JP2002133306A - Information processing device, information processing system, information processing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing system in which a request of a client to a company side and a request processing such as a processing that the company side transfers a request cost from the client to a payment processing are efficiently carried out. SOLUTION: At the company side 300, a receiving means 302 receives an electronic message attached with request particulars electronic file from the client 200 (a file including a plurality of record data corresponding to a plurality of request matters). Confirmation means 303, 304 confirm a content of the request particulars electronic file attached to the electronic message received by the receiving means 301. A transmission means 307 returns a confirmation result at the confirmation means 303, 304 to the client 200 as the electronic message.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method used in, for example, an apparatus or a system for transferring a billing cost from a business partner to a payment process in a company. , And processing steps for performing the same, in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, when a company requests a supplier to supply a delivered item and the supplier charges the company for various costs and commissions in supplying the delivered item, Write the name of the delivered item, the amount charged, etc. on the written invoice, and mail the invoice to the company together with the delivered item. on the other hand,
In the case of a company, the person in charge of receiving the delivery mailed from the business partner checks the adequacy of the billed amount from the contents of the invoice attached to the delivery, and only checks the delivery that is judged to be acceptable for payment. By entering data such as the amount of billing into an accounting system provided in the company, the processing is shifted to a one-time / month payment process.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned conventional billing method has the following problems (1) to (4).

[0004] (1) In order to use one written invoice for one delivery as the basis for payment, the business partner must individually provide each delivery for the amount requested by the company. It is necessary to hand-write costs and fees on the corresponding invoices, and the more deliveries, the more labor and time must be spent on the work. In addition, it is conceivable that the invoice is written and printed out by the accounting system or the like used by the business partner.
Since one bill must be generated for one delivery, the more deliveries, the more cost and time it takes to print them.

(2) Since a written invoice is exchanged between a company and a business partner by mail, the mailing cost and mailing time are required.

(3) On the company side, personnel costs and time are spent for inputting billing contents described in a written bill as data into an accounting system.

(4) In order to compensate for an input error that occurs at the time of data input, it takes time and labor for personnel to perform a read check of input values.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and an information processing apparatus and an information processing apparatus capable of efficiently performing a billing process such as a billing process to a business partner and a payment process at the business partner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium in which a computer, an information processing method, and processing steps for executing the system are stored in a computer-readable manner.

[0009]

For such a purpose,
A first invention is an information processing apparatus for performing billing processing using a billing statement electronic file transmitted via a communication means and representing a billing claim, wherein the electronic message to which the billing statement electronic file is attached is transmitted. Receiving means for receiving, confirming means for confirming the contents of a billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic message received by the receiving means, and an electronic message received by the receiving means as a confirmation result of the confirming means as an electronic message. Transmission means for returning the message to the transmission source.

[0010] The second invention is the above-mentioned first invention, wherein:
The communication means includes a network.

[0011] A third invention is the above-mentioned first invention, wherein:
The billing statement electronic file includes a plurality of record data corresponding to a plurality of bills, the confirming means confirms the content for each record data, and the transmitting means electronically transmits a result of the content confirmation to the transmission source. It is characterized by being transmitted as a message.

[0012] In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect,
The confirmation means confirms whether or not the target record data is stored in a cost management database, and the transmission means transmits the confirmation result to the transmission source as an electronic message.

According to a fifth aspect, in the fourth aspect,
The checking means determines whether the target record data is not stored in the cost management database, is inserted conditionally, or is inserted unconditionally, and the transmitting means determines the result of the determination as It is transmitted as an electronic message to the transmission source.

According to a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect,
If the transmitting means determines that the target record data is not to be stored in the cost management database, the transmitting means returns an electronic message describing information indicating the cause to the transmitting source.

[0015] In a seventh aspect based on the first aspect,
It is characterized by comprising changing means for changing the result of the checking by the checking means.

An eighth invention is an information processing system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one device of the plurality of devices is the first to seventh devices.
Characterized by having the function of the information processing device according to any one of the above.

