Abstract:
This disclosure describes an integrated full service employer and employee system and a method for employers and employees to access accounts on that system. The term “full service” refers to the fact that the employer, employer organizational entities, employees, and authorized third parties are able at various levels of authorization and participation to at least create, access and revise policies, rules, procedures, payroll, benefits, banking, investment, retirement, insurance, merchandising, and information capabilities of the integrated system described herein. The creation, access and revision policies are supported via an integrated privileges and security mechanism on a per-user basis where a user may be a representative of the employer, employer organizational entity, employee, or an authorized third party. Moreover, this system also provides for integration and automation with respect to other systems in order to enable interactions with other product and service providers. These other product and service providers may provide a broad range of financial activities including at least banking, investment, retirement, insurance, communication, and merchandising capabilities in addition to any of those resident within the system itself.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to financial transaction, analysis, and management systems as well as human resource information systems. More specifically the invention relates to the integration of a series of services that enable employers, employer organizational entities, employees, and authorized third parties to create, access, and revise policies, rules, procedures, payroll, benefits, banking, investment, retirement, insurance, and merchandising at various levels of authorization and participation via a consistent method of access.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    A number of factors have contributed to the exponentially increased complexity associated with both employer and employee business and financial products and services. The diversification of the financial industry due to the on going deregulation of that industry has caused an exponential increase in the sheer number of products and services. The rapid inflow of capital into high technology companies and the increasing capitalization of these companies have dramatically increased the number of point products and services in this area for both employers and employees. Moreover, the combination of deregulation and increased capital has resulted in these point product vendors and services attempting to increase their market share by incorporating features of their competitors.  
           [0003]    In addition, there is a broad trend toward an expectation of increased productivity on a per-employee basis as employers seek to continually increase their product and services offerings in an increasingly competitive environment. This expectation of increased productivity means that employees must significantly increase the results associated with their jobs, and in many cases increase the raw number of hours dedicated to their employers. This need for increased results and potentially increased hours means that employees must be able to interact with their employer in many more ways than the past. This includes being able to access both corporate and personal data on a 24×7×52 (24 hours by 7 days per week by 52 weeks per year) basis and being better able to transform that data to information and knowledge rapidly via the increased semantic context of that data.  
           [0004]    Despite the growth of all of these financial products and services and the increased urgency with respect to per-employee productivity, the options available to employers and employees with regard to their interdependent relationship have been relatively stagnant. One reason for this is that the plethora of products and services available to both employers and employees must be managed largely as a separate collection of entities rather than as an integrated system. This puts both the employer and the employee in the position of being in effect separate system integrators for the products and services that each opts to utilize.  
           [0005]    When a company begins operations, the company owner or owners must fill out a series of governmentally mandated and third party forms relating to various attributes of that business. Each time an employee is hired by an employer, the employee fills out a series of governmentally mandated and employer-specific forms relating to various attributes of that employee. Once an employee begins work for the employer, various attributes associated with the attributes of that employee&#39;s employment must also be continuously maintained. Each of these activities is a completely separate and autonomous operation.  
           [0006]    After the employee fully commences employment with the employer, the number of interactions between the employer and employee significantly increase. These interactions include minimally payroll with various routing features (tax withholding, benefits, insurance, direct deposit, etc.), health insurance reimbursement, policy and procedure access, forms access, employee performance monitoring, employee satisfaction monitoring, scheduling of resources (e.g., people, conference rooms, equipment, etc.), purchasing on behalf of the employer, scheduling of personal vacation, and approval of business- and project-specific documents.  
           [0007]    There are several inventions that address an integrated financial system for a business or for an individual.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,810 discloses an integrated financial system that includes a single individual customer account that permits a customer to perform various financial transactions and includes at least banking and brokerage components. Thus, this invention addresses the individual without respect to the employment of that individual, if any.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,435 discloses an automated accounting system for an entity, such as an individual or business, in which at least one file is established for the entity and a plurality of data inputs are provided to the file. This invention is limited to both accounting systems and does not take into account integration between an employer and that employer&#39;s employees. Also, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,641, which discloses a computer system for managing a plurality of accounts separated into a master account and at least one sub-account associated with that master account—this invention is limited in its scope of integration and is focused on the individual only.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,602 discloses an open architecture system that automatically consolidates information from a plurality of financial systems into a single accounting system without the need for expensive and time-consuming backroom procedures. U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,378 discloses a method for integrating a plurality of financial services provided at different geographical locations and in different time zones, and electronic delivery of such services directly to a customer facility at any time requested by the customer. Both of these patents are restricted to businesses and the customers of those businesses.  
           [0011]    Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,378 discloses a payment and disbursement system. This invention is a routing mechanism rather than an integrated system.  
           [0012]    There are numerous point products and services available from software application and service provision vendors that address some of the specific issues associated with employer systems or employee systems. Some of these are very specific while others manage multiple aspects of either the employer or the employee. These software applications and services are inherently limited by the fact that all draw a basic distinction between the employer and the employee rather than resolving both the employer and employee in an integrated system.  
           [0013]    There are three aggregated categories of software application and service provision vendors for employers and employees. The first category consists of those vendors providing human resource information systems and financial transaction, analysis, and management products and services to employers. The second category consists of those vendors providing financial transaction, analysis, and management systems to employees. The third category consists of those vendors providing what is in essence an intermediary routing products and services between employers and employees. Examples of the leading and most comprehensive vendor or vendors in each category will be explored in the paragraphs that follow.  
