WO2007134378A1

WO2007134378A1 - A receipt storage system

Info

Publication number: WO2007134378A1
Application number: PCT/AU2007/000683
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerard Vincent Iriks; Farlan Matthew Iriks; Jasir Iriks; Robert Alexander Coldicott
Original assignee: Gerard Vincent Iriks; Farlan Matthew Iriks; Jasir Iriks; Robert Alexander Coldicott
Priority date: 2006-05-19
Filing date: 2007-05-18
Publication date: 2007-11-29

Abstract

The management of printed receipts is complex. Invariably, receipts are lost or fade through handling so as to become illegible, thereby resulting in the purchaser undesirably having no proof of purchase. To address this problem A receipt storage system (2) is provided as shown. The system (2) is arranged to systematically store in a receipt database (22), electronic (or software) receipts that correspond to purchases made by a user (8). The user (8) can remotely access the receipt database (22) using a networked personal computer (4) at a later stage, and in doing so obtain copies of their receipts or manage their receipts as required. The electronic receipt can be retained as a proof of purchase, and can be used at a later stage when returning faulty goods or when claiming purchases as tax deductions.

Description

A RECEIPT STORAGE SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to the storage and management of purchase receipts.

BACKGROUND

Upon making a purchase from a merchant, a purchaser is typically issued with a printed receipt which indicates the details of the purchase. The purchase details typically include: the name of each purchased item, the price of each purchased item, the total purchase price, the merchant name and address, and the time and date of the purchase. The receipt can be retained as a proof of purchase, and can be used at a later stage when returning faulty goods or when claiming purchases as tax deductions.

The management of printed receipts becomes quite complex, particularly as the number of receipts to be managed increases. Business people who frequently travel are often inundated with a plethora of receipts which are difficult to maintain in any sort of order. Invariably, receipts are lost or fade through handling so as to become illegible, thereby resulting in the purchaser undesirably having no proof of purchase. Furthermore, some of the receipts relate to tax deductible expenses whereas others do not, and manually sorting the receipts accordingly can be a laborious process.

Embodiments of the present invention seek to address the above problem by providing a system which can be used to systematically store receipts. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for storing an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the system including: a receiver for receiving a user identifier associated with the user from an identity device; a generator for generating the receipt which is associated with the received user identifier; and a storage device for storing the generated receipt.

In one embodiment, the system includes a reader or transceiver including the receiver.

The system may further include the identity device for carrying the user identifier. The identity device may be a swipe card or a proximity card. The reader may be a card reader. The system may include a point of sale (POS) terminal which includes the card reader. The POS terminal may include an electronic funds transfer (EFT) POS terminal for reading a funds card associated with a user account. The system may further include a funds transfer manager for transferring funds from the user account to a merchant account.

The generator may include the card reader and/or a system administrator interfaced between the card reader and the storage device. The system administrator may include a computational device and a network server. The system may further include a user interface for enabling the user to remotely access to the storage device.

The generated receipt may include the received user identifier and thereby be associated with the received user identifier. The generated receipt may further include any one or more of the following group of purchase fields: the name of each purchased item, the price of each purchased item, a tax deduction flag associated with each item and which indicates whether the item is tax deductible, a tax deduction flag associated with the receipt and which indicates whether each item of the receipt is tax deductible, the total purchase price, a merchant identifier associated with merchant from whom the purchase was made, a unique receipt number, the user name and/or address, the merchant name and/or address, and the time and date of the purchase.

The storage device may define a database of user records, each user record including a user identifier which corresponds to a respective user and one or more receipts associated with the user identifier. The storage device may define a database of merchant records, each merchant record including a merchant identifier which corresponds to a respective merchant.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the system including: a generator for generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier from an identity device, the user identifier being associated with the user.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the system including: a generator for generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier, the user identifier being associated with the user.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for storing an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the steps of: receiving a user identifier associated with the user from an identity device; generating the receipt which is associated with the received user identifier; and storing the generated receipt.

The step of receiving may include swiping the identity device through a reader.

The step of generating may include the step of combining information received from the identity device with information relating to the merchant.

The purchase may be made using a funds card such as a credit card or a debit card.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the step of: generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier from an identity device, the received user identifier being associated with the user.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the step of: generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier, the received user identifier being associated with the user.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system which, in use, performs any one or more of the preceding methods.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic receipt which is generated in accordance with any one or more of the preceding methods. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a media, such as a magnetic or optical disk or solid state memory, containing machine readable instructions for execution by one or more processors to thereby perform any one or more of the preceding methods. The machine readable instructions may also be provided to said processors as a frequency transmission from a radio frequency, or other wireless, device.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided one or more computational devices which are loaded with computer readable instructions to perform any one or more of the preceding methods.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a database including a plurality of user records, each user record including a user identifier which corresponds to a respective user and one or more electronic receipts associated with the user identifier.

