Patent ID: 7865413

Claim:
A method for processing transactions between buying companies and selling companies by a third party using a central database accessible via a communications network, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more computer systems of the third party that communicate with the central database, one or more purchase orders associated with at least one buying company; storing, in the central database using the one or more computer systems of the third party, information representing one or more purchase order line items of the one or more purchase orders; receiving, at the one or more computer systems of the third party that communicate with the central database, one or more invoices associated with at least one selling company; storing, in the central database using the one or more computer systems of the third party, information representing one or more invoice line items of the one or more invoices; matching, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems of the third party, one or more line items in preselected purchase order line items associated with the at least one buying company with one or more line items in preselected invoice line items associated with the at least one selling company to determine one or more matching line items; generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems of the third party, information providing for the remittance of an amount due to the at least one selling company from the at least one buying company based on the one or more matching line items according to predetermined criteria related to the one or more matching line items; issuing, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems of the third party, a payment automatically to the at least one selling company based on the information providing for remittance of an amount due to the at least one selling company from the at least one buying company; and forwarding, using the one or more computer systems of the third party, information notifying the at least one buying company of the automatic payment.