information to the billing company  108 , which uses the entered information to determine if the merchant  102  is authorized to enter the GUI. If authorized, the billing company  108  logs in the merchant  102 . If unauthorized, the billing company  108  denies login to the merchant  102 , who may be allowed to attempt to login again on the members login screen  600 .  
         [0088]    Once logged in, the merchant  102  sees a merchant menu screen  700  as shown in FIG. 7. The merchant menu screen  700  includes menu buttons  702   a - 702   e  at the top and the bottom of the merchant menu screen  700  (although the menu buttons  702   a - 702   e  could be located elsewhere on the screen  700  or in just one location). The merchant  102  can click on a menu button  702  to navigate to different screens and different options. The menu buttons  702   a - 702   e  and their functions include:  
         [0089]    a) a main menu button  702   a  (displays the merchant menu screen  700 ),  
         [0090]    b) an accounting button  702   b  (displays accounting options),  
         [0091]    c) a customer service button  702   c  (displays customer service information such as frequently asked questions, contact telephone numbers and/or email addresses for the billing company  108 , and other similar information),  
         [0092]    d) a setup button  702   d  (displays setup options), and  
         [0093]    e) a login button  702   e  (displays the members login screen  600 ).  
         [0094]    The menu buttons  702   a - 702   e  are available on every screen that the merchant  102  accesses, facilitating navigation of the GUI.  
         [0095]    The merchant menu screen  700  also includes navigation buttons  704   a - 704   c . The navigation buttons  704   a - 704   c  and their functions include:  
         [0096]    a) a go-to-accounting button  704   a  (displays accounting options),  
         [0097]    b) an edit button  704   b  (displays setup options), and  
         [0098]    c) a submit button  704   c  (displays ways that the merchant  102  may submit feedback to the billing company  108 ).  
         [0099]    These are not the only menu buttons  702   a - 702   e  and navigation buttons  704   a - 704   c  that may be available to the merchant  102 ; these and/or other buttons may be available.  
         [0100]    The merchant menu screen  700  also shows the merchant&#39;s identification code  706 , a current date  708 , and a current time  710 .  
         [0101]    Referring to FIG. 8, the merchant  102  controls its account and revenue sharers through a setup introduction screen  800 . The merchant  102  may access the setup introduction screen  800  by logging on to the GUI and clicking on the edit button  704   b  (see FIG. 7).  
         [0102]    The setup introduction screen  800  displays buttons and windows that allow the merchant  102  to edit options via a user interface. Through the setup introduction screen  800 , the merchant  102  has the option to:  
         [0103]    a) add a revenue sharer by clicking on an add button  802 ,  
         [0104]    b) edit the profile of the revenue sharer entered in a name box  804  by clicking on an edit button  806 ,  
         [0105]    c) list revenue sharers by clicking on a list button  808 , including active revenue sharers (check box  810   a ), suspended revenue sharers (check box  810   b ), and/or deleted revenue sharers (check box  810   c ),  
         [0106]    d) log in as a revenue sharer by clicking on a login button  812 ,  
         [0107]    e) enter default revenue splitting settings by clicking on a submit defaults button  814 ,  
         [0108]    f) display news by clicking on a display news button  816 ,  
         [0109]    g) delete news by clicking on a delete news button  818 , and  
         [0110]    h) upload news from a file located at a path entered in a path box  820  (or selected by clicking on a browse button  822  and browsing for a file) by clicking on an upload news button  824 .  
         [0111]    Each of these merchant setup options is described further below.  
         [0112]    By clicking on the add button  802 , the merchant  102  can access an add screen  900  as shown in FIG. 9. The add screen  900  is an interface by which the merchant  102  can add a revenue sharer. The add screen  900  shows fields  902 - 924  that the merchant  102  fills in to manually add a revenue sharer, including fields for the revenue sharer&#39;s:  
         [0113]    a) identification code  902 ,  
         [0114]    b) password  904   a  (and password confirmation  904   b ),  
         [0115]    c) name  906 ,  
         [0116]    d) address  908   a - 908   b ,  
         [0117]    e) city  910 ,  
         [0118]    f) state  912 ,  
         [0119]    g) zip code  914 ,  
         [0120]    h) country  916 ,  
         [0121]    i) phone number  918 ,  
         [0122]    j) email address  920 ,  
         [0123]    k) payment method  922  (how the revenue sharer will receive its percentage share of appropriate sales, e.g., check, credit card, electronic funds transfer, direct bank account deposit, in-person pickup, or other similar method), and  
         [0124]    l) specific payment method details  924  (e.g., who to write a check to, credit card information, bank account information, people authorized for in-person pickup, and other similar details as appropriate).  
