Abstract:
An automated invoice management system includes a network circuit for communicating invoice transactions with a plurality of client systems. The automated invoice management system receives an import invoice transaction compliant with a first client transaction definition from a first client system. The import invoice transaction identifies a second client system and amounts due from a second client system associated with the second client. The import invoice transaction is translated to a normalized invoice transaction and the normalized transaction is translated to an export invoice transaction compliant with a second client transaction definition.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. Ser. No. 09/632,696 entitled Transaction Data Translation System filed on Aug. 4, 2000, the contents of such patent application is incorporated herein. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates to a financial transaction system and method, and more particularly, to an improvement for a network-based system and method for automated invoice receipt and management. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Typically a business will have an accounting software system that maintains a database of the business transactions with its customer, vendors, banks, and other third parties associated with the business as well as internal business transactions between internal accounts. The typical architecture of such accounting systems provides for data to be input into the system through predefined transactions. The system then updates applicable records in the data base. 
   For example, when an invoice is received from a vendor, an accounts payable employee will typically open a manual data entry (MDE) screen or panel which prompts the employee to enter each element of data from the invoice and then submit the entered data to the application as a single transaction. At that time the system will write the newly entered invoice into the database. To assure that all necessary transaction data is complete, the application will not accept the transaction and update the applicable records in the database until all required fields have been entered and the data is validated. 
   While these accounting systems facilitate record keeping and may reduce data entry for internal transactions, transactions between businesses have traditionally been handled by one businesses software system printing a document and the other business manually entering the transaction into their system using data from the document. 
   To facilitate the exchange of transaction documents electronically, in 1979 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) charted the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) to develop and maintain a standard for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of business transaction documents. 
   The ANSI ASC X12 “standards” are essentially a uniform syntax for packaging ASCII data items that comprise a business transaction. The syntax is simple, applying a lightly-structured set of labels and positional rules, and a looping structure, on ordinary ASCII characters. The key feature of an X12 standard transaction is that it is totally independent of the mechanical means of transmittal of information. The standards are for the interchange of data: information can be coded in X12 on one platform and application program, and transmitted—using floppy diskette, magnetic tape, or by any type of real-time or batch or packet telecommunication, or a combination of these methods—to any other platform and application program having an electronic X12 interpreter. The standards control simply the coding format used, rather than the transmission method. 
   ANSI ASC X12 syntax rules and code values are organized at four levels of transmission control standards, transaction set standards, segment directory and positional rules, and data element dictionary. 
   The transmission (or interchange) control standards provide for the overall electronic envelope in which one or more X12 transaction sets are carried from sender to receiver(s). The transmission control standards define such items as: how transaction sets are identified and how beginnings and endings of the transaction sets are defined, grouping of the transaction sets, identification of sender and receiver, and procedures for transmitting and for acknowledging receipt. 
   Each transaction set is roughly equivalent to a generic “type” of business paper document, such as an Invoice, or a Purchase Order, or a Report of Test Results. A three-digit number, called a standard-development track number, is used to identify each type of electronic document. As an example, a purchase order has a standard-development track number of 850, the invoice is an 810, and a request for quotation is an 840. 
   Each type of transaction set, in turn, is made up of a series of “segments”—each roughly equivalent to a “line”, “block”, or “field” of related data on a paper form. A segment code name is used to identify a logical and predefined combination of related data elements. For example, a segment code “DTM” specifies that “date-and-time” usually has three related data elements. The first data element would contain a code number or character indicating the kind of date to follow, such as shipping date, invoice date, publication date, or other pre-specified date. The second data element would contain the date itself, using six digits, and the third data element would be the time of day. Special characters separate data elements within the segment and mark the termination of a segment and the beginning of the next segment. 
   Another example of a segment might be the “PER” segment that represents the name and telephone number of the “person to contact” which is coded in X12 as:
 
PER*1C* W. M. Smith*TE*6035551234*\
 
where “PER” is the identifier for the segment, and “ 1 C” and “TE” are the reference codes for person name (W. M. Smith) and phone number (6035551234). “\” signifies end of segment.