           [0014]    PeopleSoft offers a wide variety of human resource information and management systems to employers as well as more recently offering workforce analytics, supply chain, financial management, and other employer-oriented products. PeopleSoft, like BAAN, SAP, Oracle, and other vendors in this category focused on capturing inter- and intra-business interactions.  
           [0015]    The other major type of vendor in this category are custom software development companies such as marchFIRST, Sapient, Scient, and others that focus on building Intranet web sites (also called company portals) that attempt to enable so-called “knowledge management” among employees. These Intranet web sites are an attempt to address the broad trend previously mentioned with respect to increased productivity of employees.  
           [0016]    The leading vendor in the employee-oriented second category is Intuit with its Quicken products, although Microsoft with its Money product and the banking and brokerage industry with its increasing variety of account management products and services are also powerful members of this category.  
           [0017]    The third category are those vendors that are providing products and services for intermediary based routing between employers and employees. There are two basic types of vendors in this category: the traditional payroll vendor and the relatively new so-called “single source” vendors that offer either employers or employees a series of services. Each of these will be discussed below.  
           [0018]    The traditional payroll vendor is represented by vendors such as ADP, Paychex, or local accounting firms that provide these services on a one-off basis to employers in geographically co-resident areas. Each of these vendors focuses entirely upon the employer and provides integrated payroll services to the subscribing employer. In addition, many of these types of vendors have also begun offering other services such as retirement plans, human resource forms and supplies, employee handbooks, and the like. The traditional payroll vendor enables an employer to codify and then enact the routing of an employee paycheck into various categories including federal taxes, state taxes, health insurance, life insurance, supplemental insurance, short term disability, long term disability, retirement plans, employee stock options, and direct deposit.  
           [0019]    The single source vendors are represented by vendors such as BrightLane.com and WageMarket. BrightLane.com is oriented toward providing businesses with both traditional payroll services as well as banking, benefits financial services, insurance, office products and supplies, recruiting, and web services. WageMarket is oriented toward providing a more flexible routing scheme than traditional payroll vendors provide by enabling employees to route their paychecks to purchases, savings and investment, bill payment, and credit and debit cards. All of these single source vendors are focused once again on either the employer or the employee, and at best offer only a slightly more flexible routing scheme for payroll.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0020]    It is thus an object of this invention to provide an improved full service employer and employee system that integrates the interactions among the employer and employees. It is a further object to provide such a system that provides not just the needs of an employer or just the needs of the individuals employed by the employer.  
           [0021]    These objects, as well as others, are accomplished by an integrated full service system between an employer, the employer organizational entities, and the employees of that employer and its organizational entities. The present invention is characterized by the integration of a variety of services to employers, employer organizational entities, and the employees of each of those employers and a system and method for making those services available to those employers, employer organizational entities, and employees in a consistent manner.  
           [0022]    The present invention enables the offering of at least integrated accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, and information services to employers, employer organizational entities, and the employees of those employers. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, are incorporated and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
         [0024]    There are three basic categories of drawings.  
         [0025]    Block diagrams: FIG. 1 through FIG. 6. The block diagrams depict the system and subsystem relationships of the present invention.  
         [0026]    Content and relationship diagrams: FIG. 7 through FIG. 15. The content and relationship diagrams depict the employer, employer organizational entity, and employee sample fields and relationships of the present invention.  
         [0027]    Flow diagrams: FIG. 16A through FIG. 26. The flow diagrams depict the session-oriented access and management of the integrated employer and employee database of the present invention.  
         [0028]    In the drawings,  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an integrated full service employer and employee system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIGS. 2A and 2B are block diagrams of an integrated full service employer and employee system.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the integration and business logic systems, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, information systems, and other services, as they exist in the integration and business logic systems, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, information systems, and other services, as they exist in the integration system, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, information systems, and other services, as they exist in the business logic system, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 7 is a sample of the contents of the employer section of the present invention that is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 8 is a sample of the contents of the employer organization section of the present invention that is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 9 is a sample of the contents of the employee section of the present invention that is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 10 is a high-level example of employer, employer organization, and employee information relationships of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 11 is an example of employer-to-organization inheritance relationship between the employer organization and employer sections of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 12 is an example of an override with organization-specific information relationship between the employer organization and employer sections of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 13 is an example of an employer-to-organization augmentation relationship between the employer organization and employer sections of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 14 is an example of an employee-to-employer non-inheritance link relationship between the employee and employer sections of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 15 is an example of an employee-to-employer unique relationship between the employee and employer sections of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow diagrams of a method of handling the request of an individual to access the employer and employee integrated full service system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a method of identifying the customer, in accordance with the flow diagrams shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a method of classifying the type of customer contact, in accordance with the flow diagrams shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of a method of getting the fundamental method of access and management of the employer (or employer-based organization) account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of a method for creating an employer (or employer-based organization) account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting an employer (or employer-based organization) account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of a method for modifying an employer (or employer-based organization) account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Please note that a modification is a superset of a simple read operation and is thus the read operation is implicitly included in this figure.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of a method of getting the fundamental method of access and management of the employee account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 24 is a flow diagram of a method for creating an employee account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of a method for deleting an employee account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of a method for modifying an employee account of the integrated employer and employee meta-account, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Please note that a modification is a superset of a simple read operation and is thus the read operation is implicitly included in this figure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0055]    In accordance with the present invention it has been found that the complexity and thus the time and cost associated with employers, employer organizational entities, and employees managing separate employer and differentiated and individual employee accounts may be greatly reduced. The present invention enables employers, employer organizational entities, and employees to dismiss themselves from their role of a system integrator of the wide variety of products and services available. This enables both employers and the employees of those employers to spend additional time achieving both their combined and exclusive objectives, thus increasing the productivity of both.  
