TECHNICAL FIELD

[ 0001 ] The present invention relates to systems and methods for documentation management and in particular to systems and methods for managing documentation relating to transaction receipts and/or warranties for purchases.

[ 0002 ] The invention has been developed primarily for use as an improved system and method for managing documentation relating to transaction receipts and/or warranties for purchases and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use. For example, this invention may be used for managing health records issued by hospitals or for managing certificates/mark lists/grades from educational institutions or any document associated with the consumer bank statements, loan statements, employment records, or the like. System would also allow sharing of records with associated professionals like health records with doctors, tax receipts with accountants/auditors, employment records with prospective employer, etc.

BACKGROUND

[ 0003 ] Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art, nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.

[ 0004 ] At present, and for the foreseeable future, purchasers can and do purchase goods and/or services from a mix of online and retail outlet stores. As a by-product of the disparate modes of purchase used, the purchaser often has a disorganised collection of both paper and electronic receipts and documentation for the purchases they have made. This disorganised mix of documentation makes it difficult for the purchaser to keep track of their purchases including any tax and/or other claims arising from such purchases and/or for the services consumed. Purchasers also need to refer back to the original purchase documentation in the event of a warranty claim in relation to a particular goods purchased, often many months or years after the purchase thereby often making it difficult to be able to locate the original purchase receipt in question which is usually required in order to make any form of warranty claim against the goods.

[ 0005 ] Systems currently exist for managing such documentation including where the purchaser scans each individual receipt and stores the electronic version of the receipt by electronic means for example on the hard disk of a personal computer or backup disk, or on a cloud-based service for storage of personal electronic files. However, this particular system is extremely labour intensive and requires a high level of commitment from the purchaser to continually scan and save their purchase receipts in the storage medium in a meaningful location (for ease of retrieval) as they are made. Alternatively, the purchaser may store an independent record of the purchase. The independent record is typically a summary of the purchase details that are manually entered into an appropriate recordal system such as, for example, a dedicated software application or even a simple text document or note -taking software application (e.g. either on a mobile computing device (e.g. smartphone or tablet) or a desktop or laptop computer system). The independent record may or may not include a scanned copy or photograph of the receipt or purchase documentation. Again in this case, the purchaser requires a high level of commitment to updating the purchase records in the mobile application and indeed many such applications do not allow recording of a scanned copy of the original receipts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[ 0006 ] It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative to existing document management systems and methods.

[ 0007 ] Disclosed herein is a system and method adapted for sending of such receipt or service records automatically to the consumer at the time of the transaction (or as soon as practical thereafter) via communications protocols for example via an email protocol (e.g. SMTP) or similar protocol, for example web services protocol such as Representational State Transfer (REST). If the communication identifier is not presented, the system may continue with printing the transaction receipt in paper form in store at the point of sale. In particular cases, the store point-of-sale (POS) system and/or terminal may be specifically adapted to communicate with a server - either controlled by the store or by an external provider or both, wherein this server is adapted to receive data from the POS terminal/system with appropriate validations and verifications and the data received comprises transaction data related either to a transaction made by the consumer or to a particular service consumed by the consumer. This server may reformat the transaction data into a suitable format before communicating with a server associated with an account associated with the consumer. In particular cases, the POS terminal/system may be adapted to communicate directly (i.e. not requiring interaction with an intermediate server) with the server associated with the consumer's account. The data is received by the server associated with the consumer' s account and the consumer is notified of receipt of the transaction record in the usual manner. The server linked to the consumer's account may be associated with a transaction database such that correspondence (e.g. email or similar electronic communication) received by the consumer's server relating to a transaction is processed by a transaction server processor and the transaction data is stored in a transaction record located on the transaction database and associated with the consumer's account/ communication identifiers. [ 0008 ] The consumer's account may be linked to one or more communication identifiers including any email address to receive online receipts or transaction records. The communication identifier may comprise an email addresses wherein the consumer server is adapted to communicate with the consumer via email communication; or the communication identifier may comprise a mobile phone number and the consumer server may be adapted to sending a SMS alert to the consumer's mobile phone. Alternative communication identifiers and relevant consumer server adaptations are also envisaged as would be appreciated by the skilled addressee.

[ 0009 ] The consumer server may also look-up external systems/databases/servers to determine relevant metadata (for example, expense category, the supply source of the goods or services, etc.), and/or details associated with an incoming transaction.