 
   The data element dictionary provides definitions for the individual elements of data which are assembled to compose each segment of information within the electronic transaction. 
   The data element dictionary defines the data elements that can be transmitted and provides a standard identifying code for each element. Data elements are the X12 “atoms”, the basic building blocks of the record being transmitted. Additionally, the X12 dictionary contains tables of predefined code values for commonly encountered items of business data. An example of data elements often found together are the telephone number of a point of contact; the X12 reference code is “TE,” which when encountered tells the receiver that the following data item (e.g. “603-555-1212”) should be interpreted as a telephone number rather than a fax or pager number. The value “TE” is an example of a standard, predefined X12 code value, and the phone number itself is an example of a user-supplied value. The X12 standards provide a powerful combination of predictable positions—or data “pigeonholes”—in which to place or find both kinds of elements of data. 
   In practice, the originator of an electronic transaction uses the X12 standards to construct a transaction which could be easily interpreted by a recipient familiar with X12, or, more importantly, the recipient&#39;s data processing equipment. The originator system utilizes the data element dictionary to identify how each element in his message should be coded, to determine how each of those elements should be sequenced in the order established in the segment dictionary, how those segments should be placed in a segment sequence within a transaction document, and how the transaction set should be grouped within a single transmission. 
   Despite the ultimate goal of EDI to standardize transactions between businesses, there is no true single standard governing the format of a transaction, as a practical matter. Instead, there are multiple data dictionaries defining transaction formats, with multiple versions which proliferate the business world, both domestically and globally. In addition to the X12 document sets discussed above, other formats include UN/EDIFACT (United Nations rules for Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport), CEFACT (Centre for Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport), NACHA (National Automated Clearinghouse Association), and SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). From year to year, each of these data dictionaries is updated and a new version is issued. The update includes the addition of new “codes”, or entries, to the data dictionary, the deletion of codes, as well as modifications of existing codes. For example, as of the year 1999, at least 13 different versions of X12 were in existence (version 2000 through version 4030). In a typical X12 version, over 63 data segments, 630 fields of information, and 10,000 codes exist for financial EDI. These statistics are compounded with each and every X12 version. 
   Therefore, from a practical standpoint, only large companies that exert substantial leverage over their trading partners can truly realize the efficiencies of EDI by using a single standard (e.g. their standard) while all of their trading partners conform to their standards. 
   If a company can not leverage its trading partners to us EDI in their standard, EDI is not likely to provide any cost savings as the multiple number of standards that would need to be maintained would likely cost more than data entry. For example, if a company without adequate leverage to provide for all of its suppliers to use a single EDI standard for sending invoices to the company, the company would have to maintain multiple dictionaries on its system and still be required to maintain a manual data entry department for those suppliers that do not use any form of EDI. Such costs would defeat any cost savings of receiving a portion of the invoices electronically. 
   What is needed is an invoice receipt and management system that can accept invoices from a plurality of suppliers using a plurality of electronic formats, manage and normalize the invoice data, and to provide the invoices to the customer in an electronic data structure that is compatible with the customers systems for electronic data entry. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A first aspect of the present invention is to provide an automated invoice management system for operation with a plurality of vendor client systems and at least one payer client system. The system comprises a network circuit for communicating invoice management data with the plurality of client systems. A session management engine is coupled to the network circuit and comprises means for establishing a secure session with at least a first vendor client system and with at least one payer client system through the network circuit. The session management engine further comprises means for receiving a first vendor invoice transaction compliant with a first vendor client transaction definition from the first vendor client system that includes identification of the payer client associated with the payer client system and amounts due from the payer client. A translation engine comprises means for translating the first vendor invoice transaction to a normalized invoice transaction and means for translating the normalized invoice transaction to an export invoice transaction compliant with a payer client transaction definition. 
