Transaction payables processing system and approach

A method for electronically processing transactions involving buyers and sellers using, for each transaction, electronic profile data that is appropriate to each buyer/seller pairing and a contract data set defined as a function of the buyer and a predefined business relationship between the buyer and at least one seller, the method comprising:

• programming a computer processor with software to process electronic transactions according to the stored contract data sets and profile data, by
• for each transaction involving a buyer and at least one seller, auditing transaction data using a stored contract data set and profile data for the transaction to determine a condition of payment for the transaction, and generating computer-readable audit data characterizing the audit, the contract data set being defined pursuant to an agreement between the buyer and seller involved in the transaction, the profile data including data defining payment terms for the buyer/seller pairing in the transaction,
• financing and processing electronic payment to a seller financial institution by generating and outputting electronic payment data in response to generated audit data indicating that payment to the seller is appropriate for at least one transaction involving the seller and a buyer, and
• assessing a transaction processing fee, for each seller to which electronic payment is made, by generating computer-readable fee data that associates the fee and a fee amount with a seller for which the fee data is generated.

A transaction-based computer processor for processing payable funds for transactions between buyers and sellers, wherein at least one of a buyer and seller in each transaction transacts with a system administrator to process a payment account for the at least one of a buyer and seller, the computer processor being independent from the buyers and sellers and configured with software to:

• for each of a plurality of seller invoice data sets,
• associate the seller invoice data set with a transaction involving a buyer and seller using predefined contract data for a contract between the buyer and the seller,
• audit the associated invoice data set using the predefined contract data and audit data specified by the buyer in the transaction to determine a condition of payment for the transaction, and
• generate computer-readable audit data characterizing the audit;
• for each buyer, process electronic payment to sellers' financial institutions in response to generated audit data indicating that payment to a seller is appropriate for at least one invoice data set for the seller;
• and
• assess a transaction processing fee for each processed electronic payment by generating computer-readable fee data that associates the assessed fee and fee amount with a seller for which the electronic payment is generated.