[ 0010 ] In particular arrangements, there may be one or more mobile applications and/or web applications catering to one or more categories herein referred. Associated software which communicates with the consumer server is also envisaged. Particular arrangements of the software applications disclosed herein, include the capability to record intended purchases or services and notify a consumer of any missing purchase records soon after a purchase. In addition, disclosed herein are arrangements including software for automatic categorisation (with the use of one or more templates) of transaction records, of receipts or service records for quick access and easy readability by the consumer.

[ 001 1 ] In particular arrangements, the consumer server associated with consumer's account may be configured to parse the transaction data communicated from the point of sale and also may parse one or more metadata fields of the communication to capture the transaction data associated with the consumer's purchase and to store such transaction data in a transaction record located on a transaction database. In specific arrangements, the consumer server may use a template to display the transaction records for the user. One or more templates may be available for the user to view transaction records.

[ 0012 ] According to a first aspect there is provided a method for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases. The method may comprise providing at a point of sale terminal/system, a means for recording an electronic communication identifier associated with a consumer. The method may further comprise associating the electronic communication identifier with a transaction record in relation to a purchase by the consumer. The method may further comprise electronically transmitting details relating to a consumer server comprising a consumer account associated with said consumer.

[ 0013 ] In accordance with a particular arrangement of the first aspect, there is provided a method for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases, the method comprising: providing at a point of sale terminal/system a means for recording an electronic communication identifier associated with a consumer; associating the electronic communication identifier with a transaction record in relation to a purchase by the consumer; and electronically transmitting details relating to a consumer server comprising a consumer account associated with said consumer.

[ 0014 ] The electronic communication identifier may comprise an email address or addresses controlled by the purchaser. The communication identifier may also be in form of uniform resource identifier (URI) scheme as would be appreciated by the skilled addressee. Alternatively, the electronic communication identifier may comprise a telephonic identifier adapted to receive transaction data and controlled by said purchaser. The telephonic identifier may be associated with a mobile computing device, for example a smart phone or tablet device, and the consumer server may be adapted to communicate with the telephonic device using a mobile or cellular telephonic network. The details relating to the transaction record may comprise transaction data relating to one or more of the group comprising: transaction date; transaction value; tax data associated with the transaction; warranty data associated with said transaction; product information associated with the goods comprising the transaction. The data repository may comprise a database or equivalent system associated with the email address controlled by the purchaser.

[ 0015 ] The method may further comprise the step of permitting the purchaser to define one or a plurality of predefined transactions relating to intended purchases. The method may further comprise the step of, when the transmitted details are received, the received transaction details may be checked against the predefined transactions. A predefined transaction here refers to the purchase items or services that the consumer intends to buy or consume. Where a correlation between an actual and a predefined transaction is not found, the method may further comprise the step of flagging the transaction as incomplete soon after the purchase with appropriate notifications to the consumer - so as to avoid a revisit to the store. This flagging of transaction and/or notification to the consumer will not alter the transaction record received. In particular arrangements the software (used by consumer in a device) may allow predefined transactions to be shared with a point of sale provider electronically or otherwise to facilitate the transaction/purchase.

[ 0016 ] According to a second aspect, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases. The system may comprise a server adapted to receive electronic communication comprising a transaction record in relation to the purchase. The transaction record may comprise transaction data. The server may comprise a database adapted for storing said transaction data related to the purchase. The server may further comprise a processing module adapted for processing said transaction data for the purpose of categorising said transaction record.

[ 0017 ] According to an arrangement of the second aspect, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases, the system comprising: a server adapted to receive electronic communication comprising a transaction record in relation to said purchase, said transaction record comprising transaction data, said server comprising: a database adapted for storing said transaction data related to said purchase; and a processing module adapted for processing said transaction data for the purpose of categorising said transaction record.

[ 0018 ] According to third aspect, there is provided a system for viewing transaction records via one or more of web and/or mobile applications. The web and/or mobile applications may be adapted to interface with a data repository (database) and/or via a consumer server comprising an account associated with the consumer. The data repository may comprise transaction records and/or service records relating to the consumer's purchases. The web and/or mobile applications may be adapted to utilise one or more templates which help the display of records under a particular category. For example, particular arrangements may comprise templates adapted to display the consumer's transactions and/or purchases based on a particular time period (e.g. each week or month)during which the transaction took place. The web and/or mobile applications may be adapted to flag (i.e. notify the consumer by way of for example, a sensory signal such as, for example, an audio and/or visual signal) a transaction as incomplete by comparing the predefined transaction(s) (intended items a consumer want to buy) and the actual transaction. The comparison may not necessarily happen within a category (say a category of Books or say a category of Grocery Items).