         [0125]    The add screen  900  is not limited to these fields  902 - 924 ; the add screen  900  can include these and/or other fields such as a field for a home web page, a field for a sub-account, or fields to accommodate foreign addresses. After the merchant  102  fills in the fields  902 - 924 , the merchant  102  clicks on an add button  926  to submit the information to the billing company  108 .  
         [0126]    Some or all of the fields  902 - 924  may be required. If the merchant  102  fails to submit required information, the merchant  102  may be prompted to enter the missing required information or the billing company  108  may assign default data to the missing information. For example, if the merchant  102  does not assign a sub-account for the revenue sharer, the default is set to refer to all sub-accounts.  
         [0127]    By clicking on the edit button  806  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can edit information about the revenue sharer identified in the name box  804  on an edit screen  1000  as shown in FIG. 10. The edit screen  1000  shows options for the merchant  102  regarding its revenue sharers; these options are not the only edit options that may be available to the merchant  102 . The merchant  102  can choose to edit:  
         [0128]    a) revenue sharer accounts (account button  1002 ),  
         [0129]    b) access that its revenue sharers have to various aspects of the GUI, such as certain accounting reports or certain news items (access button  1004 )  
         [0130]    c) revenue sharer information, such as the contact information in the fields  902 - 924  (see FIG. 9) (information button  1006 ),  
         [0131]    d) revenue sharer referral percentages (referral button  1008 ), and  
         [0132]    e) revenue sharer status (button  1010 ), viewing revenue sharers of a certain status as selected in a status box  1012  (e.g., active, suspended, and deleted), with the ability to change the status of a revenue sharer.  
         [0133]    Any edits that the merchant  102  makes to a revenue sharer&#39;s account may be automatically reported to the revenue sharer  110   a  by the billing company  108 , or the merchant  102  may be responsible for notifying the revenue sharer  110   a  of any alterations to its account by the merchant  102 .  
         [0134]    The merchant  102  can click on a return button  1014  to return to the screen the edit screen  1000  was accessed from or to the most recently accessed menu screen. (A similar return button may be available on any of the GUI screens.)  
         [0135]    By clicking on the list button  808  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can access a list screen  1100  as shown in FIG. 11. The list screen  1100  lists in table format all of the merchant&#39;s revenue sharers and information related to each of the revenue sharers. Information on the list screen for each revenue sharer includes a revenue sharer identification code (columns  1102  and  1104 ), a revenue sharer name (columns  1106  and  1108 ), and a status (columns  1110  and  1112 ), although more or less information may be available per merchant and/or billing company service choices. The revenue sharers on the list screen  1100  are displayed and sorted by status as selected in the check boxes  810   a - 810   c  (see FIG. 8), although the check boxes  810   a - 810   c  need not be used and the revenue sharers could be randomly listed or sorted in another way, e.g., by identification code. The merchant  102  can click on a select button  1114  (columns  1116  and  1118 ) for a particular revenue sharer to obtain a detailed report of the activities of that particular revenue sharer.  
         [0136]    By clicking on the login button  812  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can login as a revenue sharer, as the merchant  102  can be a revenue sharer with any number of other merchants. Logged in as a revenue sharer, the merchant  102  has access to the appropriate revenue sharing screens described below.  