         [0056]    Since the present invention is fully integrated, it provides operating efficiencies and cost reductions to the employer and the organizational entities of that employer. The present invention promotes a cycle of increased efficiency and cost savings that benefits the employer.  
         [0057]    The present invention also offers the employer or some other entity the possibility of additional sources of revenue through at least accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, and information third party relationships. In addition, advertising revenues may be realized by the employer or some other entity through the aggregation of multiple employers and employees.  
         [0058]    Each employer, employer organizational entities, and the employees of the employer are represented in this system via a “meta-account”. Depending upon the specific embodiment of the invention (i.e., whether the invention is delivered as a product or a service), there may be one or more of these meta-accounts present in a given system.  
         [0059]    Each meta-account contains a single account for the employer, zero or more accounts that represent some type of employer organizational entity within that employer, and zero or more accounts that represent specific employees associated with the employer. Organizational entity accounts may be nested to any level.  
         [0060]    Each of the employer, employer organizational entity, and employee accounts is linked in an integrated fashion. Employee accounts inherit attributes from the top-most organizational entity accounts, which in turn inherit attributes from the next top-most organizational entity accounts, and this repeats until the baseline employer account is reached. This inheritance of attributes at multiple levels is necessary  
         [0061]    Each employer, employer organizational entity, and employee account may consist of at least an accounting module, a benefits module, an insurance module, a banking module, a merchandising module, and an information module. Each of these modules consists of data, and the semantic context of that data is the account type and specific account in which that data resides. Thus, the accounting module and its associated data that is associated with an employee may be very different than the accounting module and associated data that is associated with the employer of that employee.  
         [0062]    In one embodiment a consistent and easy to use user interface is available for employers, employees, and authorized third parties. This interface may be delivered at least by any number of interface devices. Because this invention is intended for use by a broad range of employers, employees, and authorized third parties, it is an important feature of this invention that it be available through voice telephony as well as through computerized interface devices.  
         [0063]    Invention may be available and accessed 24×7×52 (24 hours by 7 days per week by 52 weeks per year), thus allowing complete access to the system at all times. It can be available for geographical distribution such that complete access to the system would be uninterrupted in case of a major disaster at the primary operational site. Such distribution may be via the Internet, thus allowing complete access to the system worldwide.  
         [0064]    Employers, employees, and authorized third party entities may have differing access to information processed and stored by the system. Unauthorized entities may be prevented access through a privilege and security system.  
         [0065]    The elements and components of the system according to the present invention can be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Moreover, the elements and components of the system may be implemented with a single computer, multiple computers within a distributed network, or any appropriate configuration of software, hardware, or both as may be apparent to one of skill in the art. Thus the services of the system may be delivered via both hardware and software components to the premises of an entity (the delivery of a product) and/or through a services-based infrastructure (a service provider).  
         [0066]    The system according to the present invention may be integrated with an entity&#39;s existing computerized business systems, for example, by exchanging data with personnel, accounting, benefits, insurance, banking, merchandising, information, and/or other computerized systems already in place within the entity.  
         [0067]    Various other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description given with reference to the various figures of drawing.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 1 provides a high level overview of the present invention. System  100  includes a standard logical n-tier architecture represented by the presentation tier  750 , a business logic and integration tier  700 , and a services tier  150 . System  100  may interact in a direct manner via the network  900  and in an indirect manner via the network  600 .  
         [0069]    Interaction with the network  900  may be accomplished through a standard firewall  850  that with the software and protocols associated with interface  800  provides a secure interface to the interface devices connected to network  900 . Thus, the network  900  may be an Internet, Intranet, Extranet, or any other standard or proprietary network and may be wire-based or wireless. If the network  900  is an open network, then the firewall  850  may not be necessary and may be not be present in the system.  
         [0070]    The interface devices, represented by interface devices  950 ( 1 ) through  950 ( 6 ), may be used directly by the customers of the system or may be used by back-office personnel servicing the customers of the system. This is particularly important because many of the customers of this system may not be comfortable in directly accessing the system  100  and thus trained customer service representatives are accommodated in order to operate the system and provide services on behalf of those customers. In any case, the interface devices depicted herein are provided as examples only; as interface device  950 ( 6 ) shows, future interface devices are explicitly supported as they are developed as long as these interface devices operate on any type of network.  
         [0071]    Interaction with third party systems  550  is achieved via the interconnect  600 . This interconnect may be any type of network, including Internet, Intranet, Extranet, or any other standard or proprietary network and may be wire-based or wireless. If the interconnect  600  is achieved through a proprietary network, then no security measure such as a firewall will be necessary. If the interconnect  600  is achieved as an open network, then a firewall must be used in order to protect the security and integrity of the system  100 .  
         [0072]    The presentation tier  750  is responsible for both input and output of data and information between system  100  and the interface devices  950 ( 1 ) through  950 ( 6 ). The output of data and information includes the responsibility for the formatting of data and information for display by the interface devices  950 ( 1 ) through  950 ( 6 ). This presentation tier includes support for any protocol and language, including but not limited to HTTP, HTML, DHTML, XML, SOAP, and UDDI. Common presentation tier products include Microsoft IIs, Apache, Netscape-Enterprise, Rapidsite, WebSite Pro, thttpd, Stronghold, WebSTAR, NCSA, and Netscape-Commerce.  