[ 0019 ] According to an arrangement of the third aspect, there is provided a system for viewing transaction records via one or more of web and/or mobile applications that interface with a data repository comprising transaction records and/or service records relating to the consumer's purchases wherein the web and/or mobile applications comprising templates adapted to display the consumer's transactions and/or purchases based on a particular time period and wherein the web and/or mobile applications are adapted to store intended purchases and remind/alarm/notify the missing item on the same category purchase.

[ 0020 ] In any of the aspects or arrangements described herein, the apparatus, system or method may also comprise one or more of any of the following either taken alone or in any suitable combination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[ 0021 ] Arrangements of the above aspects will now be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

[ 0022 ] Figure 1 is a conceptual configuration of an arrangement of a system relating to a document management system according to a first aspect;

[ 0023 ] Figure 2 is schematic representation of a method for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases; and

[ 0024 ] Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a computing device adaptable to carry out aspects of the method of Figure 2. DEFINITIONS

[ 0025 ] The following definitions are provided as general definitions and should in no way limit the scope of the present invention to those terms alone, but are put forth for a better understanding of the following description.

[ 0026 ] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. For the purposes of the present invention, the following terms are defined below.

[ 0027 ] The articles "a" and "an" are used herein to refer to one or to more than one (i.e. to at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By way of example, "an element" refers to one element or more than one element.

[ 0028 ] The term "about" is used herein to refer to quantities that vary by as much as 30%, preferably by as much as 20%, and more preferably by as much as 10% to a reference quantity. The use of the word 'about' to qualify a number is merely an express indication that the number is not to be construed as a precise value.

[ 0029 ] Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the words "comprise", "comprises" and "comprising" will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated step or element or group of steps or elements but not the exclusion of any other step or element or group of steps or elements.

[ 0030 ] Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, preferred methods and materials are described. It will be appreciated that the methods, apparatus and systems described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. The description here is by way of example only.

[ 0031 ] As used herein, the term "exemplary" is used in the sense of providing examples, as opposed to indicating quality. That is, an "exemplary embodiment" is an embodiment provided as an example, as opposed to necessarily being an embodiment of exemplary quality for example serving as a desirable model or representing the best of its kind.

[ 0032 ] The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.

[ 0033 ] In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storage media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computer readable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above.

[ 0034 ] The terms "program" or "software" are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methods of the present invention need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.

[ 0035 ] Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[ 0036 ] Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields that are related through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that convey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

[ 0037 ] Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

[ 0038 ] The phrase "and/or," as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean "either or both" of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with "and/or" should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., "one or more" of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the "and/or" clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to "A and/or B", when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as "comprising" can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.

[ 0039 ] As used herein in the specification and in the claims, "or" should be understood to have the same meaning as "and/or" as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, "or" or "and/or" shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as "only one of or "exactly one of," or, when used in the claims, "consisting of will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term "or" as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. "one or the other but not both") when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as "either," "one of," "only one of," or "exactly one of." "Consisting essentially of," when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

[ 0040 ] As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase "at least one," in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase "at least one" refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or, equivalently, "at least one of A or B," or, equivalently "at least one of A and/or B") can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

[ 0041 ] In the claims, as well as in the summary above and the description below, all transitional phrases such as "comprising," "including," "carrying," "having," "containing," "involving," "holding," "composed of," and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean "including but not limited to". Only the transitional phrases "consisting of and "consisting essentially of alone shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.

[ 0042 ] For the purpose of this specification, where method steps are described in sequence, the sequence does not necessarily mean that the steps are to be carried out in chronological order in that sequence, unless there is no other logical manner of interpreting the sequence. [ 0043 ] In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognise that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[ 0044 ] Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is depicted a conceptual configuration of an arrangement of a system 100 relating to a document management system in accordance with the present invention. In exemplary arrangement of system 100, a consumer 101 attends a physical store or service provider 103 (having a point of sale terminal) with the intention of making a purchase from the store or service provider. On either, selection of desired purchases or receipt of a particular service (for example, a visit to a general practitioner in the doctors surgery) the consumer 101 proceeds to be point-of-sale transaction location 105 where the consumer is able to purchase the goods and or pay the requisite fee for receipt of a particular service. As part of the purchase transaction, the POS or POS operator or associated system or terminal may request a communication identifier from the consumer 101. The communication identifier may be in the form of an (email) address owned or controlled by consumer 101. Alternatively the communication identifier may comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI) or mobile phone number. To receive the communication identifier from consumer 101, the POS system/terminal may be adapted to optically/magnetically/electronically read a barcode or similar communication identifier token such as, for example, a two dimensional QR-code 102 or an NFC - Near Field Communication - token.. The consumer 101 presents the communication identifier to the POS terminal 105 at the time of making a desired purchase. Communication identifier 102 may be recorded on a card, for example, a store loyalty card. In alternate arrangements the communication identifier code may be generated and displayed on the display surface of a mobile computing device, such as, for example, a smart phone or tablet device or watch.