A ninth invention is an information processing method for allowing a company to shift a billing cost from a business partner to payment processing, wherein the business partner attaches a billing statement electronic file representing the billing cost. An electronic message is sent to the company by e-mail, and the company executes an input value check process of the e-mail content sent from the business partner by e-mail, and uses the result of the check processing as an electronic message to the business partner. And a processing step of transmitting an e-mail to the server.

[0018] In a tenth aspect based on the ninth aspect, the company side transmits, to each of a plurality of record data representing a plurality of bills included in the billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic mail, a plurality of record data. It is characterized by including a processing step of executing an input value check process for storing in the expense database on the company side.

According to an eleventh aspect, in the tenth aspect, the company side stores the plurality of record data in data not stored in the expense database, data stored conditionally, and data stored unconditionally. It is characterized by including a processing step of classifying at least one of the conditions.

In a twelfth aspect based on the eleventh aspect, for the record data that is not stored in the expense database, the company notifies the supplier of the cause and urges retransmission of the corrected e-mail. It is characterized by including a processing step.

According to a thirteenth aspect, in the eleventh aspect, the company has at least one of record data not stored in the expense database, record data inserted conditionally, and record data inserted unconditionally. The record data includes a processing step of displaying a screen on a person in charge of the company in order to judge the validity of the bill, and updating a payment permission field based on an instruction from the person in charge. I do.

In a fourteenth aspect based on the ninth aspect, the supplier transmits an e-mail for requesting the company a new total amount based on the result of the check process on the company side. It is characterized by including a processing step.

In a fifteenth aspect based on the fourteenth aspect, the check processing result information includes a plurality of bills included in a billing statement electronic file attached to an email sent by the supplier to the company. For each of a plurality of record data representing, the result of the input value check processing for storing in the company-side expense database, and information on the record data that the person in charge of the company has determined that payment is possible, The transaction method further comprises a step of transmitting an e-mail for requesting the company to collect a total amount for the record data stored in the expense database and determined by the person in charge to be payable. And

A sixteenth aspect of the present invention is an information processing method for performing billing processing using a billing statement electronic file transmitted through a network and representing a billing claim. A receiving step of receiving a message, a confirming step of confirming the contents of a billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic message received by the receiving step, and receiving the confirmation result of the confirming step as an electronic message by the receiving step Transmitting the electronic message back to the transmission source of the electronic message.

According to a seventeenth aspect, a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the functions of the information processing system according to claim 8 is computer readable. It is characterized by being recorded on a storage medium.

An eighteenth invention is characterized in that a program for causing a computer to execute the processing steps of the information processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 16 is recorded on a computer-readable storage medium.

Specifically, for example, by using a billing statement electronic file including N record data corresponding to N billing items (delivery items), a one-sheet / month bill can be used. By using this as the basis for payment, it is possible to reduce the cost and work time conventionally spent by the billing side (customer, patent office, etc.). In addition, a configuration in which electronic messages are exchanged by a communication means such as a network can reduce the mailing cost, mailing time, and the like that have been conventionally spent by the parties. In addition, the billing side (company or the like) spends inputting the billing content described in the conventional bill into the own system or the like by using the billing statement electronic file created by the billing side. Labor costs and work time can be reduced. In addition, the billing side uses the billing statement electronic file created by the billing side, thereby spending personnel costs for checking input values, which was conventionally performed to compensate for input errors that occur during data entry. And the working time can be reduced.

[0028]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to, for example, an information processing system 100 as shown in FIG. In the information processing system 100 according to the present embodiment, a patent office (hereinafter, referred to as “patent office 200”) as a business partner 200
0 to the company 300 for legal fees and commissions for performing the JPO procedural work requested by the company 300, and the company 300 converts the request from the patent office 200 to monthly accounting processing (payment processing). This is a system for migration.

First, the information processing system 1 of the present embodiment
Prior to the detailed description of 00, a general billing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the payment process for N months, and many companies carry out the process of accounting for patent-related expenses that occur periodically at the end of this month, and the payment process for the next month. Here, as an example, the billing deadline date is N / 20, the accounting processing execution date is N / 30, and the payment execution date is (N + 1) month 2 as an example.
0 days.