         [0137]    By clicking on the submit defaults button  814 , the merchant  102  can access a defaults screen  1200  as shown in FIG. 12. On the defaults screen  1200 , the merchant  102  can set defaults with respect to its revenue sharers. For example, the merchant  102  can use the defaults screen  1200  to designate the revenue percentage it will defer to its revenue sharers for:  
         [0138]    a) one-time signups (first entry box  1202   a ),  
         [0139]    b) re-bills/recurring charges (second entry box  1202   b ),  
         [0140]    c) referrals for one-time signups (third entry box  1202   c ), and  
         [0141]    d) referrals for re-bills/recurring charges (fourth entry box  1202   d )  
         [0142]    The entered defaults may apply to one or all of the merchant&#39;s sub-accounts.  
         [0143]    Default percentages may populate the entry boxes  1202   a - 1202   d  that the merchant  102  may or may not be able to change. If the merchant  102  can change the default percentages or is not presented with default percentages, the merchant  102  can enter any percentage, choose from a drop-down list of percentages, and/or enter a percentage within a specified range. Once entered, the merchant  102  submits the default percentages by clicking on a submit defaults button  1204 . The merchant  102  can click on a return button  1206  to return to the screen the defaults screen  1200  was accessed from or to the most recently accessed menu screen.  
         [0144]    By clicking on the display news button  816  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can display news items. The news items may include:  
         [0145]    a) news particular to the merchant  102 , such as information currently accessible by some or all of the merchant&#39;s revenue sharers and account information from the billing company  108 ,  
         [0146]    b) news particular to merchants, such as information from the billing company  108  regarding, for example, new default one-time signup percentages,  
         [0147]    c) news provided by the billing company  108  to all merchants and revenue sharers such as changes in the billing company&#39;s privacy policy, and/or  
         [0148]    d) other news.  
         [0149]    By clicking on the delete news button  818  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can delete news items. The merchant  102  may make news items available to its revenue sharers and eventually decide to make them unavailable for viewing. By deleting a news item, the audience for that news item can no longer view that news item.  
         [0150]    By clicking on the upload news button  824  (see FIG. 8), the merchant  102  can upload news items from a particular file location (entered in the path box  820 ). These uploaded news items can then be made available for display to the appropriate ones of the merchant&#39;s revenue sharers.  
         [0151]    The merchant  102  can click on the go-to-accounting button  704   a  or the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7) and access a reporting screen  1300  as shown in FIG. 13. The reporting screen  1300  displays accounting information for the merchant&#39;s account (or for one or more of the merchant&#39;s sub-accounts if the merchant  102  has multiple accounts). An identification bar  1302  identifies the reported account by identification code and the time frame for the reported account information.  
         [0152]    The time frame could be daily (as shown), weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.  
         [0153]    The reporting screen  1300  provides account sales information for credit card sales in a first sales table  1304 , for online check purchases in a second sales table  1306 , and for total sales in a totals table  1308 . The reporting screen  1300  may include more or fewer tables based on merchant and/or billing company preferences, e.g., tables for other payment methods. Each of the tables  1304 ,  1306 , and  1308  compares signups, chargebacks, and refunds for revenue sharer generated revenue versus non-revenue sharer generated revenue and provides a percentage breakdown for sales resulting from different types of purchases.  
         [0154]    The first sales table  1304  includes a list of revenue sources in a revenue source column  1310 . The number of signup sales and the number of rebill sales for each of the revenue sources are listed in a signups column  1312  and a rebills column  1314 , respectively. The monetary amount of the signup sales and the rebill sales are also listed for each of the revenue sources in a signup amount column  1316  and a rebill amount column  1318 , respectively. The listed revenue sources include revenue sharers (for sales resulting from referral of end users by revenue sharers), non-revenue sharer sources (for direct sales and sales resulting from referral of end users by non-revenue sharers), a total (for all sales: revenue sharers plus non-revenue sharers), and a percentage of sales resulting from revenue sharer referrals.  
         [0155]    The second sales table  1306  and the totals table  1308  are configured and include information similar to the first sales table  1306 .  
         [0156]    The merchant  102  can access another accounting screen, a detail report screen  1400  as shown in FIG. 14, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  704   a  or the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7). The detail report screen  1400  shows sales activity broken down by revenue sharer, detailing revenue by revenue sharer status. Only active revenue sharers are visible on the detail report screen  1400  as shown in FIG. 14. Reports for other statuses may be accessed by scrolling down the detail report screen  1400  with a vertical scroll bar  1402 .  