[ 0045 ] Once the communication identifier is received and/or decoded by the POS terminal/system 105, the POS terminal/terminal may be adapted to communicate with a transaction server computing device 107 associated with the POS terminal 105 (or, alternatively, an external server. The transaction server computing device 107 or external server) comprises a processor and memory (not shown) wherein, transaction data received from POS terminal/system 105 is stored in memory of transaction server 107. Transaction data is retrieved from transaction server memory and the transaction server processor parses the transaction data to extract relevant data in order to populate one or more fields of a transaction record which is then associated with the transaction made by consumer 101. The processor of transaction server 107 processes the extracted transaction data and composes an electronic communication instance/message, for example, an mail communication adapted to be transmitted to a consumer's server 19 associated with communication identifier 102 which, in typical cases, comprises an email address or an account identifier associated with an account held be consumer 101 (for example, a store account) - controlled or accessible by consumer 101. POS terminal/device/system 105 may also directly communicate with the consumer server associated with the communication identifier/account. For example, the POS terminal/device 105 (or the transaction server 107 or an external server associated with POS terminal 105) may establish a session with a predetermined identifier and unique credentials with consumer server 109. These predetermined identifier and credentials are issued by the consumer's server. Credentials may include tokens generated by one or more algorithms that are used to generate secure tokens. For online stores or service providers this may be in the form of a dedicated software application with or without associated hardware.

[ 0046 ] Consumer's server 109 comprises an associated transaction database 111 where the transaction data associated with each purchase made by consumer 101 is stored for future retrieval and/or use. Consumer's server 109 comprises a processor (not shown) which is configured to parse the transaction data received in a received communication (message) and to populate data fields of a transaction record associated with the purchase by consumer 101, wherein the transaction record is stored in transaction database 101. In particular arrangements, the transaction data parsed by consumer server 109 processor may include transaction data from the body of the communication and/or metadata associated with the communication, for example data which may be stored in the header of the email communication.

[ 0047 ] As would be appreciated by the skilled addressee, for in store purchases (or consumption of service) the consumer's communication identifier (e.g. an email address which may be presented in an encoded format such as a one- or two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code) may be recorded by a POS terminal/system 105 in communication with store's transaction server 107 or similar appropriate computing device adapted to compose an electronic communication, for example, an email communication or short message (text) communication, with transaction data relating to the consumer's purchase, and to send the electronic communication to be received by consumer's server 109 associated with the consumer's communication identifier (e.g. email) in the usual manner.

[ 0048 ] Similarly, purchases made by consumer 101 at an online store 120 may proceed equivalently to the process as described above in relation to a transaction at a physical store location. In this particular arrangement, however, it may not be possible or appropriate for the user to present a card or image to the online store POS via their personal computer terminal. Accordingly, the online store (which may be embodied by a web application or an associated mobile application) may provide a text field (which is mapped to a pre-determined database filed in the transaction database 111) for the consumer 101 in the "check-out" page of the online store, where consumer can enter their communication identifier (e.g. an email address or plurality of email addresses) in clear text directly to the POS system in a text field 122 provided for such purpose. From this point, the transaction proceeds as described above. The online store comprises an associated store server device 121 comprising a processor and memory (not shown), wherein the online store server device 121 has email server capabilities such that the transaction data is parsed by the processor of the online store server device 121 to receive and interpret transaction data associated with consumer 101' s online purchase therefore to compose an electronic communication which is then sent in the usual manner to an appropriate consumer' s server computing device associated with an appropriate communication identifier identified by the encoded QR code, for example an email address, URI or mobile phone number, among others,. Upon receipt of the electronic communication, the consumer's server 109 (which comprises a suitable processor, not shown) parses the transaction data included in the body and/or header metadata information contained in the electronic communication and populates the data fields of a transaction record which in turn is stored in a transaction database 111 associated with the consumer's server 109.