First, the patent office mails a written invoice to the company together with the product generated in the JPO procedure as needed. Next, the company uses the screen of the company's accounting system to transfer the invoice from the patent office to the payment process, using the screen from the patent office received by N / 20. Perform data input processing. This data input is performed by N / 30 on which the accounting process is performed, and the payment statement of the invoiced N-month billed by the processing is sent to the patent office of the invoicing source, and the accounting of the company is performed. The department performs the payment processing on the (N + 1) month 20th.

However, the conventional billing method shown in FIG. 2 is based on the premise that there is a written bill. Requires manual entry of data into the accounting system by a person in charge of the company. In addition, since the person in charge of the company also needs to judge the validity of the billing amount at the same time, there is a problem that the burden on the person in charge is large in a company with a large number of requests from the patent office.

Therefore, in the information processing system 100 of the present embodiment, for example, a billing process shown in FIG. 3 is performed. In other words, in the present embodiment, it is particularly assumed that a billing statement electronic file as shown in FIG. 4 created by the patent office 200 as one record is used instead of a written bill as one record. , This is the accounting system 30
By batch inputting to 1, the load on the person in charge of the company as described above is reduced to the utmost.

Specifically, first, the patent office 200
Preliminary delivery to the company in writing or electronic data of the product generated in the JPO proceedings. Next, the patent office 20
No. 0 creates a billing detail electronic file of the delivered item as shown in FIG. 4 and attaches the stored file to an electronic message and transmits it to the company side 300 as an e-mail when the file is accumulated to some extent. At this time, the header of the electronic message conforms to, for example, the format shown in FIG. And the company side 300
The electronic message transmitted from the patent office 200 is received, and the accounting system 301 checks the input value according to the flowchart of FIG.
Automatically performs e-mail transmission processing and the like. In addition, an electronic message shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 is created for one process and transmitted to the patent office 200.

The above-described billing process according to the present embodiment has the following (feature 1) to (feature 3). (Characteristic 1) The patent office 200 that makes the cost request can send an e-mail any number of times up to the expiration date of the request, and obtains in real time the input value check result of each data line of the electronic billing specification file attached to it it can. (Characteristic 2) The person in charge of the company 300 can easily refer to the data input value and the input value check result through the screen of the accounting system 301. (Characteristic 3) The patent office 200 creates an invoice based on the results of various checks and the payment statement sent by the invoice deadline sent from the company 300, and sends the invoice to the company by N month Sent to the side 300. Hereinafter, the configuration of the present embodiment for implementing these features (1) to (3) will be described in detail.

<Overall Configuration of Information Processing System 100> In the information processing system 100, as shown in FIG. 1, the patent office 200 and the company side 300 communicate with each other through communication means such as a network (here, a network). The configuration is such that communication is possible. Therefore, each of the patent office 200 and the company 300 has a computer function 500 as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

The computer function 500 includes a CPU 501, a ROM 502, and a RAM 5 as shown in FIG.
03, a keyboard controller (KBC) 505 of a keyboard (KB) 509, and a CRT controller (CR) of a CRT display (CRT) 510 as a display unit.
TC) 506, a disk controller (DKC) 507 of a hard disk (HD) 511 and a floppy disk (FD) 512, and a network interface card (NIC) 508 communicably connected via a system bus 504. And Then, the system bus 504 is connected to a network 520 for connecting between the patent office 200 and the company side 300.

The CPU 501 has a ROM 502 or an HD
By executing the software stored in the 511 or the software supplied from the FD 512, the respective components connected to the system bus 504 are comprehensively controlled.
That is, the CPU 501 reads out a processing program in accordance with a processing sequence described in detail later from the ROM 502, the HD 511, or the FD 512 and executes the processing program, thereby executing the above-described (feature 1) to (feature 1) of the present embodiment.
Control for realizing (Feature 3) is performed.

