Method and system for tracking and verifying billing exceptions

Abstract

A method and system for verifying charges billed to a customer by a vendor is disclosed. A set of billing data associated with the charges is loaded into a billing verification system that is accessible by both the customer and the vendor via a distributed computer network. The customer reviews the billing data via the billing verification system to identify billing exceptions associated with any disputed charges. A billing exception record is generated in the billing verification system for each of the billing exceptions. The vendor is then notified of the billing exceptions. The vendor reviews and responds to the billing exception records via the billing verification system. A billing exception response record is generated for each vendor response. The customer is then notified of the reviewed billing exception response records.

1 . A method of verifying charges billed to a customer by a vendor, comprising: 
 loading a set of billing data associated with the charges into a billing verification system that is accessible by both the customer and the vendor via a distributed computer network;    facilitating customer review of the billing data via the billing verification system to identify one or more billing exceptions associated with one or more disputed charges;    generating a billing exception record in the billing verification system for each of the billing exceptions;    notifying the vendor of the availability of the billing exception records;    facilitating vendor review of and response to the billing exception records via the billing verification system;    generating a billing exception response record for each of the vendor responses; and    notifying the customer of the availability of the vendor response records.    
     
     
         2 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the vendor provides the set of billing data in the form of an electronic data file; and    the set of billing data is loaded into the billing verification system from the electronic data file.    
     
     
         3 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the vendor provides the set of billing data in the form of a hardcopy bill; and    the set of billing data is loaded into the billing verification system by an operator that manually enters the billing data from the hardcopy bill.    
     
     
         4 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , wherein the set of billing data represents one or more invoices from the vendor.  
     
     
         5 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 5 , wherein the disputed charges consist of one or more line items selected from the vendor invoices.  
     
     
         6 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 5 , wherein the disputed charges consist of all line items selected from one or more of the vendor invoices.  
     
     
         7 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , wherein each of the vendor responses corresponds to an action selected from the group consisting of: 
 allowing the billing exception;    disallowing the billing exception; and    partially allowing the billing exception.    
     
     
         8 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 7 , wherein the partial allowance of the billing exception includes identifying a partially allowed dollar value.  
     
     
         9 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 incorporating customer comments in the billing exception record.    
     
     
         10 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 attaching customer supporting electronic documentation to the billing exception record.    
     
     
         11 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 incorporating vendor comments in the billing exception response record.    
     
     
         12 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 attaching vendor supporting electronic documentation to the billing exception response record.    
     
     
         13 . A method of verifying vendor charges billed to a customer by a vendor as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 automatically generating a credit for an allowed billing exception dollar value against a vendor account in a customer accounts payable system.    
     
     
         14 . A method of verifying repair facility charges billed to an equipment owner by a repair agent, comprising: 
 loading a set of repair billing data associated with the repair charges into a computer-based billing verification system that is accessible to both the equipment owner and the repair agent via a distributed computer network;    facilitating equipment owner review of the repair billing data via the billing verification system to identify one or more billing exceptions associated with one or more disputed repair charges;    generating a billing exception record in the billing verification system for each of the billing exceptions;    notifying the repair agent of the billing exceptions;    facilitating repair agent review of and response to the billing exception records via the billing verifications system;    generating a billing exception response record for one or more repair agent responses; and    notifying the customer of the repair agent responses.    
     
     
         15 . A method of verifying repair charges billed to an equipment owner by a repair agent as in  claim 14 , wherein facilitating repair agent review further comprises facilitating review by a repair agent managing representative of all billing exception records.  
     
     
         16 . A method of verifying repair charges billed to an equipment owner by a repair agent as in  claim 14 , wherein facilitating repair agent review further comprises facilitating review by a repair agent field representative of only those billing exception records that are associated with a field repair facility for which the field representative is responsible.  
     
     
         17 . A method of verifying repair charges billed to an equipment owner by a repair agent as in  claim 14 , wherein the billing exception records are displayed in a format that complies with the Association of American Railroads Interchange Rules governing billing repair cards.  
     
     
         18 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer, comprising: 
 a billing verification database;    means for loading a set of billing data associated with the charges into the database;    a customer graphical user interface in communication with the database and operable to facilitate customer review of the billing data to identify a plurality of billing exceptions associated with a plurality of disputed charges and to generate a billing exception record in the database for each of the billing exceptions;    a vendor graphical user interface in communication with the database and operable to facilitate vendor review of the billing exception records to generate a billing exception response record in the database for each of the reviewed billing exception records.    
     
     
         19 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 18 , wherein each billing exception response record is contained within the corresponding billing exception record.  
     
     
         20 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 18 , further comprising: 
 a server in communication with the billing verification database, and operable to generate a plurality of custom web pages; and wherein 
 the customer graphical user interface and the vendor graphical user interface each include at least one of the plurality of custom web pages generated by the server.  
   
     
     
         21 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 20 , wherein the customer graphical user interface is displayed on a customer computer workstation that is in communication with the server via a distributed computer network.  
     
     
         22 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 20 , wherein the vendor graphical user interface is displayed on a vendor computer workstation that is in communication with the server via a distributed computer network.  
     
     
         23 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 18 , further comprising: 
 a mainframe accounting system operable to store the set of billing data; and wherein 
 the means for loading the set of billing data transfer the set of billing data from the mainframe accounting system to the billing verification database.  
   
     
     
         24 . A system for verifying vendor charges billed to a customer as in  claim 18 , wherein the server is in communication with a customer accounts payable system.