   The system may further comprise a database and the session management engine may further comprise means for storing the normalized invoice transaction in the database. 
   A data mapping dictionary may associate an element in the normalized transaction to at least a portion of an element in the vendor first client transaction definition and at least a portion of an element in the payer client transaction definition. The data mapping dictionary may further include validation rules and the translation engine may further comprises means for validating the normalized transaction by determining whether each element in the normalized transaction complies with the validation rules. 
   The data mapping dictionary may further includes import mapping rules which comprise: a) rules that provide for associating at least one of the normalized element to a particular portion of an element in the vendor client transaction definition; b) rules that provide for truncating a portion of an element in the vendor client transaction definition to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding normalized field; and c) rules that provide for adding default characters to an element in the vendor client transaction definition to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding normalized field. 
   The data mapping dictionary may further include export mapping rules which comprise: a) rules that provide for associating at least one of the normalized elements to a particular portion of an element in the payer client transaction definition; b) rules that provide for truncating a portion of at least one of the normalized element to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding element in the payer client transaction definition; and c) rules that provide for adding default characters to at least one of the normalized elements to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding element in the payer client transaction definition. 
   The session management engine may further comprise: a) means for receiving a payer remittance transaction compliant with a payer client remittance transaction definition from the payer client system that includes remittance data associated with the export invoice transaction; b) means for translating the import remittance transaction to a normalized remittance transaction; and c) means for translating the normalized remittance transaction to an export remittance transaction compliant with a first client remittance transaction definition. 
   The translation engine may further comprise: a) means for translating a second vendor invoice transaction, that complies with a second vendor client transaction definition that is different than the first vendor client transaction definition and that identifies the payer client and amounts due from the payer client, to a second normalized invoice transaction; and b) means for translating the second normalized invoice transaction to a second export invoice transaction compliant with the payer transaction definition. In which case, the session management may further comprises a) means for receiving the second vendor invoice transaction from a second vendor client system; b) means for storing the second normalized invoice transaction in the database; and c) means for providing both the export invoice transaction and the second export invoice transaction to the payer client in a single file through the network circuit. 
   A second aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of providing automated invoice management services to a plurality of vendor client systems and at least one payer client system, the method comprising: a) establishing a secure session with at least a first vendor client system and with at least one payer client system through a network circuit; b) receiving a first vendor invoice transaction compliant with a first vendor client transaction definition from a first vendor system that includes identification of a payer client associated with the payer client system and amounts due from the payer; d) translating the first vendor invoice transaction to a normalized invoice transaction; e) storing the normalized invoice transaction in a database; and f) translating the normalized invoice transaction to an export invoice transaction compliant with a payer client transaction definition that is different than the vendor client transaction definition. 
   The method may further include validating the normalized transaction by determining whether each of a plurality of elements in the normalized transaction complies with validation rules. 
   The step of translating the vendor invoice transaction to a normalized invoice transaction comprises at least one of the following steps: a) associating an element in the normalized transaction to a particular portion of an element in the vendor client transaction definition; b) truncating a portion of an element in the vendor client transaction definition to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding normalized element; and c) adding default characters to an element in the vendor client transaction definition to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding normalized field. 
   The step of translating the normalized invoice transaction to an export invoice transaction compliant with a payer client transaction definition comprises at least one of the following steps: a) associating an element in the normalized transaction to a particular portion of an element in the payer client transaction definition; b) truncating a portion of an element in the normalized transaction to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding element in the payer client transaction definition; and c) adding default characters to an element in the normalized transaction to comply with transaction format rules of a corresponding element in the payer client transaction definition. 
   The method may further comprise: a) receiving a payer remittance transaction compliant with a payer client remittance transaction definition from the payer client system that includes remittance data associated with the export invoice transaction; b) translating the payer remittance transaction to a normalized remittance transaction; and d) translating the normalized remittance transaction to an export remittance transaction compliant with a first client remittance transaction definition that is different than the payer client remittance transaction definition. 