The RAM 503 functions as a main memory or a work area of the CPU 501. KBC505
Controls an instruction input from the KB 509 or a pointing device (not shown). CRTC 506
The display of the RT 510 is controlled. The DKC 507 includes a boot program, various applications, editing files,
H for storing a user file, a network management program, and the above-described processing program in the present embodiment, etc.
Access to D511 and FD512 is controlled. NI
The C508 bidirectionally exchanges data with the patent office 200 or the company 300.

<Configuration for Realizing (Characteristic 1)> As shown in FIG. 1, the accounting system 301 of the company 300 includes the reception sensing unit 302 and the header input value checking unit 30.
3. Attachment file input value check unit 304, database insertion unit 305, electronic message creation unit 306, transmission unit 307, interface program unit 308, payment processing unit 309, electronic message creation unit 310, transmission unit 31
1. Management database 312 and expense database 3
13 is provided. The person in charge of the company 300 can access the accounting system 301 using a terminal device 320 such as a personal computer.

Therefore, for example, after the patent office 200 that makes the cost request transmits an electronic message with the electronic billing file attached thereto to the company side 300, the accounting system 301 of the company side 300 that has received the electronic message has received the electronic message. The operation of the information processing system 100 from the execution of processing such as data input value checking and database insertion to the creation of an electronic message and the transmission of an e-mail to the patent office 200 will be described below.

First, the patent office 200 sends an electronic message M201 to which the billing statement electronic file is attached to the company 3
Send to 00. Electronic message M20 here
Reference numeral 1 denotes a file attached with a billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4) in a state where the billing details have already been accumulated to a considerable extent for the already delivered cases.

As shown in FIG. 4, the billing statement electronic file includes a line for each billing number, that is, one record corresponding to one bill, an “office code”, a “billing number”, and a “billing date”. , "Four-law code", "correspondence number (application number, etc.)", "expense code", "billing amount", etc.
Format).

As shown in FIG. 5, the header of the electronic message M201 to which the billing specification electronic file is attached includes "From" and "To" predetermined between the patent office 200 and the company 300. "," Subject ",
And data such as “Attached (a possible file format)”.

By inputting data such as "processing name / processing date / times" as shown by "M11" in FIG. 5 for "Subject", for example, The electronic message "Subject" that conveys the input value check result can also be used, and there is an advantage that it is easy for the receiver to know which transmitted electronic message the input value check result has reached.

The electronic message M 201 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is received by the reception sensor 302 of the accounting system 301. Here, the reception sensing unit 302 determines “T” in the header (see FIG. 5 above) of the electronic message M201.
o "corresponds to the destination server entered. When the electronic message M201 is received by the reception sensing unit 302, the components 303 to 307 of the accounting system 301 operate automatically (operation by automatically starting a program) as follows.

The header input value check unit 303 checks the data of the header (see FIG. 5) of the electronic message M201, and the attached file input value check unit 304
Check the billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4) attached to the electronic message M201. Note that the check process here includes a process of checking the relationship between the management database 312 and the like and the target data, and determining whether or not the target data can be inserted into the cost database 313.
The details will be described later with reference to FIG.

The database insertion unit 305, as will be described in detail later, stores the data (record data) of the claim that clears any of the checks in the header input value check unit 303 and the attached file input value check unit 304 in the expense database. 313 is inserted (stored).

The electronic message creation unit 306 creates an electronic message in which the check results by the header input value check unit 303 and the attached file input value check unit 304 are set as text data for each request (for each record).

The transmission section 307 is provided for the electronic message creation section 3
The electronic message created in step 06 is transmitted to the patent office 200. The electronic message M202 transmitted to the patent office 200 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 described above.

The electronic message M202 in FIG. 7 is sent to the patent office 20 by the header input value check unit 303 and the attached file input value check unit 304 of the company 300.
0, the data (header input value) of the header portion (see FIG. 5 above) of the electronic message M201 transmitted and the contents of the billing specification electronic file (see FIG. 4) attached thereto are all checked and cleared. Is an electronic message indicating that all of the requests have been accepted by the company side 300. When the patent office 200 receives the electronic message M202 of FIG. 7 described above, the patent office 200 only has to wait for the end of the month when the accounting process on the company side 300 is performed.

