Purchase Order and Invoice Aggregator System for Sales Environment
A computerized system and method of aggregating sales data for delivery to a particular market participant includes a computer program designed to sort purchase order records and associated invoice records independently of any particular computer accounting system. The computer program receives sales data in the form of batch purchase order records or batch invoice records from a multitude of retailers and suppliers. The program converts the sales data into a standardized format that is independent of the computer systems used by the retailers and the wholesalers. The data conversion occurs outside the associated computer accounting systems as well. After converting the sales data, the system identifies which market participant, whether retailer or supplier, should receive each record and aggregates the appropriate records for transmission to the appropriate market participant. The system receives data in any arrangement and transmits data to any market participant in that participant's desired format.
1 . A computer program product in data communication with a computer accounting system to aggregate and manage purchase orders and invoices in a sales environment, comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having sales aggregator commands thereon, said sales aggregator commands being executable by a processor and comprising:
a translator command sequence for placing sales data into a standardized format, wherein said translator command sequence operates independently of the computer accounting system; and
at least one dashboard for aggregating and transmitting all sales data directed to a respective market participant, said dashboard utilizing said translator to place said sales data in the respective market participant's preferred format.
2 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , further comprising an order input command sequence for accepting multiple orders from at least one vendor, said orders to be fulfilled by at least one supplier.
3 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said market participant is selected from the group consisting of retail vendors, wholesale merchandise suppliers, and middlemen.
4 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said sales data comprise either a purchase order for deliverable goods or an invoice for supplied goods.
5 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said translator command sequence comprises purchase order subroutines and invoice subroutines.
6 . A computer program product according to claim 5 , wherein said purchase order subroutine comprises a supplier identification sequence for analyzing a purchase order in standardized data format and determining which supplier should receive said order for fulfillment.
7 . A computer program product according to claim 6 , wherein said dashboard aggregates all purchase orders to be fulfilled by a respective supplier and transmits said aggregated orders to the respective supplier in that supplier's preferred format.
8 . A computer program product according to claim 5 , wherein said invoice subroutine comprises a retailer identification sequence for analyzing sales data in standardized data format and determining which retailer should receive an invoice for orders fulfilled by a supplier.
9 . A computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein said dashboard aggregates all invoice records for orders fulfilled by a respective supplier and transmits said aggregated invoices to the respective retailer in that retailer's preferred format.
10 . A computer program product according to claim 9 , wherein said invoice subroutine adds a profit margin to the supplier invoice before transmitting the invoice to the retailer for payment.
11 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said translator command sequence interacts with a separate data toolkit to extract data from an incoming purchase order or from an incoming invoice.
12 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said sales data comprises an EDI protocol.
13 . A computer program product according to claim 1 , wherein said sales data comprises a VAN protocol.
14 . A computer program product in data communication with a computer accounting system to aggregate and manage multiple merchandise orders from retailers, comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having order aggregator commands thereon, said order aggregator commands being executable by a processor and comprising:
a translator command sequence for placing said orders into a standardized data format, wherein said translator command sequence operates independently of the computer accounting system and comprises incoming order processing routines and outgoing order processing routines;
a supplier identification sequence for analyzing said order in said standardized data format and determining which supplier should receive said order for fulfillment;
a supplier dashboard for aggregating all orders to be fulfilled by a respective supplier and transmitting said aggregated orders to the respective supplier, said dashboard utilizing said outgoing order processing routines of said translator to place said order in the respective supplier's format.
15 . A computer program product according to claim 14 , wherein said translator command sequence further comprises incoming invoice processing routines and final invoice processing routines.
16 . A computer program product according to claim 15 , further comprising a retailer identification sequence for analyzing an incoming invoice record from a supplier that has been translated into said standardized data format and determining which retailer should receive said invoice for payment.
17 . A computer program product according to claim 16 , further comprising a retailer dashboard for aggregating all invoice records to be directed to a respective retailer and transmitting said aggregated invoice records to the respective retailer, said dashboard utilizing said final invoice processing routines of said translator to place said invoice in the respective retailer's preferred format.
18 . A computer program product according to claim 17 , wherein said final invoice processing routines add a profit margin to the invoice before transmitting the invoice to the retailer.
19 . A computer program product according to either claim 3 or claim 14 that interacts with an electronic mail system to forward a packing slip to the supplier for inclusion with the fulfilled order that is shipped out.
20 . A computer program product according to either claim 1 or claim 14 , wherein said standardized format is a database.
21 . A computer implemented method of aggregating a multitude of purchase orders or invoice records for consolidation and transmission to an appropriate market participant, comprising:
receiving sales data from a market participant;
converting the sales data to a standardized format that is independent of any particular computer accounting system;
parsing said sales data into discrete portions;
identifying other market participants that should each receive respective discrete portions of the sales data;
determining the preferred data format for each respective market participant receiving the portions of sales data;
transmitting the portions of sales data to the appropriate market participant in the preferred format.
22 . A computer implemented method according to claim 21 , wherein the step of receiving sales data comprises receiving a multitude of merchandise purchase order records from at least one retailer for submission to at least one supplier.
23 . A computer implemented method according to claim 21 , wherein the step of receiving sales data comprises receiving a multitude of merchandise invoice records from at least one supplier for submission to at least one retailer.
24 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , wherein the step of parsing the sales data comprises placing discrete portions of the sales data in appropriate fields in a database.
25 . A computer implemented method according to claim 24 , wherein at least one discrete portion of the sales data identifies the market participant that should receive the sales data.
26 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , further comprising the step of adjusting the content of the sales data after determining the preferred format for the receiving market participant.
27 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , further comprising the step of aggregating all sales data that should be sent to a respective market participant in a single batch, wherein the aggregating step occurs after the step of determining the preferred format but before the step of transmitting the sales data.
28 . A computer implemented method according to claim 27 , wherein the aggregating step comprises listing all purchase order records from a single retailer for goods to be supplied by a single wholesale distributor.
29 . A computer implemented method according to claim 27 , wherein the aggregating step comprises listing all invoice records from a single supplier for goods that have been shipped to a single retailer.
30 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , wherein the step of receiving sales data comprises receiving the data in a format selected from the group consisting of accounting data, EDI data, and VAN data.
31 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , wherein the step of transmitting the data comprises utilizing a transmission method selected from email, AS2, and FTP.
32 . A computer implemented method according to claim 23 , wherein the step of receiving sales data comprises receiving data from a retailer regarding merchandise that has been returned by a purchaser.