[ 0049 ] Once the consumer server 109 receives the electronic communication (either email- for online purchases and in store purchases or other form of messages for in store purchases and email for online purchases/consumption of services), server 109 notifies consumer 101 of a new communication in the normal manner for example via a mobile computing device 113 notifications or computer terminal 115 accessible by consumer 101. Consumer 101, once in receipt of the notification from server 109 may access the electronic communication to confirm the transaction data associated with their purchase. The consumer server 109 may automatically categorise the incoming message/transaction data. In a particular example, the consumer server 109 may include a category for transactions relating to the consumer's "Hospital records" under which category, all the consumer hospital related documents may be associated when received in incoming message. As with any incoming communication to consumer server 109 under normal circumstances, consumer 101 may be provided with the opportunity to store/save the transaction record for later reference in suitable database e.g. transaction database 111 associated with server 109 or any other suitable database that is convenient for consumer 101. For example, in some arrangements, the consumer 101 may store the transaction record locally for example in a database associated with any of the consumer's device e.g. computer terminal 150 or mobile computing device 113 or alternatively with a cloud storage service. The consumer's computing device (i.e. 113 or 115) may comprise a software application running thereon adapted to receive the transaction records and to store such records in a local database as appropriate. Software application may also be adapted for retrieval of transaction records relating to a particular desired transaction in demand when required by the consumer 101. For example, if the consumer had purchased a good having a particular warranty period, the transaction record may include details of the warranty agreement between the manufacturer of the good and the consumer as well as transaction data relating to the actual purchase. The transaction data may comprise data relating to the type of good or service purchased, the date and/or time of purchase or rendering of the service, name, address and/or contact details the retailer from whom the good was purchased, the price for the transaction, the payment method used for the transaction and details of any warranty contract between the manufacturer and the consumer, such as, for example the length of the warranty period and any restrictions on what faults or events which are expressly not covered by the warranty agreement among other relevant data as is appropriate from time -to-time. The transaction data may in some arrangements, optionally also include transaction data relating to the receipt typically generated by a POS terminal such as when a credit/debit card transaction is made at a physical store location.

[ 0050 ] As discussed above, when making a purchase, as part of the transaction, the consumer is prompted to present the POS terminal or online store with a communication identifier such as, for example, and email address, for receipt of a transaction record relating to the purchase. There are many ways that the consumer can provide such a communication identifier, for example: in a physical store location, the consumer may present the communication identifier in the form of an encoded image such as a one- or two-dimensional barcode image (e.g. a 2D QR Code), which may be embodied on a physical implement possessed by the consumer, for example printed or otherwise marked (e.g. engraved etc.) onto a paper/plastic/metal/glass implement, or alternatively the communication identifier may be generated as a transient image, for example generated by a suitable software application (for example, in a mobile application adapted to receive and process transaction communications and documents) on a mobile communication device and displayed on a screen of the mobile computing device which may be presented to a POS terminal/system suitable adapted to optically scan and decode the communication identifier; or, for online transactions made in a virtual store, for example implemented in a web page presented to a browser on a computing device operated by the consumer, where the communication identifier may be entered into a provided text field as clear text to be interpreted by a transaction server associated with the web page. In other arrangements, in respect of an online purchase transaction, the check-out page served to the consumer via the web browser may include a facility to upload an image representing the communication identifier directly to the transaction server. For instance, the communication identifier image may be a barcode or QR code image that includes encoded data comprising an email address as the communication identifier. In this particular arrangement, the consumer may be more comfortable in providing the communication identifier data in the form of an encoded image as an additional security layer.

