Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/460060
February 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 25 APPS WE LOVE MINT.COM – Jim Boomer, CIO of Boomer Consulting, uses Mint.com to provide an aggregated view of all of his fnancial accounts. "It's simple to set up and use. I look at Mint at least once a day to keep up-to-date on my fnancial picture," said Boomer. PERSONAL CAPITAL – According to L. Gary Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting, Personal Capital pro- v ides a 3 6 0 deg ree v iew of you r personal fnancial situation in real- time. "Financial advisors are avail- able but the free tools aggregate and p r o v i d e a h o l i s t i c a p p r o a c h t o managing your f inancial life. It is Mint.com on steroids, easy to use w it h professiona l a nd a f fordable wealth management services if you desire," said Boomer. MOBILE BANKING – Check with your bank to fnd out if they allow m o b i l e b a n k i n g , o r c o n s i d e r opening an account at one of the many online banks. CEO of Mentor Plus, Edi Osborne, swears by mobile ba n k i ng: "I l ive i n t he m idd le of no w he re s o b e i n g a ble t o m a k e deposits f rom home saves me a n hour of drive time." A ngie Grissom, president of Te Rainmaker Com- panies, added, "Te bank ing apps have changed the way I bank com- pletely. I don't k now how people managed their accounts well before online banking apps." CREDIT KARMA – CPA Practice Advisor Editor-in-Chief Gail Perr y uses Cred it K a r ma to access her c red it score for f ree but t he app does so much more than that. Find out what factors cause changes in you r cred it score a nd get t ips on how to improve your score in many d i f ferent w ay s . R eceive a ler t s i f you r cred it has been pinged or i f t here ha s been a cha nge i n you r s c o r e . I n t u i t S e n i o r D e v e l o p e r Dav id Lear y added, "Credit Karma i s a g r e a t l o w h e a d a c h e w a y t o monitor your credit report." TALLIE – L . Gar y Boomer states t h a t " Ta l l i e h a s r e d u c e d m y expense reporting time by at least o n e ho u r p e r w e e k ." M a r y l a nd A ssoc iat ion of CPA s CEO, Tom Ho o d , a nd B o ome r C on s u lt i n g COO, Sandra Wi ley, a lso recom- mend Tallie for expense reporting. EXPENSIFY – Speaker, author, con s u lt a nt , a nd sel f-proc l a i med ne rd , G e n i W h it e hou s e re c om - m e n d s E x p e n s i f y f o r t r a c k i n g expenses. Photograph, categorize, and tag receipts, then add them to expense reports if necessary. Track distance traveled both by odometer and GPS. Tere is a time track ing option as well. GOOGLE WALLET – Dav id Lear y suggests that Google Wallet makes it e a s y to re c e i ve or pay p e ople sma l l a mou nts of cash when you don't have cash w ith you. "Tat day you need to pay t he soccer tea m mom $10." Some other apps to consider: R E A D Y F O R Z E R O A N D SAVEUP – T hese t wo apps were mentioned in Te Economist as solu- tions that help customers cut their debts with a mixture of advice and alerts. ReadyForZero helps you create a debt management program and the app helps you stay on track and pay of the high-interest debt frst. SaveUp provides debt tracking and also helps you start a savings plan. BILLGUARD – Tis app helps to protect you from unwanted, arbi- trary, and questionable charges that might show up on your credit card accounts. According to PC Maga- zine, the app fags merchants who f requent ly cha rge consu mers for products or ser vices they've either forgoten about or they didn't know they were requesting. XE CURRENCY – T he Interna- tional Federation of Accountants re c om me nd s you c he c k out X E Currency if you are an international traveler or if you're doing business globally. Convert every currency in the world w ith X E Currency – all rates are current. SAVEDPLUS – You ca n set up sav ings plans so that a percentage of each pay ment and purchase goes d i rect ly to you r sav ings account, IR, or other investment account. You set the percent you want to go to sav ings up to 20 percent. Recom- mended by Diane Wightman, CPA & B a r b a r a K a u p , C PA , C I S A , CGM A w r it i ng for t he Colorado Societ y of CPA s, this app works in the background so sav ing is pain- less. 7 Mobile Money Management Tools By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-In-Chief A re your clients in need of easy tools to help them manage their fnances? Tere are many options avail- able. We asked some of CPA Practice Advisor's con- tributors, Tought Leaders, and award winners for recommendations of their favorite money manage- ment apps and have added a few of our own for your perusal. one two three four fve six seven APPS WE LOVE IS SPONSORED BY HTTP://ACCOUNTANTSWORLD.COM AccountantsWorld ® Accountants First SM ... only at