Firm Management
Apps We Love – OMG! Apps that We Can’t (or Wouldn’t Want to) Live Without
May. 20, 2016
We surveyed members of the 40 Under 40 class of 2015 to find out about the apps they swear by. Here are some of the responses we received.
Kacee Johnson, founder of Blue Ocean Principles, relies on Time Buddy. “It’s a time zone converter and world clock that assists in scheduling meetings for people in multiple time zones. It really helps with international clients as it has a visual scheduler for your common time zones needed to ensure there is no confusion in booking meetings.”
“Hands down, Evernote,” said Kim Hogan, business development manager at Intuit. “I’ve had a premium account since my early days at Fujitsu (2009), but never took advantage of it quite like I do now until more recently. From work to personal, PowerPoints to workouts to grocery shopping lists – I use it for EVERYTHING. Love how I can access it via any device, and even more that I can share it with others to collaborate on notes. It’s saved me so much time and energy and is the one app I couldn’t live without.”
[Find these apps for your device on the App Store or Google Play.]
Joy Lizotte, CPA, growth planner and business coach, is also an Evernote devotee. “I love their webclipper. I’m also coming across articles I want to read but don’t have time in that moment so the webclipper lets me save them and then read them later.”
Elizabeth Pittelkow, director of accounting and compliance at Arrowstream, recommends GroupMe. “This free app is my favorite app for communicating with groups. I use it for both my professional network and social network. The app provides a quick way to send information to several people at once.”
Stocard is the app recommended by Danielle Supkis Cheek, CPA, CFE, CVA, owner of D. Supkis Cheek PLLC. “I put all of those rewards cards on my phone so I don’t have all those little things on my keys and the cards in my wallet.”
With apologies for sounding “salesy,” Cathy Iconis, CEO of Iconis Group, says her favorite app is QuickBooks Online. “My whole practice is based on it since we don’t support any other accounting systems. I’ve even dorked out about it so much that I started a weekly tweet chat for QuickBooks Online Users, #QBOchat. I love having my clients’ books in the cloud. And, Intuit has made it super easy to use and keep updated for our bookkeeping clients.”
Kerri Gibson, CPA, vice president, small professional, at Wolters Kluwer, CCH Small Firm Services, is a fan of language apps. “The abilities of language apps are really cool and incredibly useful in our global world. I am trying to learn French so apps like Duolingo and Babbel make it easy to squeeze in a quick lesson anywhere. As an international traveler Word Lens is fantastic because it will translate written items (menus, directions, etc.) which helps with making good decisions; knowing what you are eating or where you are going is always a good idea!”
Brian Friedman, CPA.CITP, division sales manager, northeast, for Tax & Accounting US, Wolters Kluwer CCH Software, recommends Google Maps. “Gone are the days of static navigation provided through your car. With Google Maps you have an up-to-date map with live traffic, plus for those who manage accounts, it gives you the ability to load customers and prospects to better assist in visual management.” Gibson agrees. “It may seem like a no brainer, but I find myself continuously amazed at the capabilities that are added. It makes the use of multiple other apps unnecessary because now you can do so much more than get directions. This is probably the one app I cannot live without.”
“I really love Genius Scan!,” says Samantha Mansfield at CPA.com. “I rarely go to the scanner any longer; I can just scan in the documents and send them off without leaving my desk. Especially handy when away from the office and take paper notes; just scan it in before I leave the meeting and share with pertinent parties.”