   The method may further yet comprise: a) receiving a second vendor invoice transaction from a second vendor client system that complies with a second vendor client transaction definition that is different than the first vendor client transaction definition and that identifies the payer client and amounts due from the payer client; b) translating the second vendor invoice transaction to a second normalized invoice transaction; c) storing the second normalized invoice transaction in the database; d) translating the second normalized invoice transaction to a second export invoice transaction compliant with the payer transaction definition; and e) providing both the export invoice transaction and the second export invoice transaction to the payer client in a single file through the network circuit. 
   For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further aspects thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended clams. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an automated invoice and remittance transaction management architecture in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an automated invoice and remittance transaction management system in accordance with one embodiments of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   a  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary invoice and remittance database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   b  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary invoice and remittance database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   c  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary invoice and remittance database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   d  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary invoice and remittance database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   e  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary invoice and remittance database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4   a  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary value set database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4   a  is a table diagram representing column names in an exemplary values set database table in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7   a  is a table diagram representing invoice and remittance transaction management menu choices in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7   b  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7   c  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7   d  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7   e  is a flow chart representing an exemplary work flow script in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 8   a  is a flow chart representing exemplary translation processing of an import transaction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 8   b  is a flow chart representing an exemplary translation of an export transaction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 9   a  represents an exemplary client transaction definition in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 9   b  represents an exemplary client transaction definition in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 10   a  is a table representing exemplary element mapping of an inbound transaction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 10   b  is a table representing exemplary element mapping of an outbound transaction in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is now described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, each element with a reference number is similar to other elements with the same reference number independent of any letter designation following the reference number. In the text, a reference number with a specific letter designation following the reference number refers to the specific element with the number and letter designation and a reference number without a specific letter designation refers to all elements with the same reference number independent of any letter designation following the reference number in the drawings. 
   It should also be appreciated that many of the elements discussed in this specification may be implemented in hardware circuit(s), a processor executing software code, or a combination of a hardware circuit and a processor executing code. As such, the term circuit as used throughout this specification is intended to encompass a hardware circuit (whether discrete elements or an integrated circuit block), a processor executing code, or a combination of a hardware circuit and a processor executing code, or other combinations of the above known to those skilled in the art. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates exemplary architecture of an automated invoice receipt and management system  10  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The architecture  10  comprises an automated invoice receipt and invoice and remittance management server  16  that is coupled to a community of client systems  24  by a network  12 . 
   The client systems  24  comprise a plurality of payer client systems  24   p  and a plurality of vendor client systems  24   v . Each client system  24  may include a proprietary database system  26  that may include an accounts payable system  30 , an accounts receivables system  28 , and other financial resource planning systems for recording and managing the client&#39;s invoice transactions with other clients  24 . Each database system  26  may use different transaction definitions for electronically entering and extracting data (either through manual data entry screens or batch input/output files) and, each data base system  26  may use different value sets within elements of each transaction definition. For example, the database system  26  of one vendor  24   v  may identify a particular customer client  24   p  by a customer number “C-001” while another database system  26  of another vendor  24   v  may identify the same customer client  24   p  by a customer number “CXN57A”. 
   Additionally, each client system  24  may have one or more division systems  40  that include a division resource management database  38  that utilizes different transaction definitions and different value sets than the client database system  26 . 
   Each client system  24  and each of its division systems  40  may interface with the invoice management server  16  using at least one of the work station  28  and a an unattended interface module  34  that will establish a secure session with the invoice management server  16  over the network  12  for exchange of invoice transactions and remittance transactions. 
   The invoice management server  16  seamlessly manages the electronic exchange of invoice transactions and remittance transactions data amongst the client systems  24  (and the division systems  40 ) by independently communicating invoice data with each such client system  24  (or division system  40 ) using transaction definitions and value sets that are compatible with such client&#39;s (or division&#39;s) database system  26  or  38  respectively. 
