Object-oriented framework for tracking collection documents

A program product, tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a computer system having an operating system that supports an application having an application interface layer and an application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented program environment, the program product comprising:

• an object-oriented framework within the functionality layer that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor;
• and
• signal bearing media bearing the object-oriented framework, wherein the at least one collection document object has a life cycle that begins when the at least one collection document object is created in a creation state, that traverses at least one of a plurality of intermediate states and that ends at one of a plurality of ending states, each state of the collection document object corresponding to a state of the collection document, each state connected to at least one other state through at least one transition.

A program product, tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a computer system having an operating system that supports an application having an application interface layer and an application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented program environment, the program product comprising:

• an object-oriented framework within the functionality layer that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor;
• and
• signal bearing media bearing the object-oriented framework, wherein the collection document object is instantiated from a class that inherits from a base class, the base class having at least one method or attribute that is common to both an accounts payable collection document object and an accounts receivable collection document object, wherein the accounts payable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor and the accounts receivable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.