         [0073]    The business logic and integration tier  700  has two primary functions: the provision of business logic rules processing for the system  100  and the provision of integration of third party systems  550  with system  100 . The business logic function uses interface  650  to communicate with the presentation tier  750  and the interface  500  to communicate with the database services tier  150 . The integration function uses interface  600  to communicate with third party systems  550  and with the database services tier  150 . Common second tier products focused on business rule encapsulation and integration include BEA WebLogic, Microsoft IIS, iPlanet Application Server, IONA iPortal Application Server, IBM Websphere, Oracle 9i, and Silver Stream Application Server. Common second tier products focused on integration include Microsoft BizTalk Server, BEA E-Collaborate, and Bluestone Total-e-B2B.  
         [0074]    Interface  650  may be any protocol and language, up to and including the tight integration at either or both a hardware and software level of the presentation tier and the business logic and integration tier. Interface  500  may be any protocol and language. Either the protocols and languages are defined as including the tight integration at either or both a hardware and software level of the business logic and integration tier and the database services tier. Common interface protocols and languages used to implement interface  500  include but are not limited to TCP/IP, ATM, SQL, and database interfaces unique to merchant database products from companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase,  
         [0075]    The database services tier  150  is the core of the present invention and incorporates the integrated employer and employee system in the form of the series of meta-accounts  200 . These meta-accounts are the exclusive subjects of the next two figures.  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 2A and 2B are block diagram depictions of the meta-account structure of the present invention. FIG. 2A depicts the major components of the meta-account structure  200 . This meta-account structure is hierarchical in nature with implicit and explicit relationships among the accounts within each meta-account. The employer account  210  always forms the base account from which all other accounts are derived. This employer account represents the highest-level representation of the employer. In other words, the employer account represents the entire corporate structure.  
         [0077]    There may optionally be one or more organizational entities contained within a corporate structure, and there may optionally be one or more organizational entities contained within a higher level organizational entity, and so on. This is depicted in the figure by organizational entity accounts  300 ( 1 ),  300 ( 2 ),  350 ( 1 ), and  350 ( 2 ). Note that these organizational entity accounts are illustrative in nature in this depiction; as noted earlier, they need not exist at all, more than these might exist, and a deeper nesting of organizational entities may exist.  
         [0078]    The organizational entity accounts  300 ( 1 ) and  300 ( 2 ) are based upon the employer account  210 . Thus, these organizational entity accounts represent firstlevel sub-corporate entities. For example, if company A formed the base employer account  210 , for example, the organizational entity accounts represented by  300  would represent the major businesses of the company, e.g., aircraft engines, appliances, capital services, aviation services, and other company A businesses.  
         [0079]    The organizational entity accounts  350 ( 1 ) and  350 ( 2 ) are based upon the organizational entity accounts  300 ( 1 ) and  300 ( 2 ), respectively. Thus, these organizational entity accounts represent second-level sub-corporate entities based upon the first-level sub-corporate entities described in the previous paragraph. In the example in the previous paragraph, where company A was the base employer account and capital services would be a first-level sub-corporate entity, these second-level sub-corporate entities might be organized by industry vertical, e.g., Industrial and Manufacturing, Auto Dealers, Insurance, Real Estate, and other company A Capital Services verticals.  
         [0080]    The number of organizational entities may be nested to any depth to meet the needs of the corporate entity as a whole. In addition, the number of organizational entities may be changed to reflect changing regulatory, competitive, and other internal and external changes made in the overall corporate structure.  
         [0081]    The employee accounts  400 ( 1 ),  400 ( 2 ),  400 ( 3 ), and  400 ( 4 ) in this depiction are based upon the highest-level second-level sub-corporate entities discussed in previous paragraphs. Each employee account represents an individual employee of the company. There may be any number of employee accounts, from zero to many, for each organizational entity. Thus, employee accounts may be based upon the base employer account  210 , the first-level organizational entity accounts  300 , the second-level organizational entity accounts  350 , and any other n-level organizational entity account.  
         [0082]    [0082]FIG. 2B depicts another view of the structure of the integrated employer and employee meta-account structure. In this figure, the overall integrated employer and employee meta-account is represented by  200 . The base employer account  210 ( 1 ) as shown not only represents the base account in an n-level organizational entity account structure but also has employee account  400 ( 12 ) based directly upon it. A simple example of a typical employee account that might be based directly upon the employer account  210 ( 1 ) would be that of the chief executive officer of the overall corporate entity.  
         [0083]    There are two first-level organizational entity accounts  300 ( 10 ) and  300 ( 11 ) that are based upon the employer account  210 ( 1 ). The organizational entity account  300 ( 10 ) has the employee account  400 ( 10 ) directly based upon it. A simple example of a typical employee account at this level might be an executive vice president and business unit leader of a sub-corporate entity reporting to the chief executive officer of the overall corporate entity.  
         [0084]    The organizational entity account  300 ( 12 ) is based upon organizational entity account  300 ( 11 ). This represents a second-level corporate entity based upon a first-level corporate entity. The employee account  400 ( 11 ) is based upon organizational entity account  300 ( 12 ). A simple example of a typical employee account at this level might be an assistant reporting to the executive vice president level noted above.  