[ 0051 ] In particular arrangements of the document management system described above, the consumer server (109 of Figure 1) associated with the consumer's communication identifier (e.g. email address) may conduct additional processing steps on the transaction data in a received transaction record to, for example, make retrieval of specific transaction records easier for the consumer at a later date. For example, the consumer server 109 may process the transaction data in such a way so as to categorise or group transaction records automatically upon receiving it. To assist the consumer's server 109 in categorisation (grouping) of transaction records, the electronic communications generated by the store server (e.g. 107, 121) may include one or more of the following characteristics in its content (wherein such data may be present in the body of the email communication or in the header and/or metadata included in the email correspondence and may be included as tokens): transaction date/time; Store category or record Type , for example, "Home Furnishings", "Books" or "Gasoline/Petrol Station", "Food", "Pharmacy", "GP" (or "Hospital") record, "Income Tax Record", or any other suitable business category; Retailer/service provider's name/location/address/contact information; Business registration/identification Number or equivalent (for example, such as the identifying Service Provider Number for a Doctor or medical practitioner); Goods and/or Services tax or other information regarding the payment details or terms of the transaction; the Total transaction Amount (for some cases this can be nil); and/or a Receipt No. or Reference Id identifying the transaction. Additionally, any email correspondence will have metadata like 'From' address, 'To' address, 'Subject', etc. A new metadata field can be used or existing metadata field may be employed to good use in relation to the present systems. One such metadata field is the "Content-Disposition" (used in email communication). This describes the way in which attachments in mails are handled such as, for example, whether to render an image attached to the email inline in the body of the email or not. In this "Content-Disposition" (metadata) field, it is possible to include custom tokens which can, in turn, may be used by the consumer server 109 for categorisation/grouping of incoming online correspondence. This metadata included in the Content Disposition metadata field, may or may not be specific to transaction data included in the electronic communication. Moreover consumer server 109 may be able to differentiate between email communication and other forms of communication messages. Though online stores may use email message with metadata to communicate the transaction receipt to consumer server 109 - the store transaction server 107 (or POS system 105 directly) may not necessarily use email to communicate the transaction document to consumer's server - in fact it may use a non-standard/proprietary message to pass the transaction data to consumer server 109. Consumer server 109 may be adapted to receive and process such messages appropriately.

[ 0052 ] In a further aspect, there is provided a method 200 as depicted in Figure 2 for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases. Method 22 for managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases 00 comprises the step of providing 201 at a point of sale terminal or interface, a means for recording an electronic communication identifier associated with the purchaser. The means for recording the identifier may include a barcode scanner common to retail outlets or service provider locations (e.g. utilising a to scan a barcode provided by the purchaser, where the barcode scanner may consist of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, the barcode reader may also include decoder circuitry for analysing the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcode's content (typically in the arrangements disclosed herein the barcode content will be an email address owned or controlled by the consumer) to an output port of the scanner. In alternative arrangements, the means for recording the identifier may be an optical recording means such as a camera adapted to capture an image of the identifier (for example as commonly used in conjunction with QR codes as a form of a two-dimensional barcode) where the means may again include decoder circuitry for analysing the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcode's content to the output port. [ 0053 ] The method further comprises the step of associating 202 the electronic communication identifier with a transaction record in relation to the consumer's purchase. The method further comprises the step of electronically transmitting 203 details relating to said transaction to a data repository associated with the electronic communication identifier.

[ 0054 ] The method further comprises the step of categorising 204 the transaction data contained in the electronic communication into meaningful categories, such as for example purchase type or by date or other meaningful category that may be of benefit to the ability of the consumer to retrieve transaction records on demand at a later date without significant difficulty.

[ 0055 ] The software application/web application with which consumer views the transaction data may automatically generate one or more communication identifiers to help the consumer 101 with online and in-store purchases. The software application may also have appropriate mechanisms/algorithms to authenticate and authorise use of or access to the consumer's account.

[ 0056 ] The software application or web application (by connecting to consumer server 109) may allow sharing of transaction documents with professionals, for example sharing tax receipts with an accountant or auditor, health records with doctors, employment records with prospective employers, or the like.

[ 0057 ] The method further comprises the step of storing 205 the transaction data in a transaction record in a database for future retrieval on demand as required by the consumer.

[ 0058 ] In particular arrangements, the consumer may access the stored transaction records in the transaction database 111 (or, alternatively, from a repository of data in formats like xml, json, text, etc. or a combination of these) with the help of one or more mobile or web-based/internet applications (for example via a web page specifically adapted for retrieval and display of transaction records stored in transaction database 111 and associated with the consumer on demand. There may, for example, be software applications stored in a mobile device or computer, which, when such software programs are executed, the consumer is able to access all documents associated with a particular transaction category - say health records or books purchased. There may also be associated software applications that may be adapted to retrieve consumer' s transaction records for all categories

[ 0059 ] In particular arrangements, an internet-enabled application adapted to carry out the methods and processed described herein may allow the consumer to record pre-defined items/services that he/she intends to purchase. Additionally, the application may allow a predefined transaction list to be shared electronically with a point of sale operator (e.g. store) to facilitate purchases.

