Patent ID: 7809615

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for automatically capturing invoices issued to a community of different recipients by a plurality of different issuers, the method comprising: receiving invoices issued to a community of different recipients by a plurality of different issuers; receiving input from the community of different recipients identifying data fields or candidate distinguishing features in invoices from the plurality of different issuers; defining templates of invoices based at least in part on the input from the community of different recipients to extract data from the identified data fields in the invoices; selecting, by one or more computers, distinguishing features for the templates of invoices from the candidate distinguishing features based at least in part on the input from the community of different recipients; comparing, by one or more computers, the invoices to the distinguishing features, wherein a distinguishing feature selected based on an input received from a first recipient is compared with an invoice issued to a second recipient; selecting, by one or more computers, templates of invoices based on the comparisons to distinguishing features, each template identified with an issuer; and extracting, by one or more computers, data from the invoices based on the selected templates for invoice payment preparation.