         [0085]    As discussed, FIGS. 2A and 2B represent the capabilities of the present invention in terms of the integrated employer and employee system. It should be noted, however, that the present invention does not need organizational entity accounts and may be embodied as simply as a single employer account and a single employee account based upon that single employer account.  
         [0086]    [0086]FIG. 3 depicts a more detailed view of the business logic and integration tier  700  that was first shown in FIG. 1. This tier consists of the integration system  710  and the business logic system  730  supported by framework system  740 . The integration system  710  communicates to third party systems through the interface  600 . The business logic system communicates to the network through interface  650 . Framework system  740 , which interfaces with both integration system  710  and business logic system  730 , communicates with the integrated employer and employee database system  160  via interface  500 . The framework system  740  may actually consist of one or more frameworks. Common merchant frameworks that might be used at this level include Microsoft COM/DCOM (Component Object Model/Distributed Component Object Model) and J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) implementations such as those from BEA Systems WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, and other J2EE compliant frameworks.  
         [0087]    The second-level tier shown in FIG. 3 is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. The third-party system  550  and the business logic system  730  are depicted supporting the following services: Accounting; Benefits; Insurance; Banking; Merchandising; Information Services; and, Other Services.  
         [0088]    These services are provided to either the customer or a customer services representative if embodied in  730  and are provided by third party applications to either the customer or customer service representatives of third parties if embodied in  550 .  
         [0089]    If these services are provided by  730 , then these are made available to the presentation tier through interface  650 . System  730  is responsible for providing the business rules that constitute these services; access to the integrated employer and employee database  160  must be made through interface  530  to the framework  740  and through interface  510  from the framework  740  to the integrated employer and employee database  160 .  
         [0090]    If these services are provided by  550 , then these services must be given access to the integrated employer and employee database  160  through interface  600  to the integration system  710 . The integration system uses interface  520  to access framework  740  that in turn uses interface  510  to access the integrated employer and employee database  160 .  
         [0091]    System  730  is shown in detail in FIG. 5. This system provides the business rules for the providing services directly to the customer or to a customer service representative in the present invention. By “business rules” this means that the core logic of these services are embedded in system  730 . Thus, the following may be observed in this figure.  
         [0092]    The accounting system  651  is used to provide accounting services; the interface  531  is provided such that the accounting system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0093]    The benefits system  652  is used to provide benefits services; the interface  532  is provided such that the benefits system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0094]    The insurance system  653  is used to provide insurance services; the interface  533  is provided such that the insurance system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0095]    The banking system  654  is used to provide banking services; the interface  534  is provided such that the banking system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0096]    The merchandising system  655  is used to provide merchandising services; the interface  535  is provided such that the merchandising system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0097]    The information services system  656  is used to provide information services; the interface  536  is provided such that the information services system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0098]    The other services system  657  is used to provide other services; the interface  537  is provided such that the other services system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0099]    System  550  is shown in detail in FIG. 6. This system is the third party systems that may access the integrated employer and employee database. Thus, the following may be observed in this figure.  
         [0100]    The accounting system  741  is used to provide accounting services; the interface  601  is provided such that the accounting system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0101]    The benefits system  742  is used to provide benefits services; the interface  602  is provided such that the benefits system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0102]    The insurance system  743  is used to provide insurance services; the interface  603  is provided such that the insurance system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0103]    The banking system  744  is used to provide banking services; the interface  604  is provided such that the banking system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0104]    The merchandising system  745  is used to provide merchandising services; the interface  605  is provided such that the merchandising system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0105]    The information services system  746  is used to provide information services; the interface  606  is provided such that the information services system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0106]    The other services system  747  is used to provide other services; the interface  607  is provided such that the other services system can access the integrated employer and employee database.  
         [0107]    A sample fragment of potential employer account information is depicted in FIG. 7. This in no way is meant to represent all of the information associated with an employer account but is simply included for illustrative purposes only. In addition, the information is shown in an XML format for illustrative purposes only, the actual syntax of the data representation may be represented via relational database schema, object oriented database schema, proprietary or standard XML schema, or any other type of schema.  
         [0108]    The two primary attributes of the employer account in this example are the corporate entity name and the federal identification of the corporate entity. Underlying fields in the employer account include the corporate address, the legal corporate address, contact information, tax information, and an account list. The account list is a list of accounts and associated account information for each account for the corporate entity.  
         [0109]    A sample fragment of potential employer organizational entity account information is depicted in FIG. 8. This in no way is meant to represent all of the information associated with an employer account but is simply included for illustrative purposes only. In addition, the information is shown in an XML format for illustrative purposes only, the actual syntax of the data representation may be represented via relational database schema, object oriented database schema, proprietary or standard XML schema, or any other type of schema.  
         [0110]    The primary attribute of the employer organizational entity account in this example is the name of the organizational entity. Underlying fields in the employer organizational entity account include the employer of which the employer organization entity is a member, the address of the employer organizational entity, contact information, and an account list for the organizational entity. The account list is a list of accounts and associated account information for each account for the employer organizational entity.  
         [0111]    A sample fragment of potential employee account information is depicted in FIG. 9. This in no way is meant to represent all of the information associated with an employer account but is simply included for illustrative purposes only. In addition, the information is shown in an XML format for illustrative purposes only, the actual syntax of the data representation may be represented via relational database schema, object oriented database schema, proprietary or standard XML schema, or any other type of schema.  
         [0112]    The primary attribute of the employee is the name and the social security number of the employee. Underlying fields in the employee account include the employer of which the employee is a member, the address of the employee, contact information for the employee, and an employee-specific account list. The account list is a list of accounts and associated information for each account for the employee.  