         [0157]    For each revenue sharer status, the detail report screen  1400  includes tables for the same categories as the reporting screen  1300  (although the detail report screen  1400  could include more or fewer tables). Each active revenue sharer table  1404  (credit card revenue),  1406  (check revenue), and  1408  (total revenue) shows the money amount and number of signups, rebills, refunds, chargebacks, and revokes for that category of sales for particular revenue sharers, identified in the tables  1404 ,  1406 , and  1408  by identification code. If no sales exist in a particular category, then the corresponding table may still appear on the detail report screen  1400  but be blank, as in this example for the check revenue table  1406 . The time frame for the detail report screen  1400  could be daily (as shown), weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.  
         [0158]    The merchant  102  can access another accounting screen, a revenue sharer transaction screen  1500  as shown in FIG. 15, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  704   a , on the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7), on a revenue sharer identification code such as on the detail report screen  1400  (see FIG. 14), or on the select button  1114  (see FIG. 11). The revenue sharer transaction screen  1500  shows transaction details for a particular revenue sharer in tables  1502   a ,  1502   b ,  1504   b , and  1504   b  broken down by payment type (credit card, check, etc.) and within payment type by sales and reversals. Reversals refer to chargebacks, refunds, revoked sales, and similar transactions. Each row in each of the tables  1502   a - 1502   b  and  1504   a - 1504   b  is for a particular transaction and include fields for the transaction date, the merchant account, the transaction type (e.g., signup or rebill), the designated commission split for the revenue sharer, and the earned net amount that remains to be paid to the revenue sharer for that commission split. The revenue sharer transaction screen  1500  may also include a similar table(s) for total transactions for a revenue sharer.  
         [0159]    The merchant  102  can access another accounting screen, a conversion and retention screen  1600  as shown in FIG. 16, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  704   a  or the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7). The conversion and retention screen  1600  includes a conversion and retention table  1602  that lists all of the merchant&#39;s revenue sharers and shows how effective the revenue sharers have been in keeping subscribers for the merchant  102  for successive periods. Each row  1604  of the conversion and retention table  1602  includes information for a particular revenue sharer, identified by identification code in an identification column  1606 . Information is provided for each revenue sharer in these columns: total signups  1608 , signups only (no rebills)  1610 , conversions (one or more signups leading to rebills)  1612 , retentions (two or more signups leading to rebills)  1614 , and average rebills  1616 .  
         [0160]    The merchant  102  can access another accounting screen, a revenue sharer statement screen  1700  as shown in FIG. 17, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  704   a  or the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7). The merchant  102  may also be able to access the revenue sharer statement screen  1700  by clicking on and/or entering a date and a revenue sharer&#39;s identification code, name or other identifier onto another screen.  
         [0161]    The revenue sharer statement screen  1700  presents what a particular revenue sharer has earned as a result of its percentage of the merchant&#39;s net sales in a totals table  1702  and a revenue sharer activity table  1706 . The billing company  108  can credit the revenue sharer  110   a  for a sale to the end user  112  up to twenty-four hours after the sale, so the most recent sales may not be accounted for on the revenue sharer statement screen  1700  (or on other screens where sales timing may be an issue). The revenue sharer statement screen  1700  shows the net amount due to be paid to a revenue sharer by the merchant  102  in a totals table  1702 . The totals table  1702  refers to a particular billing time  1704 . The totals table  1702  indicates the net amount due as a sub-total amount of sales resulting from revenue sharer referrals for each of the merchant&#39;s sub-accounts less any refunds, chargebacks, and revokes and plus any outstanding balance from a previous billing time. The sub-total amount of sales in the totals table  1702  is broken down in a revenue sharer activity table  1706 . In the revenue sharer activity table  1706 , the sub-total amount due is broken down into the merchant&#39;s sub-accounts and shows the net sales resulting from revenue sharer referrals for each of the merchant&#39;s sub-accounts.  
         [0162]    If a revenue sharer can access the revenue sharer statement screen  1700 , the revenue sharer may only access the revenue sharer statement screen  1700  for its account(s) only.  
