Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/399112
October 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 7 COVER STORY EVERNOTE (iOS - Android) Hands down, the favorite app of our thought leaders is Evernote. According to the manufacturers, Evernote is a suite of sofware and services designed for notetaking and archiving. A note can be a piece of for matted tex t, a f u l l webpage or webpage excerpt, a photo - graph, a voice memo, or a handwriten note. Notes can also have fle atachments. Rick Richardson, CEO of R ichardson Media & Technologies, LLC, is an Ever note fa n. "It is t he focus of all my research, storage and organization. It's the way I'm going almost paperless. Don't know what I'd do without it." If that's not enough of an endorse- ment, here's what Tom Hood, CEO of the Mary- land Association of CPAs and the Business Learning I n s t i t u t e h a s t o s a y : " E v e r no t e i s t r u l y m y second brain and I defnitely need one of those! It runs across all devices – iPhone, iPad, and Mac laptop – and it collects and organizes almost all of my information in an easy to search, con- text rich environment. For example, while I am at a conference, when I take a photo of the agenda – it pops into Ever note w it h t he date, t i me, a nd location stamp." "It not only saves the picture of the document but can search on the text (via Optical Character Recognition - OCR)," Hood added. "Like the feel of pen and paper? Evernote reads your writing and can search on your writen notes just as easily. I use my Field Notes to take notes and snap pics every day so I always have all of my notes with me (plus the location where I was when I snapped it). Business cards are the same thing, plus Evernote converts cards into text, adds to contacts, and even ofers to connect on LinkedIn. I can email documents to it, clip from websites, voice memo to it and, even tweet to it." TRIPIT (iOS - Android) Many of our thought leaders listed TripIt as one of their favorites. TripIt, b y C o n c u r (w h i c h w a s r e c e n t l y acquired by SAP), organizes travel plans into an itinerary that has all of your trip details in one place. D on ny S h i m a mot o, f o u n d e r a n d s e n i o r member of the Intrapri- seTechKnowlogies LLC's (ITK) con- sulting and management team, says that TripIt, "Is a must for any frequent traveler. Forward your air, hotel, or car rental confrmations to it and it puts it all together into one itinerary, including inserting maps between the airport and hotel, meeting to meeting, etc. I signed up for the Pro account which a lso provides me with fight status, baggage claim, and other up to the minute updates." J o h n H i g g i n s , c o - founder of CPA Crossings, L L C , c onc u r s (no pu n intended!). "Tis is a travel itinerary app that populates every aspect of a trip automatically by simply for- warding the confrmation emails (air - line, rental car, etc.) to TripIt and my ofce manager flls in the rest (meeting locations, etc.). Te best part is when I get in the rental car, TripIt integrates directly to my navigation app on the phone, so no more geting lost!" UBER (iOS - Android) Uber is one of the new wave of ride- sharing services available in large cities. According to the company website, you can, "Get a taxi, private car, or rideshare from your mobile phone. Uber connects you with a driver in min- utes. Use our app in cities around the world." Ji m Boomer, CIO of Boomer Consulting, and Mark Koziel, vice president of frm ser- vices and global alliances at the AICPA, are frequent travelers and enjoy the ease o f u s i n g U b e r f o r o n - demand transportation. "W hen your f l ight is delayed a nd you a r r ive at 2:30am, there aren't many cabs. Uber is a convenient and quick tool to get you where you need to go without the long waits you experience with taxi companies." said Boomer. TALLIE (iOS - Android) " Ta l l ie h a s r e d u c e d my e x p e n s e reporting time by at least one hour per w e e k a n d i n t e g r a t e s directly with Bill.com and Q B O L , s a i d L . G a r y Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting , Inc. "It has also reduced others' time in the processing and integration of expense reports with Bill.com. The workfow is built into the app and the support is excellent." Tallie, an accounting solution for expense reports, is also a 2014 winner of a CPA Practice Advisor Innovation Award. DROPBOX (iOS - Android) Dropbox is a free fle sharing service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them ea si ly w it h ot hers. Severa l of ou r t h o u g h t l e a d e r s u s e Dropbox regularly. Leslie Shiner, owner of T he ShinerGroup, uses D ropb ox f or a c c e s s to ofen-used fles. Futurist, a u t h o r , a n d s p e a k e r R ebecc a Ry a n of Ne x t Generation Consulting, uses Dropbox for sharing fles with her team while she is on the road. AROUNDME (iOS - Android) AroundMe is an app that allows users to quickly fnd nearby Points Of Interest (POI) such as restau ra nts, hotels, theaters, parking, hospitals and much more. Dr. Bob Spencer, owner of Twenty Seconds in the Future and associate at K2 E n t e r p r i s e s , s a i d t h a t AroundMe "is a great app when trav- eling and looking a place to eat, restau- rant, movie theater, mall, gas station and so forth near to you." FLIPBOARD (iOS - Android) According to the company website, Flipboard is your personal magazine. It's a single place to discover, collect and share the news you care about. Add your favorite social networks, publica- t ions, a nd blogs to stay connected to the topics and people closest to you. B r i a n Ta n k e r s l e y , director of strategic rela- tionships for K 2 Enter- prises and owner of Brian F. Tankersley, Consulting and Professional Develop- ment, says that Flipboard "is a great visual news reader with seamless social sharing on all major platforms." GOOGLE MAPS (iOS - Android) Google Maps is a desktop and mobile web mapping service app provided by Google. It of fers satel lite imager y, streetmaps, and Street View perspec- tives, and a lso f unctions such as a route planner for traveling by vehicle or by foot. C h r i s F r e d e r i k s e n , chairman of 2020 Group USA, said he uses Google Maps "so I never get lost!" STARBUCKS (iOS - Android) And fnally, we take a look at the Star- bucks app. According to the folks at Starbucks, this app links to your regis- tered Starbucks card so you can pay for purchases and earn Stars through your phone. You can also reload your card balance, fnd your nearest store, and even leave a digital tip for your barista. Jennifer Wilson, partner and co-founder of Conver- ge nc e C oa c h i n g , L L C , relies on her Starbucks app to help her find Starbucks locations when she travels. So… this is just the tips of the apps ic e b e r g , a s i t w e r e , a nd w e' l l b e exploring many more of the favorite apps of our thought leaders and our other readers in the months ahead. Keep an eye on the spotlight section in your CPA Practice Advisor newsleters as we introduce more apps that can make both your work life and your personal life a bit easier.