         [0113]    A critical element of the present invention is the linkage among the employer, employer organizational entity, and employee accounts within an integrated employer and employee meta-account. An example of the type of linkage that is available is illustrated in FIG. 10. This high-level diagram depicts the following types of linkages  
         [0114]    One type of link is an employer-to-organization inheritance linkage between the employer and an organizational entity of that employer. This is shown graphically by  10 .  
         [0115]    Another type of link is an employer-to-organization augmentation linkage between the employer and an organizational entity of that employer. This is shown graphically by  10 .  
         [0116]    Another type of link is an employee-to-employer non-inheritance linkage between an employee and an organizational entity of an employer. This is shown graphically by  11 .  
         [0117]    Another type of link is an employee-to-employer non-inheritance linkage between an employee and an employer. This is shown graphically by  12 .  
         [0118]    These links will be explored in FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 14, and FIG. 15.  
         [0119]    An employer organizational entity account fragment and an employer account fragment are depicted in FIG. 11. An employer-to-organization inheritance link is depicted by  13 . This link is between the key attribute of the employer of the federal identification and an explicit link to that federal identification key through the “Member Of” element as shown. This linkage enables attributes of the employer to be inherited by the employer organizational entity. It is through this mechanism that all organizational entities of an employer may share common employer attributes without redundancy.  
         [0120]    An employer organizational entity account fragment and an employer account fragment are depicted in FIG. 12. An employer-to-organization inheritance link that overrides the employer&#39;s basic attributes is depicted by  14 . This link is between the address fields of the employer account and the employer organizational entity account. In this example, the organizational entity account overrides the address information originally specified in the employer account. The result of this is a unique address for organizational entities that have different physical addresses from their corporate parent.  
         [0121]    An employer organizational entity account fragment and an employer account fragment are depicted in FIG. 13. An employer-to-organization inheritance link that augments the employer&#39;s basic attributes is depicted by  15 . This link enables an organization to supplement the information (in this case, the account list) that is by default inherited by the employer organization entity from the employer. In this example, the employer organization entity inherits the Bank of America checking account and augments that with an AFLAC and a ToysRUs.com account.  
         [0122]    An employee account fragment and an employer account fragment are depicted in FIG. 14. An employee-to-employer non-inheritance link is depicted by  16 . This link shows membership, but in this case does not confer inheritance by the employee for the employer attributes.  
         [0123]    An employee account fragment and an employer organization entity account fragment are depicted in FIG. 15. As introduced in FIG. 14, the link type of link  17  is a non-inheritance link. This means that the employee account does not inherit the account attributes of the employer organization entity. Thus, in this example, the AFLAC account and the OfficeMax.com account are not inherited by the employee; instead, the First Union and the MBNA accounts are all that the employee will actually see and be able to access and manage.  
         [0124]    The high-level session-oriented access and management of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 16A and 16B. The first step is the identification of the individual as shown in process step  1000 . Once the individual is identified to the system, that individual may be classified as shown in process step  1100 . There are two basic classifications of customers: current customers and prospective customers. Current customers are afforded the opportunity to access and manage their accounts. Prospective customers are afforded the opportunity to become current customers by creating accounts if appropriate.  
         [0125]    If the individual is classified as a current customer who represents an employer, then process step  1200  is selected. At that point, process step  1300  is enacted in which the selection of the specific employer account occurs. Note that this selection may be of the base employer account or an employer organizational entity account. Once that selection has been completed, then the actual access and management of that account occur as depicted by process step  1400 . Once that access and management is completed by the current customer representing an employer, the account is exited as shown in process step  1800 .  
         [0126]    If the individual is classified as a current customer who represents an employee, then process step  1500  is selected. At that point, process step  1600  is enacted in which the selection of the specific employee account occurs. Once that selection has been completed, then the actual access and management of that account occur as depicted by process step  1700 . Once that access and management is completed by the current customer representing an employee, the account is exited as shown in process step  1800 .  
         [0127]    If the individual is identified as a prospective customer representing an employee, then process step  2200  is selected. This leads to process step  2300 , in which a needs analysis is performed of the employee. After that needs analysis is completed, the employee is enlisted in assisting in having the employee&#39;s employer enroll to use the services of the present invention in process step  2400 . After that assistance is completed, the session is exited as depicted in process step  2500 .  
         [0128]    If the individual is identified as a prospective customer representing an employer, then process step  2000  is selected. This leads to process step  2100 , in which a needs analysis is performed, and then to process step  2700 , in which the potential customer representing an employer is convinced to enroll to use the services of the present invention. It is assumed that this assistance is successful. This leads to process step  2800 , which is an off-page reference that leads to the continuation of this in FIG. 16B).  
         [0129]    In FIG. 16B, the next step shown after continuation process step  2800  is the creation of the previously described meta-account as depicted in process step  2900 . It is in this step that the integrated employer and employee meta-account, as depicted by data element  200 , is created and initialized as an empty meta-account. After the meta-account has been created, process step  3000  occurs in which the employer data is received as data element  3001  and added to the integrated employer and employee meta-account  200 . The employer data  3001  may be created either directly by the customer representing the employer or indirectly by a customer service representative interviewing the customer representing the employer.  