[ 0060 ] In particular arrangements, the internet application (either online or offline), may allow the consumer to record pre-defined items/services that he/she intends to purchase. The pre-defined intended purchase items may be recorded in one or more category. For example, the consumer may record the items to purchase as Milk, Sugar and Coffee under the category -"Grocery". Similarly, consumer may record intended purchases of Ά Tale of two cities' and 'The Lord of Rings' under the category 'Books'. As an example, consumer may proceed with the purchases but may only buy two items (say Sugar and Coffee) and receive the transaction record in the same software application as disclosed herein. When the software application receives the transaction record, the details relating to the items actually purchased are compared against the list of pre-defined purchases. If the intended items are recorded, the application may report mismatched items (which maybe under the same category). In the above example, the software application will report that 'Milk' is missing from the transaction record, thus prompting the consumer that they may need to return to the grocery store to purchase the milk. Alternatively, if the intended items are not recorded under any category, then the application may report that items: Milk', Ά Tale of two cities' and 'The Lord of Rings' have not been purchased. The reporting of the comparison step between the pre-defined intended purchases and the actual purchases preferably occurs soon after receipt of the transaction record by the software application. Over a period of time and with frequent usage of this method, the software application may automatically add the intended items to be purchased for the day, week, month and/or year and may notify the consumer (soon after receipt of a transaction record) of the items missing from the actual purchases until such items/services are purchased/consumed.. The method 200 of managing a plurality of documents associated with one or a plurality of purchases (and associated sub methods may be implemented using a computing device / computer system 300, such as that shown in Figure 3 wherein the processes of Figures 1 to 2 may be implemented as software, such as one or more application programs executable within the computing device 300. In particular, the steps of method(s) are effected by instructions in the software that are carried out within the computer system 300. The instructions may be formed as one or more code modules, each for performing one or more particular tasks. The software may also be divided into two separate parts, in which a first part and the corresponding code modules performs the described methods and a second part and the corresponding code modules manage a user interface between the first part and the user. The software may be stored in a computer readable medium, including the storage devices described below, for example. The software is loaded into the computer system 300 from the computer readable medium, and then executed by the computer system 300. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer program product. The use of the computer program product in the computer system 300 preferably effects an advantageous apparatus for documentation management and in particular to systems and methods for managing documentation relating to transaction receipts and/or warranties for purchases documentation management and in particular to systems and methods for managing documentation relating to transaction receipts and/or warranties for purchases.

[ 0061 ] With reference to Figure 3, an exemplary computing device 300 is illustrated. The exemplary computing device 300 can include, but is not limited to, one or more central processing units (CPUs) 301 comprising one or more processors 302, a system memory 303, and a system bus 304 that couples various system components including the system memory 303 to the processing unit 301. The system bus 304may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. [ 0062 ] The computing device 300 also typically includes computer readable media, which can include any available media that can be accessed by computing device 300 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media and removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computing device 300. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

[ 0063 ] The system memory 303 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 305 and random access memory (RAM) 306. A basic input/output system 307 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computing device 300, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 305. RAM 306- typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 301. By way of example, and not limitation, Figure 3 illustrates an operating system 308, other program modules 309, and program data 310.

[ 0064 ] The computing device 300 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, Figure 3 illustrates a hard disk drive 311 that reads from or writes to non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media. Other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media that can be used with the exemplary computing device include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 311 is typically connected to the system bus 304 through a non-removable memory interface such as interface 312.

[ 0065 ] The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in Figure 3, provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing device 300. In Figure 3, for example, hard disk drive 311 is illustrated as storing an operating system 313, other program modules 314, and program data 315. Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system 308, other program modules 309 and program data 310. Operating system 313, other program modules 314 and program data 315 are given different numbers hereto illustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies.

[ 0066 ] The computing device also includes one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 330 connected to the system bus 304 including an audio-video interface that couples to output devices including one or more of a video display 334 and loudspeakers 335. Input/output interface(s) 330 also couple(s) to one or more input devices including, for example a mouse 331, keyboard 332 or touch sensitive device 333 such as for example a smartphone or tablet device.

[ 0067 ] Of relevance to the descriptions below, the computing device 300 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers. For simplicity of illustration, the computing device 300 is shown in Figure 3 to be connected to a network 320 that is not limited to any particular network or networking protocols, but which may include, for example Ethernet, Bluetooth or IEEE 802.X wireless network protocols, or cellular network (e.g. a 3G or 4G telecommunications network). The logical connection depicted in Figure 3 is a general network connection 321 that can be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) or other network, for example, the internet. The computing device 300 is connected to the general network connection 321 through a network interface or adapter 322 which is, in turn, connected to the system bus 304. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computing device 300, or portions or peripherals thereof, may be stored in the memory of one or more other computing devices that are communicatively coupled to the computing device 300 through the general network connection 321. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between computing devices may be used.