   Turning to  FIG. 2 , exemplary structure of the server  16  is shown. The server  16  includes an invoice management application  44  that is coupled to a network circuit  42  and a database  50 . 
   The network circuit  42  includes circuitry for interfacing between the invoice management application  44  and a network service providers communication medium for providing access to the network  12 . In the exemplary embodiment, the circuitry may include appropriate routers, firewalls, and perimeter networks to provide for a secure interface and to prevent unauthorized access to the invoice management application  44  by other computing devices coupled to the network  12 . 
   The database  50  may be a relational database and store invoice and payment data  51  in a table structure. Turning to  FIGS. 3   a-   3   e , exemplary table structures are shown. The registered client table of  FIG. 3   a  associates a client&#39;s identification information such as the client&#39;s enterprise name and address with a unique normalized client code. 
   The invoice summary table of  FIG. 3   b , associates a unique normalized invoice transaction number to each invoice transaction managed by the invoice transaction server  16 . Associated with the unique normalized invoice transaction number are a plurality of fields comprising the normalized client code of the vendor, the normalized client code of the payer, a vendor assigned invoice number, a vendor assigned customer number for the payer, and an invoice date. 
   Because the quantity of line items on an invoice is variable, line item information is stored in a line item table as represented by  FIG. 3   c . The line item table associates line item detail for each line item on an invoice to the particular invoice using the vendor assigned invoice number, the invoice date, and the normalized client code of the vendor, and the vendor assigned customer number of the payer. 
   The remittance summary table of  FIG. 3   d  associates a unique normalized remittance transaction number to each remittance transaction managed by the invoice transaction server  16 . Associated with the unique normalized remittance transaction number are a plurality of fields including the normalized client code of the payer, the normalized client code of the vendor, and a payer assigned payment number. 
   Because each remittance may apply to one or more vendor invoices (in whole or in part), each remittance payment can be considered to have a variable number of line items. As such, remittance line item information that includes identification of the paid invoices is stored in the remittance detail table represented by  FIG. 3   e.    
   The remittance detail table of  FIG. 3   e  associates remittance detail such as the vendor assigned invoice number and the amount of the invoice paid to the payer assigned payment number and payment date. 
   Returning to  FIG. 2 , because each client may recognized other clients by customer numbers and vendor numbers that comprise different value sets than the normalized client ID numbers, the value set tables  58  associate value sets of each client transaction definition to normalized value sets. Turning to  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , the vendor control table  58   a  associates a payer recognized vendor ID code, vendor name, and vendor address to each vendor within the community that transact business with the payer. It should be appreciated that a single vendor identified by a normalized client ID number may be recognized to a payer as multiple vendors (such as different divisions or locations), each assigned a different payer recognized vendor ID code, vendor name, and vendor address. The vendor control table  58   a  accommodates such variations. 
   Similarly, the customer control table  58   b , associates a vendor recognized customer ID code, customer name, and customer address to each payer client within the community that transacts business with the vendor client. Again it should be appreciated that a single payer identified by a normalized client ID number may be recognized to a vendor as multiple customers, each assigned a different vendor recognized customer ID code, customer name, and customer address. The customer control table  58   b  accommodates such variations. 
   Returning to  FIG. 2 , the invoice management application  44  includes applicable circuits for establishing and managing a secure session with each unattended interface  34  and each workstation  36  via the network circuit  42 . 
   The invoice management application  44  further includes a session management engine  46  that controls the interface of invoice and remittance transaction files between the server  16  and the unattended interface module  30  or workstation  28  during the secure session in accordance with workflow scripts  52 . 
   The invoice management application  44  further includes a translation engine  48  for interfacing invoice and remittance transactions between the invoice and remittance tables  51  of database  50  and each interface module  34  and workstation  36  using transaction definitions and value sets that are compatible with the client database system  26  (or division database system  38 ) for which such unattended interface module  34  or workstation  36  is operating. 
   Session Management Engine 
   The session management engine  46  operates a menu driven application for each of the unattended interface modules  34  and work stations  36  that have open communication sessions to the invoice management application  44 . 