         [0130]    After the employer account information has been entered, a decision must be made concerning whether employer organizational entity accounts should be created. This is depicted as decision element  3100 . If there are no more organizational entity accounts that should be created, then control is transferred to decision element  3300 . If there is an employer organizational entity that remains that should be created, then process step  3200  occurs. In process step  3200 , the employer organization entity data is received as data element  3201  and added to the integrated employer and employee meta-account  200 . The employer organization entity data  3201  may be created either directly by the customer representing the employer or indirectly by a customer service representative interviewing the customer representing the employer. After this occurs, control is transferred back to decision element  3100  in order to test to find if any other employer organization entity accounts should be created.  
         [0131]    Decision element  3300  is reached only when there are no employer organizational entities remaining for which accounts should be created. At this point, a test occurs to determine if there are any more employees for which to add employee accounts. If not, then the account and the session are exited as per process step  1800 .  
         [0132]    If an employee account is to be added, then the employee data  3401  is collected by process step  3400  and added to the integrated employer and employee meta-account  200 . The employee data  3401  may be created either directly by the customer representing the employer or indirectly by a customer service representative interviewing the customer representing the employer. After this employee account is created, control is transferred back to decision step  3300  so that more employee accounts may be created if more remain that should be created.  
         [0133]    The customer identification flow is depicted in more detail in FIG. 17. This figure depicts the direct and indirect methods that may be used by a customer to gain access to the functionality of the present invention.  
         [0134]    The first step is that the customer must initiate contact, or must respond to contact initiated by some organization, and is depicted as process step  1001 . At that point, contact type classification must occur as per process step  1002 . This leads to decision step  1010  or  1020  depending on whether the contact type is indirect (via a customer service representative) or direct. In either case, if the customer is not a current customer but instead is prospective, control is transferred to an off-page reference  1100 .  
         [0135]    If the customer type is current and the contact type is indirect  1011 , then the customer service representative retrieves the appropriate account information  1030  as depicted by process step  1012 . That information is then compared against existing information in the appropriate integrated employer and employee meta-account  150  as depicted by process step  1013 . If the customer service representative confirms that the information matches, then control is transferred to an off-page reference  1100 . If the information does not match, then the customer service representative rejects the customer.  
         [0136]    If the customer type is current and the contact type is direct  1021 , this means that the customer is attempting to access the functionality of the present invention directly (i.e., the customer is attempting to log into the system). The first process step that must be taken is to retrieve the potential customer account information  1030  from that customer as depicted by process step  1022 . After that, the integrated employer and employee meta-account  150  is requested by process step  1023 . If the customer is found to be valid (i.e., the information matches)  1024 , then control is transferred to an off-page reference  1100 . If the information does not match, then the customer request to access the functionality of the present invention is rejected.  
         [0137]    The off-page reference  1100  referenced in the last few paragraphs may be found in FIG. 18. This figure represents at a more detailed level the individual type classification  1100  that was depicted at a higher level in FIG. 16A. The purpose of the diagram flow depicted in FIG. 18 is to classify the customer as either a current or a prospective customer, and as either an employer or an employee.  
         [0138]    If the individual is not a current customer as determined in decision step  1110  and is not an employer as determined in decision step  1120 , then that individual is a prospective customer who is an employee as per  2200 . If the individual is not a current customer as determined in decision step  1110  and is an employer as determined in decision step  1120 , then that individual is a prospective customer who is an employer as per  2000 .  
         [0139]    If the individual is a current customer as determined in decision step  1110 , then control is passed to decision step  1130 . If the individual is an employer as determined in decision step  1130 , then the individual is a current customer who is an employer as per  1200 . If the individual is an employee as determined in decision step  1130 , then the individual is a current customer who is an employee as per  1500 .  
         [0140]    The flow diagram for the access and management of a specific employer account is depicted in FIG. 19. The first step that must be taken is to determine the type of operation the customer representing the employer wishes to perform. This is depicted in process step  1401  in which the operation type is received by reading the user-directed operation data element  1406 . There are four operation types: create an employer account, delete an employer account, modify an employer account (which includes both read and write operations), and exit from this set of operations.  
         [0141]    If the operation type is creating an employer account as depicted by  1402 , then an off-page control  1410  is enacted. If the operation type is deleting an employer account as depicted by  1403 , then an off-page control  1430  is enacted. If the operation type is modifying an employer account as depicted by  1404 , then an off-page control  1450  is enacted. If the operation type is to exit, then an off-page control  1800  is enacted. If the operation type is unknown, then an attempt is made to get another user-directed operation.  
         [0142]    The creation of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 20. The first process step in creating an employer account is to get the employer information from the customer representing the employer as depicted by the process step  1412  retrieving the data element  1411 . If the employer account does not represent an employer organizational entity as determined by decision step  1413 , then the employer account must be created and that employer account must be updated with the information from data element  1411  as shown in process step  1415 .  
         [0143]    If the employer account does represent an employer organizational entity as determined by decision step  1413 , then the base employer account information from  150  must be read as per process step  1416 . Note that this base employer account may be either an employer account or an employer organizational entity account. If this base employer account exists, then an employer organizational entity account must be created as shown in process step  1418 . This creation also entails the modification of the base account, which is then updated in process step  1419  to the data element  150 . The newly created employer organizational entity account is then updated to data element  150  as depicted by process step  1420 . At that point, control is transferred to the off-page reference depicted by  1300 .  
         [0144]    The deletion of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 21. The first process step is to retrieve the employer information  1431  from the customer representing the employer as depicted by process step  1432 . At that point, the base employer account is read as depicted by step  1433  from the integrated employer and employee meta-account data element  150 . Note that if the account being deleted is the lowest-level employer account, then that is noted and process step  1433  simply reads the account that will be deleted.  