The database may further define a database of merchant records, each merchant record including a merchant identifier which corresponds to a respective merchant.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preparing a tax return using a plurality of electronic receipts, the method involving the step of: forming, using a computational device, a set of tax deductible receipts from the plurality of receipts or a set of tax deductible purchase items from one or more of the receipts.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a set of tax deductible purchase items, the method involving the step of: selecting, using a computational device, one or more tax deductible purchase items from one or more electronic receipts to thereby form the set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for storing an electronic receipt in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the generation of an electronic receipt to be used with the system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a database to be used with the system of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method for storing an electronic receipt using the system of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a receipt storage system 2 as shown in Figure 1. The system 2 can be used to systematically store in a receipt database 22, electronic (or software) receipts that correspond to purchases made by a user 8. The user 8 can remotely access the receipt database 22 using a networked personal computer 4 at a later stage, and in doing so obtain copies of their receipts or manage their receipts as required. A detailed description of the system 2 is provided below.

Funds Card Subsystem

The receipt storage system 2 includes a merchant (not shown) which has an EFTPOS terminal 10 for making purchase transactions. The EFTPOS terminal 10 is interfaced to a funds transfer manager 14 (e.g. bank, credit card provider, etc.) via a system network 24. The funds transfer manager 14 manages a user account 28 and a merchant account 16 which have an associated user balance 26 and a merchant balance 20 respectively. The user account 28 is associated with a funds card 6 (e.g. credit card, debit card, etc.) which enables the user 8 to access funds in their user account 28.

The user 8 can make a purchase transaction using the funds card 6 in conjunction with the EFTPOS terminal 10. In this manner, the funds card 6 is swiped through a card reader of the EFTPOS terminal 10. The funds transfer manager 14 then transfers funds from the user account 28 to the merchant account 16 whereby the user balance 26 is debited by the purchase funds amount (e.g. $50) and the merchant balance 20 is credited by the purchase funds amount. Existing protocols such as XPOS, Veripay or other like purchase transaction protocols can be used to implement the purchase transaction.

Identity Card Subsystem

Turning to Figure 2, the system 2 further includes an identity card 12 (i.e. device) which is of like construction to the funds card 6, and includes a magnetic strip 32 which carries encoded user data 34. The user data 34 includes the following fields: a unique identity number which is a user identifier associated with the user 8, personal details including the user name and/or address, and customer details including user information to be used by a receipt storage system administrator 18 (Fig. 1). The identity card 12 is issued to the user 8 by the system administrator 18 which, in turn, includes a server which hosts one or more computational devices.

Returning to Figure 1 , the user 8 can swipe the identity card 12 through the card reader of the EFTPOS terminal 10 during the generation of an electronic receipt (i.e. e-receipt) after purchase. The EFTPOS terminal 10 then reads the user data 34 from the magnetic strip 32 of the identity card 12 and, in turn, transmits the user data 34 to the system administrator 18 via the system network 24. The identity card may also include software for execution by the EFTPOS terminal 10 so as to transmit the user data 34.

Returning to Figure 2, the EFTPOS terminal 10 subsequently transmits merchant data 36 to the system administrator 18 via the system network 24. The merchant data 36 includes the following fields: the name of each purchased item by the user 8, the price of each purchased item, a tax deduction flag associated with each item and which indicates whether the item is tax deductible, the total purchase price, a unique merchant identifier (e.g. identity number) associated with the merchant from whom the purchase was made, a unique receipt number, the merchant name and/or address, and the time and date of the purchase.

The system administrator 18, which preferably comprises a suitably programmed network connected computer server, generates the electronic receipt 38 which is associated with the user identifier read from the identity card 12 (and the user 8). The electronic receipt 38 is generated by combining the user data 34 and the merchant data 36. Accordingly, the generated electronic receipt 38 includes the following purchase fields: the name of each purchased item, the price of each purchased item, a tax deduction flag associated with each item and which indicates whether the item is tax deductible, the total purchase price, a merchant identifier associated with merchant from whom the purchase was made, a unique receipt number, the user name and/or address, the merchant name and/or address, and the time and date of the purchase.

The system administrator 18 stores the generated electronic receipt 38 in a storage device which defines a database 22. Referring to Figure 3, the database 22 includes a user register 40 which, in turn, includes a plurality of user records 42. Each user record 42 includes a user identifier 44 which corresponds to a respective user 8 and one or more stored receipts 38 associated with the user identifier 44. The database 22 further includes a merchant register 48 which, in turn, includes a plurality of merchant records 50. Each merchant record 50 includes a merchant identifier 54 which corresponds to a respective merchant that is subscribed to the receipt storage system 2.