   During operation the session management engine  46  receives client instructions to perform various predetermined invoice and remittance transaction management operations and then performs processing steps in response thereto in accordance with work flow scripts  51 . 
   Turning to the flowchart of  FIG. 5  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , exemplary steps performed by the session management engine  46  to logon each unattended interface module  34  or workstation  36  and to initiate invoice management following logon are shown. 
   Step  62  represents receipt of a session initiation request from the client (e.g. the workstation  36  or the unattended interface module  34 ). Step  64  represents opening a secure session with the client and step  66  represents receiving logon information from the client that may include a client ID number and password. At step  68  the logon information is authenticated by comparing it to a password database and, at step  70 , if the logon information does not authenticate, access is denied at step  72 . 
   In the exemplary embodiment, the password table will also include an identifier as to whether the client is a workstation  36  or an unattended interface module  34 . As such, if the logon information does authenticate at step  70 , then at step  74  the session management engine  46  may determine that the client is a workstation  36  and proceed to step  76  wherein a main menu document is provided to the workstation  36  or determine that the client is an unattended interface module  34  and proceed to step  78  wherein the logon is acknowledged to the unattended interface module  34 . 
   After the unattended interface module  34  completes logon, the flow chart of  FIG. 6   a  represents exemplary steps performed by the session management engine  46  for interacting with the unattended interface module  34 . Referring to  FIG. 6   a  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , Step  80  represents receiving a request for a file loading configuration from the unattended interface module  34  and step  82  represents providing the file loading configuration data to the unattended interface module  34 . Such configuration data may include a location on the client network to find a file for loading. 
   Step  86  represents obtaining the file. In the exemplary embodiment, the unattended interface module  34  will send the file through the secure session and write the file to a predetermined location. The session management engine  46  will then retrieve the file from such location. 
   Step  88  represents calling the translation routine of the translation engine  48  (discussed later herein) to convert the file from the client transaction definition and value set to the normalized transaction definition and value set. 
   Step  90  represents receiving the normalized transaction definition file from the translation engine  48  and step  92  represents loading the normalized transactions into the invoice and payment records  51  in the database  50 . 
   After logon of a workstation  36  is complete the main menu document provided to the workstation  36  at step  76  of  FIG. 5  may include menu choices for managing invoice and remittance transactions as a payer client or as a vendor client with exemplary menu choices for each represented by the table of FIG.  7 . When managing invoice and remittance transactions as a payer, exemplary management operation may include extracting a file of incremental invoice transactions from the database  94 , viewing invoice and/or payment data  96 , uploading a file of payment transactions  98 , and manual data entry of a payment  100 . 
   When managing invoice and remittance transactions as a vendor, exemplary management operations may include extracting a file of incremental payment transactions from the data base  102 , viewing invoice and/or payment data  104 , uploading a file of invoice transactions  106 , and manual data entry of an invoice  108 . 
   Turning to the flowchart of  FIG. 7   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , exemplary steps for extracting a file of incremental invoice or remittance transactions ( 94  and  102  of  FIG. 7   a ) are shown. Step  110  represents obtaining and indication of the incremental transactions to include in the extracted file. In the exemplary embodiment, the session management engine  46  provides a document to the workstation  36  to prompt the user of the workstation  36  to enter a start date and an end date such that the incremental transactions are those that fall between such dates. It should be appreciated that the extracted file may cover a time period in which, in the case of invoice transactions, will include invoice transactions from multiple vendors for the payer and in the case of remittance transactions may include multiple remittance transactions from multiple customers of the vendor. 
   Step  112  represents obtaining the client file definition for the export file. The session management engine  46  may obtain this by either looking up a transaction definition associated with the particular client  24  in an applicable database file or by providing a document to the workstation  36  to prompt the user of the workstation  36  to select from available client transaction definitions. 