On the other hand, the electronic message M202 shown in FIG.
The data (header input value) of the header part (see FIG. 5 above) of the electronic message M201 transmitted by the patent office 200 by the header input value check unit 303 and the attached file input value check unit 304 of the company 300, This is an electronic message when any or all of the contents of the billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4 above) attached to the file have a check error. When the patent office 200 receives the electronic message M202 of FIG.
00, it is necessary to confirm the description described in the text of the electronic message M202, correct the value of the header part and the billing specification electronic file as necessary, and re-create and re-transmit the electronic message M201. is there. For a request (record) in which the check error is an error in the header input value check unit 303, error processing is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. 6 described below to re-create and re-create the electronic message M201. Send.

The processing (check and error processing) shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 will be described. First, in the accounting system 301 of the company 300, the header input value check unit 303 sets the electronic message M201.
Into the header (see FIG. 5 above) as specified (“Fr
om "," Subject ", and" Attach
d) are input (steps S401 to S403). Specifically, for example, the header input value check unit 303 checks whether or not the data input to “From” in the header part is data indicating a preset patent office. As a result, if they are different, the electronic message creation unit 306
The electronic message M202 as shown in FIG. 8 is created, and the transmitting unit 307 transmits the electronic message M202 to the patent office 200. As a result, Patent Office 2
00 performs retransmission after correcting the electronic message M201.

In the present embodiment, for example, if the company 300 can execute a program by receiving an e-mail via the Internet and insert data into a database (data storage), the malicious third It is necessary to prevent data transmission to the company side 300 by a user. As an example of one method for that,
Ask the sender to enter the password in "Subject",
The company side 300 checks whether the input password and “From” are paired.

Next, the attached file input value check unit 30
No. 4 determines whether or not the billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4) attached to the electronic message M201 is readable (step S404).

Next, the attached file input value check unit 30
4, in the billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4 above), the billing matter (record) is separated using a predetermined field delimiter (comma), satisfies a predetermined number of fields, and a predetermined record delimiter (line feed) Is used to determine whether the records are separated (step S
405).

Next, based on the check results of the header input value check unit 303 and the attached file input value check unit 304, the database insertion unit 305 checks the billed electronic file (see FIG. 4) for the cleared request (see FIG. 4). Record) data is stored in a virtual table such as an internal memory (step S406).

Next, the database insertion unit 305 converts the billing data (record data) described in the billing statement electronic file (see FIG. 4) into one record (one line at a time), Management database 312
Each processing of the check of the matching within the step (step S407) is executed.

Then, the database insertion unit 305 stores the target record data in the expense database 313 based on the check result of step S407 (step S408). At this time, the database insertion unit 305
, Adds the check result as a character string such as “Successful” or “Error” to the target record data and stores it in the expense database 313.

Therefore, the electronic message creation unit 306
Creates an electronic message M202 as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 from the record data stored in the expense database 313 as described above, that is, the record data to which the check result is added, and 20
Send to 0.

In the electronic message M202 transmitted to the patent office 200, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, “Office code = P012” and “Billing number = 12”
The character string “Successful” is added to the data (record data) of the bill indicated by “3001”. This indicates that the record data could be stored in the expense database 313 without any error. On the other hand, if the character string “Error” is added, it indicates that an error has occurred for the record data.

For the record data to which the character string “Error” has been added, the patent office 200 executes an error processing 6 corresponding to the error (step S420). Also, the patent office 200 determines that the electronic message M202 is an electronic message as shown in FIG.
If the check result in step 3 is an electronic message when an error occurs, error processing 1 to 3 corresponding to the error
4 is executed (step S420).

Here, as the result (check result) of the processing executed in step S407, for example, information indicating details of the error content as shown in FIG. 10 may be used.