Remote Access Subsystem

Returning to Figure 1 , the system 2 further includes a user interface for enabling the user 8 to remotely access their corresponding user record 42 within the database 22. The user interface includes a personal computer 4 executing instructions of a first software product and which is interfaced to the system administrator 18 via the Internet 30. The user can log onto a network of the system administrator 18 and perform an authentication procedure, using a unique username and password, before gaining access to their user record 42.

Once the user 8 has access to their user record 42, the user 8 can perform the following procedures using the personal computer 4:

• searching the receipts 38 associated with the user record 42 for various purchase fields of the receipts 38 including: the name of a purchased item, the price of a purchased item, a merchant identifier associated with merchant from whom the purchase was made, the merchant name and/or address, and the time and date of a purchase; • sorting the receipts 38 in accordance with any or more of the foregoing respective purchase fields;

• viewing and sorting common purchase fields within respective receipts 38; • selecting and printing particular receipts 38 using a printer;

• setting or clearing tax deduction flags associated with a receipt 38 to indicate whether or not purchased items associated with the receipt 38 are tax deductible;

• forwarding a softcopy of a receipt via e-mail; and • exporting a softcopy of a receipt to an accounting software product.

Advantageously, the system 2 systematically archives generated receipts 38 in the user record 42 of the user register 40. The user 8 need not be concerned about keeping track of various printed receipts because electronic receipts 38 are stored in the database 22 and are readily accessible.

Various purchase fields of the receipt 38 cannot be manipulated and altered by the user 8 to maintain the legal integrity of the receipt 38. However, other purchase fields such as the tax deduction flag can be manipulated and altered by the user 8.

The user 8 can prepare a tax return using a plurality of the electronic receipts 38 within their user record 42. Firstly, the user 8 can use the personal computer 4 to form a set of tax deductible purchase items from one or more of the receipts 38 within their user record 42 by setting the tax deduction flag for each tax deductible item within the receipts 38.

The set of tax deductible items can then be exported from the first software product to an accounting software product which is used to prepare the tax return using the set of tax deductible items.

Method for storing a receipt One or more other software products including instructions are executed by the system 2 so as to perform a method 60 for storing a receipt 38 relating to a purchase made by the user 8. The method 60 is described in detail below with reference to Figure 4.

At step 62, the user 8 makes a purchase of one or more items from a merchant. The user 8 swipes their funds card 6 through the EFTPOS terminal 10 and the funds transfer manager 14 transfers purchase funds from the user account 28 to the merchant account 16.

At step 64, the EFTPOS terminal 10 reads the user data 34 carried by the identity card 12. The user data 34 includes a unique user identifier associated with the user 8. During the reading process, the identity card 12 is swiped through the card reader of the EFTPOS terminal 10. The read user data 34 and merchant data 36 are transmitted to the system administrator 18.

At step 66, the system administrator 18 generates an electronic receipt 38 using the received user data 34 and the merchant data 36. The generated receipt 38 includes the user identifier which was read from the identity card 12 at step 64. The receipt 64 is generated by combining the user data 34 and the merchant data 36.

At step 68, the system administrator 18 determines whether the read user identifier now associated with the receipt 64 is included in the user register 40 of the database 22. The read user identifier is compared with the user identifier field 44 of each user record 42 to determine whether there is a match.

If the read user identifier is not included in the user register 40 at step 68, the user 8 is not subscribed to the system 2. In this event, the system administrator 18 creates and stores a new user record 42 in the database 22 at step 72. The new user record 42 includes the read user identifier 44. At step 70, the receipt 38 is stored within the user record 42 which, in turn, includes the read user identifier 44.

The method 60 ends at step 74.

A media, such as a magnetic or optical disk, or a solid state memory, is provided which contains machine readable instructions for execution by one or more processors to thereby perform the preceding method.

A person skilled in the art will appreciate that many embodiments and variations can be made without departing from the ambit of the present invention.

In the preferred embodiment, the user 8 had an identity card 12 for carrying a user identifier 44 and a funds card 6 which was associated with a user account 28. In an alternative embodiment, the funds card 6 may instead carry the user data 34 so that a respective identity card is no longer required.

In the preferred embodiment, the user 8 had an identity card 12 for carrying user data 34 associated with the user 8. In an alternative embodiment, another type of identity device such as a proximity (i.e. RFID) card, a bar coded device, an infra-red or a blue tooth device, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a smart chip, a smart card or other computation device can be used in conjunction with a matched type of card reader for reading the user data 34.

