Patent ID: 6882983

Claim:
A method for automatically processing transactions between a buying company and a selling company, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining via a computer network purchase order data having at least one entry, the purchase order data including purchase order header information and purchase order detail information having line items; (b) obtaining via a computer network invoice data having at least one entry, the invoice data including invoice header information and invoice detail information having line items; (c) automatically comparing selected purchase order header information and corresponding selected invoice header information to identify a matched record having purchase order data and corresponding invoice data; (d) automatically comparing via a computer the total cost of goods received from the matched record purchase order data and total cost of goods shipped from the matched record invoice data according to a predetermined tolerance; (e) if the total costs are within the predetermined tolerance, then automatically providing for payment of invoices corresponding to the matched record invoice data; (f) if the total costs are not within the predetermined tolerance, then electronically comparing selected purchase order line items and selected invoice line items according to predetermined rules; (g) if the selected line item comparison satisfies the predetermined rules, then providing for payment of the line item(s) corresponding to the selected invoice line item(s); and (h) if the selected line item comparison does not satisfy the predetermined rules, (i) automatically notifying the buying company for resolution of any purchase order line item(s) not matching invoice data; or (ii) automatically notifying the selling company for resolution of any invoice line item(s) not matching purchase order data.