INTERPRETATION

Bus

[ 0068 ] In the context of this document, the term "bus" and its derivatives, while being described in a preferred embodiment as being a communication bus subsystem for interconnecting various devices including by way of parallel connectivity such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), conventional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and the like or serial connectivity such as PCI Express (PCIe), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) and the like, should be construed broadly herein as any system for communicating data.

In accordance with:

[ 0069 ] As described herein, 'in accordance with' may also mean 'as a function of and is not necessarily limited to the integers specified in relation thereto. Composite items

[ 0070 ] As described herein, 'a computer implemented method' should not necessarily be inferred as being performed by a single computing device such that the steps of the method may be performed by more than one cooperating computing devices.

[ 0071 ] Similarly objects as used herein such as 'web server', 'server', 'client computing device', 'computer readable medium' and the like should not necessarily be construed as being a single object, and may be implemented as a two or more objects in cooperation, such as, for example, a web server being construed as two or more web servers in a server farm cooperating to achieve a desired goal or a computer readable medium being distributed in a composite manner, such as program code being provided on a compact disk activatable by a license key downloadable from a computer network.

Database:

[ 0072 ] In the context of this document, the term "database" and its derivatives may be used to describe a single database, a set of databases, a system of databases or the like. The system of databases may comprise a set of databases wherein the set of databases may be stored on a single implementation or span across multiple implementations. The term "database" is also not limited to refer to a certain database format rather may refer to any database format. For example, database formats may include MySQL, MySQLi, XML or the like.

Wireless:

[ 0073 ] The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other network standards and for other applications, including, for example other WLAN standards and other wireless standards. Applications that can be accommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wireless Ethernet.

[ 0074 ] In the context of this document, the term "wireless" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context of this document, the term "wired" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductive wires.

Processes:

[ 0075 ] Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating", "determining", "analysing" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other data similarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor:

[ 0076 ] In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A "computer" or a "computing device" or a "computing machine" or a "computing platform" may include one or more processors.

[ 0077 ] The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performable by one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also called machine-readable) code containing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of the methods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium:

[ 0078 ] Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be included in a computer program product. A computer program product can be stored on a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor to perform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors:

[ 0079 ] In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other processor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

[ 0080 ] Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and a single memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art will understand that many of the components described above are included, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Additional Embodiments:

[ 0081 ] Thus, one embodiment of each of the methods described herein is in the form of a computer- readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are for execution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer-readable carrier medium. The computer- readable carrier medium carries computer readable code including a set of instructions that when executed on one or more processors cause a processor or processors to implement a method. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium:

[ 0082 ] The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via a network interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one or more processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

IMPLEMENTATION

[ 0083 ] It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performed in one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique and that the invention may be implemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing the functionality described herein. The invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

Means for Carrying out a Method or Function

[ 0084 ] Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method or combination of elements of a method that can be implemented by a processor or a processor device, computer system, or by other means of carrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying out the method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Connected

[ 0085 ] Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term connected, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A connected to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Connected" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Embodiments:

[ 0086 ] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

[ 0087 ] Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

[ 0088 ] Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination. Specific Details

[ 0089 ] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Terminology

[ 0090 ] In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radially", "peripherally", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Different Instances of Objects

[ 0091 ] As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

Comprising and Including

[ 0092 ] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

[ 0093 ] Any one of the terms: "including" or "which includes" or "that includes" as used herein is also an open term that also means "including at least" the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention

[ 0094 ] Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred arrangements of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention. [ 0095 ] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Industrial Applicability

[ 0096 ] It is apparent from the above, that the arrangements described are applicable to the mobile device industries, specifically for methods and systems for distributing digital media via mobile devices.

[ 0097 ] It will be appreciated that the methods & systems described/illustrated above at least substantially provide a system and method for documentation management and in particular to systems and methods for managing documentation relating to receipts and/or warranties for purchases

[ 0098 ] The systems and methods described herein, and/or shown in the drawings, are presented by way of example only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention. Unless otherwise specifically stated, individual aspects and components of the systems and methods may be modified, or may have been substituted therefore known equivalents, or as yet unknown substitutes such as may be developed in the future or such as may be found to be acceptable substitutes in the future. The systems and methods may also be modified for a variety of applications while remaining within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention, since the range of potential applications is great, and since it is intended that the present systems and methods be adaptable to many such variations.