Providing customs information

• US 20020120561A1
• Filed: 02/28/2001
• Published: 08/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture LLP (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Casey, Lynn Ann, Mascolo, Lisa M., Chin, Allen, Yi, Seon G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,464,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A method comprising receiving information that establishes an identity of a user, and providing on-line access to customs information from an account-based database.

Claims

1. A method comprising

receiving information that establishes an identity of a user, and

providing on-line access to customs information from an account-based database.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information that establishes the identity of the user comprises a password.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the information that establishes the identity of the user is derived from an electronically recognizable identification card.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein providing on-line access to customs information from an account-based database comprises providing access to periodic account statements.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling customs forms to be filed on-line.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing access to additional customs information from a database that is not account-based.

7. A machine-based method comprising:

obtaining import transaction data;

organizing the import transaction data into an account-based format;

storing the import transaction data in an account-based database; and

providing interactive access to the account-based database over a duplex communications channel.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising limiting access to an accessible portion of the account-based database.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein limiting access is based on information that establishes an identity of a user.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising processing at least payment receipt and refund request financial transactions.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing access to a periodic account statement and enabling modification of the format of the periodic account statement.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising enabling customs forms to be filed.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising automatically calculating required payments based on information entered in the customs forms.

14. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing limited access to a broker information database and to an importer information database.

15. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing limited access to a bond information database.

16. The method of claim 7 further comprising enabling modification of details of the account-based format.

17. The method of claim 7 wherein obtaining the import transaction data, and providing access to the formatted, account-based import transaction data are accomplished using a packet-switched publicly accessible communications channel.

18. The method of claim 7 wherein the import transaction data comprises data related to importing a single shipment of goods.

19. The method of claim 7 wherein the account based format comprises at least a single category under which the import transaction data can be categorized.

20. A system comprising:

a memory unit; and

a processor;

wherein the processor is configured to obtain import transaction data;

organize the import transaction data into an account-based format for storage in a database in the memory unit; and

provide access to the database, interactively over a duplex communications channel.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to limit access over said channel to an accessible portion of the database.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the accessible portion is determined based on information that establishes an identity of a user.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to process at least payment receipt and refund request financial transactions.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to provide access to a periodic account statement and to enable a user to modify the format of the periodic account statement.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to enable a user to file customs forms and further configured to automatically calculate required payments.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to provide limited access to a broker information database in the memory unit, an importer information database in the memory unit, and a bond information database in the memory unit.

27. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to enable a user to modify details of the account-based format.

29. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to limit access over said channel to an accessible portion of the account-based database.

30. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to process at least payment receipt and refund request financial transactions.

31. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to provide access to a periodic account statement over said channel and enable modification of the format of the periodic account statement over said channel.

32. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to enable customs forms to be filed.

33. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to provide limited access to a broker information database, to an importer information database, and to a bond information database.

34. The article of claim 28 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to modify, over said channels, details of the account-based format.

28. An article comprising a machine-readable medium that stores executable instructions for causing a machine to:

obtain import transaction data;

organize the import transaction data into an account-based format;

store the import transaction data in an account-based database; and

provide access to the account-based database interactively over a duplex communications channel.