The error information shown in FIG. 10 includes a check ID and an error ID. The check ID is information indicating a check level, and the check ID = "1"
Indicates "error", and if the check ID = "2", indicates "pending". The error ID indicates detailed information on an error indicated by “error message” and “condition” in the figure.

In this case, the record data output with the character string “Error” is “condition” having “error ID” with “check ID” of “1”.
Is an error condition, the character string “Pending” is added when the “check ID” matches the “condition” having the “error ID” of “2”. .

Here, in the error information shown in FIG. 10, the error check level is set to a check ID = "1".
And the check ID = “2”, it is not possible to clear even one of the checks indicated by the check ID = “1”. For record data corresponding to an error such as an input with the same value as the requested billing number, or an error indicated by error ID = “105” (an error such as a non-input but required item), the data itself is used. Is found to be defective, "Error" is added. Thereby, the correction can be requested from the patent office 200.

Further, only one check indicated by check ID = “2” cannot be cleared, and error ID = “20”
2 ”(error such as the corresponding item information of the management database 312 has not been entered) or error ID =“ 2 ”.
Regarding the record data corresponding to the error indicated by “05” (error such as the charged amount for the expense code is different from the unit price table to be referred to) or the like, the input delay to the management database 312 and the request for “unit price + α” are requested. Because there is a possibility that there is a cause on the company side 300,
By adding “Pending”, it is determined that the person in charge of the company 300 needs to judge.

<Configuration for Realizing (Feature 2)> In the accounting system 301, operations on screens 510 to 530 as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 are possible. With such a configuration, the person in charge of the company 300 can easily refer to the input value of the data and the check result of the input value through the screen of the accounting system 301.

Specifically, for example, in the screens 510 to 530 shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the result of the check processing by the attached file input value check unit 304 (the processing result of step S 407 shown in FIG. 6) “Successf
The record data to which "ul" or "Pending" is added can be referred to, and the result of the check processing (whether or not to be stored in the expense database 313, that is, whether or not payment is possible) can be changed.

For this reason, the accounting system 301 and the terminal device 320 operate in accordance with the flow chart of FIG. For example, the interface program unit 308 of the accounting system 301 executes a program according to the flowchart of FIG. 14 described above, and the contents of the result of the check processing by the accounting system 301 on the billing statement electronic file transmitted by the patent office 200 Is cleared, or it is determined to be “Pending” and the cost database 31
3 can be referred to. Here, a function for the person in charge of the company 300 to perform an artificial check on the record data to which “Pending” is mainly added, and determine whether or not the record data is to be subjected to the N month accounting process. Shall be provided.

First, the login screen 510 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the terminal device 320 (step S60).
1). The person in charge inputs the user ID and the password on the login screen 510. This input data is transmitted to the interface program unit 30 of the accounting system 301.
8. Interface program unit 308
Is based on the user ID and password entered by the person in charge.
Perform user authentication for the person in charge.

When the user authentication in step S601 ends normally, the search screen 520 shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the terminal device 320 (step S602). Search screen 5
Reference numeral 20 denotes a screen for narrowing down target record data (claims), and an input section P01 for a patent office name (Yama Patent Office, Takakawa Patent Office ...) selectable from a pull-down menu. Status name ("processed" or "unprocessed")
Input part P02 and the judgment name (“OK” or “ERR”
Or, “pending”). The person in charge inputs the conditions of the target record data to the respective input units P01 to P03. This input data is supplied to the interface program unit 308 of the accounting system 301.

The interface program unit 308
A search result of all the conditions (input values) input to the input units P01 to P03 based on the AND condition is displayed on the screen 5 in FIG.
30 is displayed on the terminal device 520 (Step S
603). On the screen 530, the searched record data is displayed in a list, and the contents of the record data can be referred to and updated. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 13, the screen 530 displays the list of cases and the list data for inverting and specifying the record data one by one, and the detailed information of the record data specified in the list box P11. Area P1 for
2, a list box P13 for displaying a list of error messages that could not be cleared, and a check button P14 for changing the result of the error check.
The person in charge refers to the contents of the record data displayed on the screen 530.

