Almost seven years ago, I created some form templates for a customer of mine who is a salesman. He wanted to automate some forms that he filled out frequently so that he could minimize his time filling out forms and increase his time selling products. He gave me the forms that he currently filled out by hand, and I re-created them in Microsoft Word using Tables and the form features available in Word.
The final form was then saved as a Word Template (so it could be used over and over without affecting the original). All he had to do was double-click on a shortcut that pulled up a blank form for him to fill out and then print, email, and or save. The form even contained calculated fields to total his line items and the entire order. Did you know Word could do that?
I visited my client again today and we tweaked those seven year old documents to match his current needs. I really enjoy helping clients come up with ways to improve their efficiency using tools already on their computer.
If you are interested in how to create fillable forms with Microsoft Word, I found these online tutorials to be a good start:
Online Knowlege Magazine (click the "Fill in Form" option)
Adobe Acrobat File from Seattle giving great step-by-step for form creation
