Tax return outsourcing and systems for protecting data
First Claim
1. A financial services outsourcing method for facilitating a direct service provider'"'"'s management of human resources for providing financial services to numerous clients, the financial services being outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad, the method comprising:
- prioritizing tax returns for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced;
for plural respective direct services providers, loading, onto a remotely accessible part of a common host server located in a given country, client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials, the host server providing access to a remote computer client of information concerning the client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials;
retaining outsourced personnel to perform tax return preparation services for clients of the direct service providers during a tax season in a given year and to perform other financial service projects for the clients of the direct service providers during a different season of the given year, the outsourced personnel preparing the tax returns and performing the other financial service projects while in an outsource country different from the given country;
providing the outsourced personnel limited access to the server;
the outsourced personnel performing the tax return preparation services during the tax season in the given year and performing the financial service projects during a different season of the given year through a remote limited access client located in the outsource country; and
monitoring and reporting a status of the tax return preparation services and of the other financial service projects.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A financial services outsourcing method or system facilitates a direct service provider'"'"'s ability to outsource financial services to numerous ultimate clients. The financial services are outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad. Ultimate client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials are loaded onto a remotely accessible part of a host server located in the United States. The host server provides access to a remote client computer of information concerning the ultimate client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials. The access may be limited to limited screen shot access. Outsourced personnel are retained to perform financial service projects (e.g., prepare individual tax returns) for ultimate clients of direct financial services firms. The outsourced personnel perform the financial service projects while located outside the United States. The status of the financial service project is monitored and reported.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A financial services outsourcing method for facilitating a direct service provider'"'"'s management of human resources for providing financial services to numerous clients, the financial services being outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad, the method comprising:
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prioritizing tax returns for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced; for plural respective direct services providers, loading, onto a remotely accessible part of a common host server located in a given country, client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials, the host server providing access to a remote computer client of information concerning the client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials; retaining outsourced personnel to perform tax return preparation services for clients of the direct service providers during a tax season in a given year and to perform other financial service projects for the clients of the direct service providers during a different season of the given year, the outsourced personnel preparing the tax returns and performing the other financial service projects while in an outsource country different from the given country; providing the outsourced personnel limited access to the server; the outsourced personnel performing the tax return preparation services during the tax season in the given year and performing the financial service projects during a different season of the given year through a remote limited access client located in the outsource country; and monitoring and reporting a status of the tax return preparation services and of the other financial service projects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A financial services outsourcing method for facilitating a direct service provider'"'"'s management of financial services to numerous clients, the financial services being outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad, the method comprising:
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prioritizing tax returns for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced; for plural respective direct service providers, loading, onto a remotely accessible part of a common host server located in a given country, client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials, the host server providing access to a remote computer client of information concerning the client specific financial files and the corresponding reference materials; retaining outsourced personnel to perform tax return preparation services for clients of the direct service providers during a tax season; monitoring a work time of the retained outsourced personnel; and determining when the retained outsourced personnel are underutilized.
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18. A financial services outsourcing method for facilitating a direct service provider'"'"'s outsourcing of financial services for numerous ultimate clients, the financial services being outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad, the method comprising:
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prioritizing tax returns for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced; for plural respective direct services providers, loading, onto a remotely accessible part of a common host server located in the United States, client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials, the host server providing access to a remote computer client of information concerning the client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials; retaining outsourced personnel to perform financial service projects for respective clients of the financial services firms, the outsourced personnel performing the financial service projects while located outside the United States; is providing the outsourced personnel limited access to the server; the outsourced personnel performing the financial service projects through a remote limited access client located outside the United States connected to the host server; and monitoring and reporting the status of the financial service projects.
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19. A method comprising:
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prioritizing tax returns for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced; retaining outsourced personnel to prepare the tax returns prioritized for outsourcing; providing tax software and tax files to the outsourced personnel; monitoring work time of the outsourced personnel; annotating, by the outsourced personnel, the tax returns prioritized for outsourcing; and completing, by the outsourced personnel, the tax returns prioritized for outsourcing utilizing the tax software and tax files that are implemented on a computer. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method comprising:
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obtaining, by a firm, information concerning a tax filer; logging, by the firm, the information concerning the tax filer into an outsourcing computer system; outsourcing, by the firm, a preparation of a tax return of the tax filer to a tax return preparer; providing, by the outsourcing computer system, to the tax return preparer, access to the information concerning the tax filer; starting, by the tax return preparer, the preparation of the tax return; reviewing, by the tax return preparer, the information concerning the tax filer; imputing, by the tax return preparer, data into the outsourcing computer system, the data relating to the tax return; identifying, by the tax return preparer, missing information, the missing information required to prepare the tax return; and in response to identifying missing information; (i) generating, by the tax return preparer, a list of questions, the list of questions for supplying the missing information; (ii) sending the list of questions to the firm; (iii) contacting, by the firm, the tax filer to address the list of questions; (iv) transmitting, by the firm, the missing information to the tax return preparer; and (v) completing, by the tax return preparer, the preparation of the tax return. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system comprising:
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a plurality of tax returns, the tax returns prioritized for outsourcing, wherein a tax return with a lower priority is outsourced before a tax return with a higher priority is outsourced; outsourced personnel, the outsourced personnel for preparing the tax returns; tax software and tax files, the tax software and files for the outsourced personal to complete the tax returns; information, the information concerning one or more tax filers of each of the tax returns; and an outsourcing computer system, the outsourcing computer system for storing the information and providing the information to the outsourced personnel.
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Specification