The person in charge refers to screen 530,
It is determined whether or not it is necessary to change the determination (“OK” or “Err”) (step S604), and the change is made as necessary (step S605). Specifically, for example, the person in charge confirms the details of the pending matter on the screen 530, and in some cases, confirms whether the value of the management database 312 has been changed or the request for the charge + α in the unit price table has been made. As a result, if the payment is possible, the option button P14 is changed to "OK", and if the value needs to be corrected, it is updated to "Err". Thereafter, the person in charge performs an operation for executing the accounting process (step S306).

In the screen 530 shown in FIG. 13, as an example, the only field that can be updated is the option button P14 indicating the determination. Also, "P
Since the billing specification field indicated by "12" is information provided by the patent office 200, if this information needs to be changed, it is always determined to be "Err" and the patent office 200 is corrected. Request a retransmission later.

<Structure for Achieving (Feature 3)> The patent office 200 obtains the results of various checks and payment specifications performed by the billing deadline sent from the company 300 as shown in FIG. , An invoice according to the layout shown in FIG. 16 is created, and sent to the company 300 by the N month accounting processing execution date.

More specifically, FIG.
10 shows an electronic message M203 created by the electronic message creation unit 310 after the accounting processing for the payment processing part 309 in the accounting system 301 of FIG. In the electronic message M203, information on the bill charged in N months, the details thereof, and the amount of money totalized for each judgment (“OK” or “pending”) are described. Such an electronic message M203 is recorded on the day of the accounting process (20th)
And transmitted to the patent office 200. The patent office 200 creates a bill as shown in FIG. 16 based on the contents of the electronic message M203 and sends it to the company 300 by the accounting processing execution date in N months.

An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the host and the terminal of the present embodiment to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or a computer) of the system or the apparatus. C
Needless to say, this can also be achieved by a PU or MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the present embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, a ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, or the like can be used. it can. In addition, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the function of the present embodiment is realized, but also based on the instruction of the program code,
It goes without saying that the OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the present embodiment are realized by the processing.
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extension function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. C provided on board and function expansion unit
It goes without saying that a PU or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the present embodiment. As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, there are the following effects for solving at least the four problems raised in the related art. (First effect) Since one written invoice can be used as the basis for payment for every N delivered items, the business partner (invoicing party) must pay the expenses and fees for the delivered items one by one. There is no need for handwriting or printout from an accounting system or the like used by the business partner. Thereby, the cost and work time conventionally spent can be reduced. (Second effect) Since all communications between the company and the business partner can be performed using a communication means such as a network, the mailing cost and mailing for exchanging the conventional written invoice between the parties are known. Time and the like can be reduced. (Third effect) Since the billing statement electronic file created by the business partner can be used, the number of people who spend the time for the person in charge of the company to input the billing content described in the conventional written bill into the accounting system or the like. Cost and working time can be reduced. (Fourth effect) Since a billing statement electronic file created by a business partner can be used, personnel costs and work time spent for input value reading check, etc., which has conventionally been performed to compensate for an input error caused during data input, are reduced. be able to.

[0079]

As described above, according to the present invention, a billing process such as a billing process for a business partner and a payment process at the business partner can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a conventional billing process.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a billing process in the information processing system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a billing specification electronic file attached to an electronic message transmitted from the patent office to the company in the information processing system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a header of the electronic message.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a check process by a header input value check unit and an attached file input value check unit of the accounting system on the company side;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an electronic message transmitted to the patent office when all checks in the check processing are cleared.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an electronic message transmitted to the patent office when the result of the check in the check processing is an error.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of computer functions provided in the patent office and the company.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of detailed contents of an error in the check processing.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a login screen displayed on a terminal device used by the person in charge on the company side.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a search screen displayed on a terminal device used by the person in charge on the company side.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a case reference screen displayed on a terminal device used by the person in charge on the company side.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining a staff check process performed by the terminal device.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an electronic message in which payment details data transmitted to the patent office is described.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a bill created by the patent office.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 information processing system 200 business partner (patent office) M201 to M203 electronic message 300 company side 301 accounting system 302 reception sensing unit 303 header input value check unit 304 attached file input value check unit 305 database insertion unit 306 electronic message creation unit 307 Transmission unit 308 Interface program unit 309 Payment processing unit 310 Electronic message creation unit 311 Transmission unit 312 Management database 313 Cost database 320 Terminal device