In the preferred embodiment, the system administrator 18 generated a receipt 38 based on user data 34 and merchant data 36 received from the EFTPOS terminal 10. In an alternative embodiment, the card reader of the EFTPOS terminal 10 may instead generate the receipt and then forward the generated receipt to the system administrator 18. In the preferred embodiment, a tax deduction flag was associated with each item of a receipt and indicated whether the item was tax deductible. In an alternative embodiment, the tax deduction flag is associated with the receipt and indicates whether each item of the receipt is tax deductible. In this manner, the user 8 could use the personal computer 4 to form a set of tax deductible receipts from the plurality of receipts 38 within their user record 42 by setting the tax deduction flag for each tax deductible receipt.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.

Claims

Claims:

1. A system for storing an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the system including: a receiver for receiving a user identifier associated with the user from an identity device; a generator responsive to the receiver for generating the receipt which is associated with the received user identifier; and a storage device in communication with the generator for storing the generated receipt.

3. A system according to claim 1 further including the identity device for carrying the user identifier.

4. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the identity device comprises a swipe card.

5. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the identity device comprises a proximity card.

6. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reader comprises a card reader.

7. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, including a point of sale (POS) terminal which includes the card reader.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the POS terminal includes an electronic funds transfer (EFT) POS terminal for reading a funds card associated with a user account.

9. A system according to claim 8, including a funds transfer manager for transferring funds from the user account to a merchant account.

10. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the generator includes the card reader.

11. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the generator includes a system administrator interfaced between the card reader and the storage device.

12. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the generator includes the card reader and a system administrator interfaced between the card reader and the storage device.

13. A system according to any one of claims 11 to 12, wherein the system administrator includes a computational device and a network server.

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the system further includes a user interface for enabling the user to remotely access to the storage device.

15. A system according to claim 1 to claim X, wherein the generated receipt includes the received user identifier is thereby associated with the received user identifier.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the generated receipt further includes any one or more of the following group of purchase fields: the name of each purchased item, the price of each purchased item, a tax deduction flag associated with each item and which indicates whether the item is tax deductible, a tax deduction flag associated with the receipt and which indicates whether each item of the receipt is tax deductible, the total purchase price, a merchant identifier associated with merchant from whom the purchase was made, a unique receipt number, the user name and/or address, the merchant name and/or address, and the time and date of the purchase.

17. A system according to any one of claims 1 to X wherein the storage device defines a database of user records, each user record including a user identifier which corresponds to a respective user and one or more receipts associated with the user identifier.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the storage device defines a database of merchant records, each merchant record including a merchant identifier which corresponds to a respective merchant.

19. A system for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the system including: a generator for generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier, the user identifier being associated with the user.

20. A method for storing an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the steps of: receiving a user identifier associated with the user from an identity device; generating the receipt which is associated with the received user identifier; and storing the generated receipt.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the step of receiving includes swiping the identity device through a reader.

22. A method according to claim 20 or claim 21 , wherein the step of generating includes a step of combining information received from the identity device with information relating to the merchant.

23. A method according to any one of claims 20 to 22 wherein the purchase is made using a funds card such as a credit card or a debit card.

24. A method for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the step of: generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier from an identity device, the received user identifier being associated with the user.

25. A method for generating an electronic receipt relating to a purchase made by a user, the method including the step of: generating the receipt which is associated with a received user identifier, the received user identifier being associated with the user.

26. A system arranged to perform a method according to any one of claims 20 to 25.

27. An electronic receipt generated in accordance with any one or more of claims 20 to 25.

28. A media containing machine readable instructions for execution by one or more processors to thereby perform a method according to any one of claims 20 to 25.

29. A media according to claim 28 comprising any one of: a magnetic disk; an optical disk; a solid state memory; a radio frequency ID device.

30. A computational device loaded with computer readable instructions to perform a method according to any one of claims 20 to 25.

31. A database including a plurality of user records, each user record including a user identifier which corresponds to a respective user and one or more electronic receipts associated with the user identifier.

32. A database according to claim 31 , including merchant records, each merchant record including a merchant identifier which corresponds to a respective merchant.

33. A method for preparing a tax return using a plurality of electronic receipts, the method involving the step of: forming, using a computational device, a set of tax deductible receipts from the plurality of receipts or a set of tax deductible purchase items from one or more of the receipts.

34. A method for forming a set of tax deductible purchase items, the method involving the step of: selecting, using a computational device, one or more tax deductible purchase items from one or more electronic receipts to thereby form the set.