         [0145]    Process step  1434  depicts the process step of relinking all related accounts such that the employer account that is to be deleted may be deleted while the integrity of the employer and employee meta-account is maintained. What occurs in this process step is that all accounts that implicitly or explicitly rely upon the account to be deleted are updated such that each account relies upon the correct account without the presence of the account to be deleted. At that point, these related accounts are updated as per process step  1435  into data element  150  of the present invention and the account that was specified to be deleted is deleted as shown in process step  1436  and the integrated employer and removed from the employee meta account  150 . Control is then transferred to the off-page reference  1300 .  
         [0146]    The modification of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 22. Note that because a modification inherently must include the simple access information, simple access to the integrated employer and employee meta-account is included in this figure.  
         [0147]    The first action shown is the retrieval of employer information  1451  from the customer representing the employer as depicted by process step  1452 . At that point, the specific employer account is read from the integrated employer and employee meta-account  150  as per process step  1453 . This constitutes the full of any access operation.  
         [0148]    The next process step,  1454 , is the generation of an indirect account list. This is crucial because the modification of certain employer account information can result in the modification of other accounts due to the relationships that exist on an employer-to-employer and employer-to-employee basis. Once this list has been generated, the employer information is modified as shown in process step  1455  and the employer account within the integrated employer and employee metaaccount  150  is updated in process step  1456 .  
         [0149]    If any indirect account modifications are necessary, this is detected in decision step  1457  and the flow diagram process step  1453  onward is repeated. This cycle repeats until no more indirect accounts remain that require modification. This process is inherently recursive in nature because each iteration may generate more indirect accounts that require subsequent modification.  
         [0150]    When no more indirect accounts remain that require modification, control is transferred to the off-page reference  1300 .  
         [0151]    The flow diagram for the access and management of a specific employee account is depicted in FIG. 23. The first step that must be taken is to determine the type of operation the customer representing the employer wishes to perform. This is depicted in process step  1701  in which the operation type is received by reading the user-directed operation data element  1706 . There are four operation types: create an employee account, delete an employee account, modify an employee account (which includes both read and write operations), and exit from this set of operations.  
         [0152]    If the operation type is creating an employer account as depicted by  1702 , then an off-page control  1710  is enacted. If the operation type is deleting an employer account as depicted by  1703 , then an off-page control  1730  is enacted. If the operation type is modifying an employer account as depicted by  1704 , then an off-page control  1750  is enacted. If the operation type is to exit, then an offpage control  1800  is enacted. If the operation type is unknown, then an attempt is made to get another user-directed operation.  
         [0153]    The creation of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 24. The employee information is retrieved as data element  1711  by process step  1712 . The appropriate employer account (the employer of the specified employee) is then read from data element  150  in process step  1713 .  
         [0154]    The specified employee account is created in process step  1714 . The previously read employer account information is modified in process step  1715  and that employer account is then updated in process step  1716  by writing to data element  150 . The employee account is updated to the integrated employee and employer meta-account represented by data element  150  in process step  1717 . At that point, control is transferred to the off-page reference  1300 .  
         [0155]    The deletion of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 25. The employee information is retrieved as data element  1731  by process step  1732 . The appropriate employer account (the employer of the specified employee) is then read from data element  150  in process step  1733 .  
         [0156]    At that point, the specified employee account is deleted as shown in process step  1734  from the integrated employee and employer meta-account  150 . The employer information is modified to reflect the fact that the employee account has been deleted as shown in process step  1735 . The next step is that the employer account is updated in data element  150 . At that point, control is then transferred to the off-page reference  1300 .  
         [0157]    The modification of an employer account is depicted in FIG. 26. Note that because a modification inherently must include the simple access information, simple access to the integrated employer and employee meta-account is included in this figure.  
         [0158]    The employee information data element  1751  is retrieved by process step  1752 . At that point, the employee account specified in that operation is read from the integrated employer and employee meta-account  150  by process step  1753 . This constitutes simple access to the employee account.  
         [0159]    When the employee information is accessed, control is transferred to decision step  1754  in which it is determined whether the employee account information that must be updated requires the employer information also be updated. If an employer update is required, then control is transferred to process step  1756  where the employer information is modified. After the employer information is modified it is updated to data element  150  by process step  1757 .  
         [0160]    After the employer account has been updated, or if in decision step  1754  it is determined that the employer account does not need to be updated, process step  1758  occurs in which the employee information is modified. After the employee information is modified, it is updated into data element  150  by process step  1759 . At that point, control is transferred to off-page reference  1300 .  
         [0161]    It is thus seen that the computerized system of this invention provides an improved full service employer and employee system and integrates the interactions among and between the employer and the employee and other third parties. It is further seen that the computerized system of this invention provides not only such a system, but also provides such a system that provides not just to the needs of the employer or just to the needs of the individuals employed by the employer. A perfect example of a marketing opportunity associated with the use of the invention is associated with a payroll processing entity. Such a system of this invention would provide for the offering, for example, of property casualty insurance, affordable employee benefit plans, and target effective human resource services, comprehensive payroll services, cost effect of workman&#39;s comp programs, 401K savings plans, flexible benefit plans and information services and internet assistance.  
         [0162]    As many variations will become apparent to those with skill in the art from a reading of the foregoing description, which are exemplary in nature, such variations are embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.