         [0163]    The merchant  102  can access another accounting screen, a projected earnings screen  1800  as shown in FIG. 18, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  704   a  or the accounting button  702   b  (see FIG. 7). The projected earnings screen  1800  includes a projected earnings report  1802  that enables the merchant  102  to project earnings based upon recurring billings that are scheduled to be rebilled. The projected earnings report  1802  indicates scheduled rebill dates (in a date column  1804 ), the number of subscribers to be rebilled (in an active subscribers column  1806 ), and the best case dollar amount projection to be earned on each date (in a projection column  1808 ). A revenue sharer may also view the information in the projected earnings report  1802 .  
         [0164]    Some screens of the GUI are directed specifically to revenue sharers. For example, FIG. 19 shows a revenue sharer menu screen  1900  presenting a main menu for revenue sharers. Once logged on as a revenue sharer, the revenue sharer  110   a  arrives at the revenue sharer menu screen  1900 . (Again, the revenue sharer  110   a  is used only as an example.)  
         [0165]    The revenue sharer menu screen  1900  displays news and information for the revenue sharer  110   a  specifically or as a member of a particular group from the merchant  102  and/or the billing company  108  in a news section  1902 . If no news exists, a message so appears in the news section  1902 .  
         [0166]    The revenue sharer menu screen  1900  also includes menu buttons  1904   a - 1904   c  at the top and/or bottom of the revenue sharer menu screen  1900  that can be used to navigate to different screens and different options available to the revenue sharer  110   a . The menu buttons  1904   a ,  1904   b , and  1904   c  function similarly to the merchant menu buttons  702   a ,  704   b , and  704   e , respectively (see FIG. 7).  
         [0167]    The revenue sharer menu screen  1900  also provides the revenue sharer  110   a  with access to the revenue sharer&#39;s own statistics via navigation buttons  1906   a - 1906   c . The revenue sharer  110   a  can click on a navigation button  1906  to access another screen that enables the revenue sharer to determine how effective it has been in sending referrals to the merchant  102  that have succeeded in becoming good sales. The navigation buttons  1906   a ,  1906   b , and  1906   c  function similarly to the merchant navigation buttons  704   a ,  704   b , and  704   c , respectively (see FIG. 7).  
         [0168]    The revenue sharer menu screen  1900  also shows the revenue sharer&#39;s identification code  1908 , a current date  1910 , and a current time  1912 .  
         [0169]    The merchant  102  may control what menu buttons  1904   a - 1904   c  and what navigation buttons  1906   a - 1906   c  are available to the revenue sharer  110   a  on the revenue sharer menu screen  1900 . For example, the merchant  102  may allow the revenue sharer  110   a  to access accounting features of the GUI (menu button  1904   b  and navigation button  1906   a ) but not to setup features (navigation button  1906   b ).  
         [0170]    There are also accounting information screens available to revenue sharers. FIG. 20 shows a revenue sharer report screen  2000  that displays the results of the revenue sharer&#39;s own referrals to a merchant(s). The revenue sharer  110   a  can access the revenue sharer report screen  2000  by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  1906   a  or on the accounting button  1904   b  (see FIG. 19). The revenue sharer report screen  2000  is similar to the detail report screen  1400  (see FIG. 14) but is tailored for the particular revenue sharer  110   a.    
         [0171]    The revenue sharer  110   a  can access another accounting screen, a statistics screen  2100  as shown in FIG. 21, by clicking on the go-to-accounting button  1906   a  or on the accounting button  1904   b  (see FIG. 19). Through the statistics screen  2100 , the revenue sharer  110   a  can obtain and display its own statistics, broken down by sub-accounts associated with different web pages.  
         [0172]    The revenue sharer  110   a  can access its total revenue (or a screen detailing its total revenue) from a start date entered in a first date box  2102   a  to an end date entered in a second date box  2102   b  and clicking on a first submit button  2104 . An example of a total revenue screen that the revenue sharer  110   a  may access by clicking on the first submit button  2104  is the revenue sharer transaction screen  1500  (see FIG. 15).  
