Executive Summary
The Exam Pros, an educational company assisting professionals with licensing exams and applications, faced a manual process for handling Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) licensing forms. Managing about 20 different multi-page application forms in PDF format required repetitive data entry, creating operational challenges. The company’s workflow involved collecting client information, which the team then manually re-entered field-by-field into government forms.
By implementing an automation solution combining Instafill.ai and Cognito Forms, the team moved to an automated fill-and-review workflow. Client data now posts to Instafill.ai via webhook, maps to the correct fields on state PDF applications, and is returned for quick review and submission. Repetitive entry is eliminated, accuracy improves, and scaling no longer requires proportional staffing increases.
“I calculated it’s gonna be like at least four months of manual labor they’re going to save up, if not more.”
— Marco Quintero, The Exam Pros
Results at a Glance
- Forms automated: 6 Florida CILB licensing applications (with 15–20 additional forms planned)
- Form complexity: multi-page state PDFs with hundreds of fields, including repeating sections
- Workflow: Cognito Forms → Instafill.ai automated form-filling → human review → state submission
- Projected savings: minimum 4 months of manual labor annually
About The Exam Pros
The Exam Pros helps contractors pass Florida licensing exams and complete the state’s licensing process. Services include exam prep, study materials, and application assistance across trades such as General and Building Contractors, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Roofing, and more. The applications team prepares and submits Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) packages that must meet strict state requirements.
Challenge: Manual, Repetitive DBPR Forms
The Exam Pros manages a large variety of licensing application forms required by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) for contractor and business licenses, covering specialties such as general contracting, air conditioning, plumbing, pool construction, and more. Each form spans multiple pages and contains hundreds of fields, demanding meticulous, error-free data entry.
The company’s existing workflow relied on sales representatives collecting client information through a CRM platform, but the applications team manually transferred this data field-by-field into official flat, non-fillable DBPR PDF forms. This repetitive data entry across multiple complex form types was time-intensive, error-prone, and constrained the team’s ability to scale without increasing staffing.
Key challenges included:
- Flat, non-interactive PDFs with no fillable fields, requiring manual typing for each submission.
- Redundant data entry due to overlapping information requests among multiple forms, increasing risk of errors and rejection during strict state review.
- The necessity for absolute accuracy and compliance to avoid costly resubmissions and delays.
- High volume of nearly 20 priority forms initially targeted for automation, with a potential inventory of approximately 500 unique form types.
The Exam Pros needed a way to capture data once, route it reliably, and populate every required field across all targeted forms.
Solution
The solution combined a two-phase implementation: form conversion followed by integration with Cognito Forms and Instafill.ai.
Phase 1: Form Conversion
The first step was to convert The Exam Pros’ original Florida DBPR licensing forms, which were flat, non-fillable PDFs, into fillable PDF forms. Instafill.ai’s team converted these government forms into fillable PDF versions. This conversion is a necessary one-time process that enables automated form filling.
Phase 2: Integrating with Cognito Forms
Next, Instafill.ai established an integration with Cognito Forms, the platform The Exam Pros uses for client data collection. When a client submits information via Cognito Forms, the platform immediately sends a structured JSON payload using a webhook to Instafill.ai. Instafill.ai then uses this real-time data to automatically populate the converted PDFs, filling hundreds of fields quickly and precisely without manual entry.
The final workflow operates seamlessly:
- New Form Submission: Client submits their information through Cognito Forms.
- Automatic Processing: The webhook triggers Instafill.ai to extract and map data into the fillable Florida CILB form.
- AI Form Completion: The form is populated within seconds using the structured JSON data.
- Team Review: The applications team receives the completed form by email for human verification.
- State Submission: After final review, the form is submitted to the Florida DBPR.
Impact and Results
Operational Changes
The applications team no longer has to manually re-enter data from sales submissions into state forms. The automated process now fills in all required fields, leaving only review and submission tasks to the team.
Improved Accuracy
By refining the system and using structured input via Cognito Forms, form accuracy reached reliable standards. The combination of automation and human review ensures forms meet state compliance, while significantly reducing time spent on corrections.
Scalability
Six forms are now automated, and the process is ready to expand to 15–20 additional forms without needing more staff. Adding each new form is simply the one-time conversion effort
Looking Ahead
The Exam Pros plans to automate all remaining Florida CILB forms, expanding their coverage across contractor specialties. This infrastructure enables them to serve more clients efficiently while maintaining personalized application assistance.