Method and System for Preparing an Employee Benefits Plan

• US 20120084221A1
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CCH Incorporated (Wolters Kluwer Nv)
• Original Assignee: CCH Incorporated (Wolters Kluwer Nv)
• Inventors: McCutcheon, Timothy M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,412,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/322
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages

Abstract

A system for preparing an employee benefits form for, e.g., ERISA includes a server in support of a website, and a processor in communication with the server and a memory. The memory includes a program for automatically preparing a benefits form and/or plan via the interne. The program includes instructions to the processor for retrieving previously filed data from a public database, converting and storing into a database, searching the database for a desired portion of the data, and populating the entries of the form. The website connection also allows a remote user to periodically update the benefit data.

Claims

1. A system for preparing a benefits form relating to an employer in response to a request from a user at a remote computer station, the benefits form including a plurality of entries for reporting employee benefit data, the system in communication with a public electronic data base having previously filed benefit data relating to the employee, comprising:

a server configured to receive the request from the user to prepare the benefits form, the request including an identifier for a desired portion of previously filed benefit data to be entered into the benefits form; and

a processor in communication with the server and with a memory, the memory including a software having a plurality of software portions with instructions to the processor to execute the following;

transmitting a request to an electronic public database, the request including an identification of previously filed benefit data, wherein the request does not include authorization information;

receiving the previously filed benefit data from the electronic public database,

storing the previously filed benefit data into an integrated database in the memory,

searching the integrated database based on the identifier for a desired portion of previously filed benefit data for entry into the benefits form in response to the request from the user, and

populating the plurality of entries of the benefits form with the desired portion of previously filed benefit data retrieved from the integrated database.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of software portions is configured for supporting a website, the website including one or more web pages for display at the remote computer station so as to prompt the user to provide the identifier of the desired portion of previously filed data to locate.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the benefits form is a Form-5500 report form as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of software portions is configured for converting the plurality of benefit data into a searchable format and for storing the searchable format of the previously filed benefit data in an integrated database in the memory.

5. The system as required in claim 1, wherein the previously filed data is retrieved via an internet connection.

7. The system as required in claim 1, wherein the identifier includes an employer identification number or a name of an employer or a name of an employee benefit plan.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the input of the main computer station is configured to receive a change in benefit data from the remote computer station via an internet connection, and wherein one of the plurality of software portions is configured to populate the benefits form with the change in benefit data received from the user.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein system is configured to periodically update the integrated database with previously filed benefit data located at the public database.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the previously filed benefit data from the electronic public database includes receiving a substantially complete copy of the electronic public database.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the previously filed benefit data from the electronic public database includes receiving all benefit data for a calendar year stored in the electronic public database.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein storing the previously filed benefit data into an integrated database in the memory, includes generating a database having a plurality of previously file benefit data records, wherein each record is associated with a unique employer identification number.

6. (canceled)

10. A system for creating an employee benefit plan in response to a request from a user at a remote computer station, comprising:

a server in support of a website accessible by the remote computer station via an interne connection, the server configured to receive a request to create an employee benefit plan, the request including identification of a requesting party; and

a main computer station in communication with the server, the main computer station including a processor and a memory, the memory having a plurality of software portions that each includes a plurality of instructions to the processor, the plurality of software portions including the following;

a plan document generation portion configured to create one of a plurality of options of benefits plan templates;

a IRS/PBGC portion configured to generate and populate a set of forms applicable to the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation;

a 1099-R portion configured to generate and populate the 1099-R form and the IRS 945 form;

a Form-5500 portion configured to generate and populate a Form-5500 and a plurality of schedules associated therewith along with applicable bar codes; and

a proposal testing portion configured to define benefit contribution, traditional defined contribution, and cross-tested defined contribution, as well as configured to provide year-end compliance testing,

wherein the software includes instructions to the processor to retrieve a previously filed benefits data from a public database via the internet connection, the previously filed benefits data being associated with a filing party identification, the filing party identification being different from the requesting party identification, and to store the previously filed benefits data in a database configured in the memory of the main computer station.

12. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the request includes an identifier indicative of an employer or an employee benefit plan or an employer identification number, and wherein the software includes a portion configured to use the identifier to search the database in the memory of the computer station for a desired portion of the previously filed benefits data in accordance to the request from the user.

13. The system as required in claim 10, wherein the system is configured to communicate the previously filed benefit data populated in the Form-5500 to the remote computer terminal for display to the user.

14. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the plurality of software portions includes instructions to periodically update the database with previously filed benefit data from the public database via the internet connection.

15. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the server is configured to support a website configured prompt the user for and to receive a change in data, and wherein the plurality of software portions includes instructions for populating the Form-5500 with the change in data.

11. (canceled)

16. A method of populating a plurality of entries of a benefits form relating to an employee, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting a request to an electronic public database, the request including an identification of previously filed benefit data, wherein the request does not include authorization information;

receiving a previously filed benefit data available on an electronic public database;

storing the previously filed benefit data into an integrated database in a memory of a main computer station;

receiving a request to populate the benefits form with a portion of the previously filed data desired in accordance with the request, the request including an identifier to recognize the portion of previously filed data desired;

searching the integrated database based on the identifier for the desired portion of previously filed benefit data; and

populating the plurality of entries of the benefits form with the portion of the previously filed benefit data associated with the identifier.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the populating step includes retrieving the portion of the previously filed data associated with the identifier from the integrated database in the memory of the main computer station.

19. The method as recited in claim 16, further including the step of updating one or more of the plurality of entries via communication with a user at a remote computer terminal.

20. The method as recited in claim 16, further including the step of communicating the benefits form, with the plurality of entries populated by the previously filed data, to a designated entity as indicated by a user at a remote computer terminal.

17. (canceled)