   Step  114  represents obtaining the incremental transactions from the database  50  in the normalized format. Step  116  represents calling the translation routine of the translation engine  48  and step  118  represents receiving the transactions from the translation engine  48  that are compatible with the client transaction definition and with client value sets. Step  120  represents building a file of the incremental transactions and sending the file to the workstation  36  through the secure session. 
   The flowchart of  FIG. 7   c  represents exemplary steps associated with viewing invoice/payment transactions ( 96  and  104  of  FIG. 7   a ). 
   Step  122  represents obtaining an indication of the transactions that the user of the workstation  36  desires to view. This may include providing the workstation  36  with documents representing menus of choices for user selection and obtaining a post of the user selection through the secure session. 
   Step  124  represents obtaining the client transaction definition for the transactions to be viewed either through operator selection of available definitions or by looking up a client transaction definition that is associated with the client  24  in an applicable database file. 
   Step  126  represents obtaining normalized transaction data from the database that corresponds with the indication obtained at step  122 . Step  128  represents calling the translation routine of the translation engine  48  and step  130  represents obtaining the transaction compatible with the client transaction definition and with client value sets from the transaction engine  48 . Step  132  represents building a document to display the transactions and step  134  represents sending the document to the workstation  36  through the secure session. 
   The flowchart of  FIG. 7   d  represents exemplary steps performed by the session management engine  46  in response to user selection of uploading a file ( 98  or  106  of  FIG. 7   a ). 
   Step  136  represents obtaining the client transaction definition for the file to be imported either through operator selection of available definitions or by looking up a client transaction definition that is associated with the client  24  in an applicable database file. Step  138  represents obtaining the file location from the workstation  36  and step  140  represents providing the workstation  36  with applicable scripts to upload the file from the location through the secure session and write the file to a predetermined location. 
   Step  140  represents obtaining the file from the predetermined location and step  142  represents calling the translation routine of the translation engine  48 . Step  144  represents obtaining the normalized transactions from the translation engine  48  and step  146  represents loading the transaction into the invoice and payment records  51  of the database  50 . 
   The flowchart of  FIG. 7   e  represents exemplary steps performed by the session management engine  46  to provide manual entry of invoice or payment data ( 100  and  108  of  FIG. 7   a ). 
   Step  148  represents obtaining the client transaction definition for the file to be imported either through operator selection of available definitions or by looking up a client transaction definition that is associated with the client  24  in an applicable database file. 
   Step  150  represents sending a manual data entry document compliant with the client transaction definition to the workstation  36 . Step  152  represents receiving a post of the manually entered transaction back from the workstation  36  over the secure session. 
   Step  154  represents calling the translation routine of the translation engine  48  and step  156  represents receiving the normalized transaction back from the translation engine  48 . Step  158  represents loading the normalized transaction into the invoice and payment records  51  of the database  50 . 
   Translation Engine 
   Turning to  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , exemplary operation of the translation engine  48  is shown. The translation engine  48  translates invoice transactions between a client transaction definition and value set compatible with a clients database system  26  (or a division&#39;s database system  38 ) and a normalized transaction definition and value set compatible with the invoice and payment records  51  in the database  50 . Referring to  FIG. 8   a , operation of the translation engine  48  with respect to translating a transaction from a client definition transaction to a normalized transaction is shown. 
   Step  160  represents receipt of a transaction corresponding to the client transaction definition. Referring briefly to  FIGS. 9   a  and  9   b , portions of exemplary client transactions are represented. Exemplary transaction  182  is a comma delimitated transaction definition that includes a plurality of data elements  186   a-   186   n  each of which is separated from adjacent data elements  186   a-   186   n  by a comma symbol. Each data element  186   a-   186   n  is identified by its sequential location within the transaction (e.g. data element  186   e  which is the 5 th  data element in the transaction represents invoice date) and includes data that corresponds with transaction format rules. For example, the transaction format rules that correspond to the invoice date may require that the date element  186   e  contain 6 digits in a MMDDYY format. 
