Patent ID: 7363253

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining retroactive price for a part being supplied by a single supplier entity and supplied to first and second plants of a single buyer entity, the method comprising: (a) on a first acquisition date, firstly acquiring a part for use by a first plant from a supplier before establishing a price for acquiring the part; (b) after the first acquiring step, receiving a first initiation message including a first effective time period and a first new price for the part and for initiating a first pricing event for the part acquired for use by the first plant from the supplier; (c) after the first acquiring step, for the first initiation message, retrieving information pertinent to an at least one receipt received for the part within the first effective time period, the information for each receipt including a receipt date and a receipt quantity; for each receipt, determining a first price based on the first new price and the receipt quantity; and generating an invoice enabling transfer of the first price, the invoice including the first price, wherein the first effective time period starts on the first acquisition date, which is on or before each receipt date; (d) on a second acquisition date, secondly acquiring the part for use by a second plant from the supplier after establishing the first new price; (e) after the second acquiring step, receiving a second initiation message including a second effective time period and a second new price for the part and for initiating a second pricing event for the part acquired for use by the second plant from the supplier; (f) after the second acquiring step, for the second initiation message, retrieving information pertinent to an at least one receipt received for the part within the second effective time period, the information for each receipt including a receipt date, a receipt quantity, and a receipt price, wherein the receipt price is the first new price; for each receipt, determining a variance based on the difference between the second new price and the first new price; determining a second price based on the variance and the receipt quantity; and generating a retroactive invoice enabling transfer of the second price, the retroactive invoice including the variance and the second price, wherein the second effective time period starts on a second effective date, which is after the second acquisition date, whereby at least one retroactive invoice is relied upon by the buyer for the first and second plants and the supplier for the first and second plants for receiving price retroactively.