Electronically implemented floorplan auditing system and method

Abstract

An electronic method of auditing floorplan loans is provided. The floorplan loans are provided by a lending source to a plurality of vehicle dealers. The method includes, for each of the plurality of vehicle dealers, an entity other than the lending source or a dealer (i) retrieving the lending source's records corresponding to the dealer's floorplan loan; (ii) retrieving the dealer's internal financial records used by the dealer for tracking sales; (iii) comparing the lending source's records with the dealer's internal financial management records to determine a variance between the lending source's records and the dealer's records; and (iv) reporting the variance to the lending source.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of auditing a floorplan loan, said floorplan loan being provided by a lending source to a vehicle dealer, said method comprising:
 an independent entity not including said lending source or said vehicle dealer
 (i) retrieving the lending source's records relating to said floorplan loan; 
 (ii) retrieving the dealer floorplan records of inventory related to said floorplan loan, said dealer floorplan records including records of funds received and recorded by said dealer related to the floorplan inventory; 
 (iii) comparing said lending source's records with said dealer floorplan records to determine a variance between said lending source's records and said dealer floorplan records; and 
 (iv) utilizing said variance to determine the results of the audit. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reporting said variance to said lending source. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said variance is a difference between a cost to said dealer of eligible inventory and an outstanding balance on the dealer's floorplan loan with said lending source. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said eligible inventory comprises vehicles covered by said dealer's floorplan loan that are either unsold, or sold but for which said dealer has not yet received funds. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said independent entity retrieves the lending source's records by one of (i) requesting said lending source's records and (ii) receiving records sent to it by said lending source. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said independent entity retrieves said dealer floorplan records by one of (i) requesting said dealer floorplan records and (ii) receiving records sent to it by said dealer. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said independent entity retrieves said lending source's records by downloading the records from a secure FTP site maintained by said lending source. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said independent entity retrieves said dealer floorplan records by transmitting a request over the Internet. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising said independent entity retrieving from said dealer retail lending records associated with the dealer's inventory, and enabling said lending source to view and analyze said retail lending records. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising said independent entity retrieving used car inventory and sales history data from said dealer;
 analyzing said dealer's used car inventory and sales data to identify one or more categories of cars that are under-stocked;   obtaining from a second dealer and/or an auction house a list of cars that are available for trade or sale;   identifying cars on said list of cars that are in the one or more identified categories of under-stocked cars;   providing computer access to said dealer and to said second dealer and/or said auction house to the list of identified cars and their owners.   
     
     
         11 . An independent server-based system for enabling a lending source to conduct a computer-implemented audit of a floorplan loan, said floorplan loan being provided by said lending source to a vehicle dealer, said system comprising:
 a data collecting processor for communicating with a lending source computer and a vehicle dealer computer, said data collecting processor collecting the lending source's records relating to said floorplan loan from said lending source computer and the dealer floorplan records of inventory related to said floorplan loan from said dealer computer, said dealer floorplan records including records of funds received and recorded by said dealer related to the floorplan inventory;   a database operably connected to said data collecting processor for storing said lending source's records and said dealer floorplan records collected by said data collecting processor; and   a floorplan auditing module operably connected to said database and said data collecting processor, said floorplan auditing module adapted to compare said lending source's records with said dealer floorplan records to determine a variance between said lending source's records and said dealer floorplan records and to utilize said variance to determine the results of the audit.