         [0173]    The revenue sharer  110   a  can access a monthly revenue sales report (or a screen detailing its monthly revenue sales) for an account selected in an account box  2106  from a start month entered in a first month box  2108   a  to an end month entered in a second month box  2108   b  and clicking on a second submit button  2110 . The revenue sharer  110   a  may select a check box  2112  to comma-delimit the monthly revenue sales report to format it for display using particular applications.  
         [0174]    [0174]FIG. 22 shows a revenue sharer screen  2200  displaying an example monthly revenue sharer sales report  2202  that the revenue sharer may access by clicking on the second submit button  2110 . The monthly revenue sharer sales report  2202  breaks down by month the total numbers and dollar amounts for signups and rebills. The monthly revenue sharer sales report  2202  further provides details regarding chargebacks, refunds, and revokes that have occurred and displays a net sales amount for each month.  
         [0175]    Referring back to FIG. 21, the revenue sharer  110   a  may also access a statements report (or a statements screen) for a particular statement period for a payment date (e.g., date of a particular payment check) entered in a date box  2114  and clicking on a third submit button  2116 . An example of a statements screen that the revenue sharer  110   a  may access by clicking on the third submit button  2116  is the revenue sharer statement screen  1700  (see FIG. 17).  
         [0176]    The revenue sharer  110   a  may also display currently scheduled rebills by clicking on a fourth submit button  2118 . The currently scheduled rebills can be sorted by next rebill date or by sub-account, as selected in checkboxes  2120  by the revenue sharer  110   a . An example of a scheduled rebills screen that the revenue sharer  110   a  can access by clicking on the fourth submit button  2118  is the projected earnings screen  1800  (see FIG. 18).  
         [0177]    Referring to FIG. 23, the revenue sharer  110   a  can edit its information using a revenue sharer editing screen  2300 . The revenue sharer editing screen  2300  may be accessed from the revenue sharer menu screen  1900  by clicking on the edit  1906   b  (see FIG. 19). The revenue sharer editing screen  2300  enables the revenue sharer  110   a  to input and edit information about itself to the GUI for accounting and display purposes generally. Information fields  2302 - 2320  that the revenue sharer  110   a  fills in include fields similar to the fields  904 - 920  and  924 , respectively, on the add screen  900  (see FIG. 9).  
         [0178]    The screens discussed with reference to FIGS.  6 - 23  are examples and are not limited to any particular layout or configuration. For example, manipulation tools such as drop-down menus, tabs, buttons, selection boxes, and scrollbars can be implemented using any similar type of manipulation tool. In another example, the tables can be presented with any layout. Furthermore, two or more screens can be combined and presented on a single screen or screens can be divided into additional screens.  
         [0179]    Furthermore, the screens may include more or less information and provide merchants and revenue sharers with substantially the same information. For example, the time of a transaction could be presented on the revenue sharer transaction screen  1500  or revenue sharer email addresses could be presented on the list screen  1100 . In another example, the screens could each include a help button that enables the merchant  102  or the revenue sharer  110  to access online textual help and/or step-by-step assistance for various aspects of the GUI. In another example, the screens may exclude all references to rebills for a revenue sharer that was assigned a zero percent rebill percentage by a merchant.  
         [0180]    Additionally, the screens may be accessible from other or additional screens than the ones described above. There may also be other navigation-type screens that the merchant  102  and/or the revenue sharers  110  encounter in navigating between different screens and options.  
         [0181]    If the merchant  102  has multiple accounts with the billing company  108 , the merchant  102  may be able to view information on the screens sorted by account or by one account at a time.  
         [0182]    The techniques described here are not limited to any particular hardware or software configuration; they may find applicability in any computing or processing environment. The techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two. Preferably, the techniques are implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers that each include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and one or more output devices. Program code is applied to data entered using the input device to perform the functions described and to generate output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices.  
         [0183]    Each program is preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language.  
         [0184]    Each such computer program is preferable stored on a storage medium or device, e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), hard disk, magnetic diskette, or similar medium or device, that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described in this document. The system may also be considered to be implemented as 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.  
         [0185]    Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.