   Exemplary transaction  184  is a tagged data element transaction definition that includes a plurality of data elements  190   a-   190   n  each of which is positioned following an element tag  192   a-   192   n  that identifies the contents of the following data element  190   a-   190   n . Again, the data within each element complies with transaction format rules. 
   It should be appreciated that the exemplary transactions  182  and  184  each represent only a portion of a transaction. An actual transaction may consist of many more elements and the permutations of client transaction definitions may be large. 
   Step  162  represents identifying the particular client transaction definition with which the received transaction complies. In the exemplary embodiment, the session management engine  46  will provide a transaction definition type indicator to the translation engine when it calls the translation routine. The transaction definition type indicator will correspond to the type of transaction that the client system indicated. However, it is envisioned that the translation engine  48  may independently determine the client transaction definition type. 
   Step  164  represents performing business value set translation. Because each client database system  26  (and each division database system  38 ) may identify other clients, products, services, and other invoice information by different value sets, the value sets must be normalized. For example, a particular client  24  may be identified by a unique client number, client  007  for example, in the normalized transaction. However, the clients database system  26  requires a vendor number and the vendor number that corresponds to client  007  may be V 319  for example. As such, the translation engine  48  relies on client specific business value translation tables  58  to map business values from client specific values  192  in the client transaction to normalized values  194 . 
   Step  166  represents performing data mapping translation. Referring briefly to  FIG. 10   a , to perform data mapping translation, the translation engine relies on a data mapping table  196  for each of the possible client transaction definitions that are stored in the data mapping database  56 . Each data mapping table  196  associates a client transaction field  198  and mapping rules  200  to each field  202  in the normalized transaction. The table  136  also indicates whether the field is required for purposes of validation discussed later herein. Because each field in a normalized transaction may include data that is only a portion of a filed from a client transaction (for example, a client transaction date field may include a month, day, and year organized as MMDDYYYY while the normalized transaction may include three separate fields identified as month, day, and year), the mapping rules  200  may indicate which portion of the client transaction field to map to the normalized transaction field. Because the normalized transaction field may be either longer or shorter than the client transaction filed, the mapping rules  200  may indication which characters to truncate or which characters to add as default characters. 
   After performing both business value translation and data mapping translation, the normalized data must be validated at step  168 . The translation engine  48  validates the normalized transaction by assuring that each field identified as required in the mapping table  196  is included and that the data within each such required field matches field requirements. 
   Step  170  represents outputting the normalized transaction to the session management engine  46 . 
   Turning to  FIG. 8   b , exemplary steps for translating a normalized transaction to a transaction compliant with a client transaction definition are shown. Step  172  represents receiving the normalized transaction and step  174  represents identifying the client transaction definition required. In the exemplary embodiment, the client transaction definition will be provided as a client transaction indicator by the session management engine  46 . 
   Step  176  represents performing data mapping translation. Referring briefly to  FIG. 10 , to perform data mapping translation, the translation engine  48  relies on mapping tables  204  that are stored in the data mapping database  56 . The mapping tables  204  associate each normalized data field  206  to a client transaction definition data field  208  (if required) and to mapping rules  210 . 
   Because the client transaction definition data field  208  may require data from one or more normalized fields  206  (e.g. the date field example discussed earlier), the mapping rules may identify that the normalized field  206  is mapped to a specific sub portion of the client transaction definition field  208 . Because the client transaction data field  208  may have more or fewer characters, the mapping rules may indicate which characters to truncate and/or default characters to add. 
   Step  178  represents performing business value translation. As discussed with respect to step  164 , business value translation is performed utilizing business value translation tables  58 . 
   Step  180  represents outputting the transaction that complies with the client transaction definition to the session management engine  46 . 
   Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is obvious that equivalents and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of the specification. It is envisioned that after reading and understanding the present invention those skilled in the art may envision other processing states, events, and processing steps to further the objectives of the modular multi-media communication management system of the present invention. The present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications, and is limited only by the scope of the following claims.