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for performing a billing process using a billing statement electronic file transmitted via a communication means and representing a billing claim, wherein the information processing apparatus receives an electronic message attached with the billing statement electronic file. Receiving means, a confirming means for confirming the contents of a billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic message received by the receiving means, and an electronic message received by the receiving means as a result of the confirmation by the confirming means as an electronic message. Transmitting means for returning the information to the transmission source of the information processing apparatus. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication means includes a network. 3. The billing statement electronic file includes a plurality of record data corresponding to a plurality of bills, the confirming means confirms the contents for each record data, and the transmitting means confirms the result of the contents confirmation. 2. An electronic message to be transmitted to the transmission source.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation unit confirms whether or not the target record data is to be stored in a cost management database, and the transmission unit transmits the confirmation result to the transmission source as an electronic message. The information processing device according to claim 3. 5. The checking means determines whether the target record data is not stored in the expense management database, is inserted conditionally, or is inserted unconditionally. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the determination result is transmitted to the transmission source as an electronic message. 6. The transmitting means, when the confirming means determines that the target record data is not stored in the cost management database, returns an electronic message describing information indicating the cause to the transmitting source. The information processing device according to claim 5. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising changing means for changing a result of the confirmation by said confirming means. 8. An information processing system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one device among the plurality of devices is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing system having a function of: 9. An information processing method for allowing a company to shift a billing cost from a business partner to a payment process, wherein the business partner transmits an electronic message attached with a billing statement electronic file representing the billing cost. An e-mail is sent to the company, and the company executes an input value check process of the e-mail content sent from the business partner by e-mail, and transmits the check processing result as an electronic message to the business partner by e-mail. An information processing method comprising: 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the company stores each of a plurality of record data representing a plurality of bills included in the billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic mail in a cost database of the company. 10. The information processing method according to claim 9, further comprising a processing step of executing an input value checking process. 11. A processing step in which the company classifies the plurality of record data according to at least one of data not stored in the cost database, data stored conditionally, and data stored unconditionally. The information processing method according to claim 10, further comprising: 12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of notifying the client of the cause of the record data not stored in the expense database by the company, and prompting the customer to resend the corrected e-mail. 12. The information processing method according to item 11. 13. A person in charge of the company for at least one of record data that is not stored in the expense database, record data that is conditionally inserted, and record data that is unconditionally inserted by the company. 12. The information processing method according to claim 11, further comprising a processing step of displaying a screen to judge the validity of the request and updating a payment permission / inhibition field based on an instruction from the person in charge. 14. The processing method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of the supplier sending an e-mail for invoking the total amount of money to the company based on the result of the check processing at the company. 9. The information processing method according to item 9. 15. The check processing result information includes, for each of a plurality of record data representing a plurality of bills included in a billing statement electronic file attached to an email sent by the supplier to the company, The result of the input value check processing for storing in the company-side expense database and information on record data determined by the person in charge of the company to be payable are included, and the business partner is stored in the cost database. 15. The information processing method according to claim 14, further comprising a processing step of sending an e-mail for requesting the company to pay a total amount for the record data determined to be payable by the person in charge. 16. An information processing method for performing billing processing using a billing statement electronic file transmitted via a network and representing a billing claim, wherein the method receives an electronic message attached with the billing statement electronic file. A receiving step, a confirming step of confirming the contents of a billing statement electronic file attached to the electronic message received by the receiving step, and an electronic message received by the receiving step, using the confirmation result of the confirming step as an electronic message. And a transmitting step of returning the information to a transmission source. 17. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or the functions of the information processing system according to claim 8. . 18. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the processing steps of the information processing method according to claim 9.