Method and system for populating a form based on an existing format

• US 7,971,141 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2006
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Creed, Anthony, Quinn, Chris, Mori, Kenichi, Marr, Justin C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton; Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran; Quoc A
• Application Number:
  US11/591,424
• Time in Patent Office: 1,701 Days
• Field of Search: 715221-231, 715/764, 705/19, 705/31
• US Class Current: 715/721
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/183 Tabulation, i.e. one-dimensional positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/10 Tax strategies
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/123 Tax preparation or submission

Abstract

A method of populating at least one form involving selecting a current completion option based on a previous completion option, obtaining a first completion process based on the current completion option, and populating the at least one form using the first completion process, wherein a format of the first completion process is determined by the selected current completion option.

Claims

1. A method of populating at least one form of a plurality of forms comprising:

selecting a current completion option to display a first completion process in a first format for the at least one form;

obtaining the first completion process in the first format based on the current completion option;

receiving a first query of a first plurality of queries based on the first completion process of the current completion option;

selecting, in response to receiving the first query, a new completion option to display a second completion process in a second format for the at least one form;

obtaining the second completion process in the second format based on the new completion option;

receiving a second query of a second plurality of queries based on the second completion process of the new completion option; and

populating the at least one form of the plurality of forms using the second completion process,

wherein the first and second formats each have distinct content and appearance for the at least one form of the plurality of forms.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one form is one selected from a group consisting of a tax form, a healthcare form, an insurance form, a claim form, and a support form.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the new completion option is selected from a software package.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the software package is configured to store a plurality of pre-constructed completion processes for selection.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the software package is configured to dynamically construct the first completion process based on the current completion option selected by a user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first completion process comprises:

an example answer to a query and an example of a populated section of the at least one form based on the current completion option.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first completion process comprises:

a user interface based on the current completion option.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the second plurality of queries are ordered based on the new completion option.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the current completion option comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a paper filing, a professional filing, a new filing, and a software filing.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein using the second completion process comprises sending financial data.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions to populate at least one form of a plurality of forms, the instructions comprising functionality to:

select a current completion option to display a first completion process in a first format for the at least one form;

obtain the first completion process in the first format based on the current completion option;

receive a first query of a first plurality of queries based on the first completion process of the current completion option;

select, in response to receiving the first query, a new completion option to display a second completion process in a second format for the at least one form;

obtain the second completion process in the second format based on the new completion option;

receive a second query of a second plurality of queries based on the second completion process of the new completion option; and

populate the at least one form of the plurality of forms using the second completion process,

wherein the first and second formats each have distinct content and appearance for the at least one form of the plurality of forms.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one form is one selected from the group consisting of a tax form, a healthcare form, an insurance form, and a support form.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first completion process comprises an example answer to a query and an example of a populated section of the at least one form based on the current completion option.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein at least two of the second plurality of queries are ordered based on the new completion option.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the current completion option comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a paper filing, a professional filing, a new filing, and a software filing.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the new completion option is selected from a software package.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the software package is configured to store a plurality of pre-constructed completion processes for selection.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the software package is configured to dynamically construct the first completion process based on the current completion option selected by a user.

19. A system for populating at least one form of a plurality of forms comprising:

memory to store instructions;

a processor to execute the instructions;

a software package executing on the processor and configured to;

obtain a current completion option selected by a user, wherein the current completion option displays a first completion process in a first format for the at least one form;

send, to the user, a first query of a first plurality of queries based on the first completion process of the current completion option;

obtain, in response to the first query sent to the user, a new completion option selected by the user, wherein the new completion option displays a second completion process in a second format for the at least one form;

send, to the user, a second query of a second plurality of queries based on the second completion process of the new completion option; and

populate the at least one form of the plurality of forms using responses from the user using the second completion process;

a completion process generator executing on the processor and configured to;

generate the first completion process associated with the current completion option, wherein the first format of the first completion process is determined by the current completion option; and

generate the second completion process associated with the new completion option, wherein the second format of the second completion process is determined by the new completion option; and

a form repository operatively coupled to the software package and comprising the at least one form,

wherein the first and second formats each have distinct content and appearance for the at least one form of the plurality of forms.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second completion process comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of an example associated with the completion option, a query associated with the completion option, a user interface associated with the completion option, and at least one section of the at least one form presented by the completion process.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one form is one selected from the group consisting of a tax form, a healthcare form, an insurance form, and a support form.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the software package is configured to store a plurality of pre-constructed completion processes for selection.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the software package is configured to dynamically construct the second completion process based on the new completion option selected by the user.