Patent ID: 7177828

Claim:
A method for managing trade receivables credit and collection services using an accounts receivable system including a server system coupled to a database, said method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of customer devices; providing a business enterprise device, the business enterprise having a client wherein the business enterprise and the client are separate and distinct business entities, the client having customers wherein the client and the customers are separate and distinct business entities, wherein the business enterprise device configured with a browser; connecting a server system associated with the business enterprise to the business enterprise device, wherein the business enterprise manages trade receivables credit for the client, manages collection services for the client, and updates a general ledger of the client; establishing a communication link between a client system and each of: the business enterprise device, the server system, and the plurality of customer devices, the client system is associated with the client and manages ordering of products by customers using the plurality of customer devices, manages shipping of products to customers, and manages billing for ordered products; storing in the database information pertaining to a plurality of clients of the business enterprise and a plurality of customers of the clients; receiving customer information at the server system from the client system, the customer information includes information relating to a customer of the client; extracting data from the customer information; utilizing a Remittance Processing Module at the server system to process payments remitted by the customer to the client for at least one of services and goods provided by the client to the customer, generate at least one report for the business enterprise including customer accounts that satisfy predetermined conditions for requiring immediate attention, process aging of each past due customer account, monitor delinquent customer accounts including assigning a risk code value to each delinquent account based on past trade experiences, and process bad debts including transferring a bad debt from a normal receivable statement to an internal active bad debt file for monitoring bad debt; loading the extracted data and the processed payments into the database for processing and generating journal entries; and posting the journal entries on a general ledger of the client for financial monitoring, reporting and auditing purposes, wherein the posting including transmitting the journal entries from the server to the client system, and wherein the journal entries including cash variances, exchange losses, discounts and concessions, customer delinquencies, and bad debts.